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Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime
Department
	Prefecture building of the Charente-Maritime department, in La Rochelle
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Charente-Maritime in France
	Coordinates: 45°57′N 0°58′W / 45.950°N 0.967°W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Département	4 March 1790
Prefecture	La Rochelle
Subprefectures	Jonzac, Rochefort, Saintes, Saint-Jean-d'Angély
Government
• President	Dominique Bussereau
Area
• Total	6,863.8 km2 (2,650.1 sq mi)
Population (2014)
• Total	637,089
• Density	93/km2 (240/sq mi)
Demonym	Charentais maritimes
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-17
Arrondissements	5
Cantons	27
Communes	469
Website	Official website

Charente-Maritime (Saintongeais: Chérente-Marine) is a department on the west coast of France in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is named after the Charente river, the most important river in the department, and its position along the coast.

Its prefecture is the city of La Rochelle.

History

The department, as Charente-Inférieure ("Lower Charente" because it was in the lower part of the Charente river), is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790.

It was created from parts of the old provinces of Saintonge and Aunis and small parts of Poitou and Angoumois.

The new department had seven districts: La Rochelle, Rochefort, Saint-Jean-d'Angély, Saintes, Pons, Montlieu and Marennes. The capital (now prefecture) was Saintes alternating with La Rochelle and Saint-Jean-d'Angély but soon was changed and Saintes was kept as the only capital.^[4]

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the seven districts were changed into six arrondissements: Saintes, Jonzac, Marennes, Rochefort, La Rochelle and Saint-Jean-d'Angély and in 1810 the capital was moved to La Rochelle.^[4]

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissements of Marennes and Saint-Jean-d'Angély were eliminated. In 1943, Saint-Jean-d'Angély was made again an arrondissement.^[4]

On 4 Septembre 1941, the name of the department was changed from Charente-Inférieure to the present name of Charente-Maritime.

Geography

Charente-Maritime is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It has an area of 6,863.8 km² (2,650 sq mi).^[2]

The highest point in the department is in the woods of Chantemerlière, near the commune of Contré in the northeast, and that is 173 m (568 ft) high.

The department is bordered by the departments: Vendée, Deux-Sèvres, Charente, Dordogne and Gironde.

The main rivers are the Charente and its tributaries, the Boutonne and the Seugne, along with the Sèvre Niortaise, the Seudre, and the Garonne in its downstream part, which is the estuary of the Gironde.

The department includes the islands of:

Île de Ré
Île d'Aix
Île d'Oléron, the largest island of Metropolitan France; it is 30 km (19 mi) long and 8 km (5 mi) wide, with an area of 174.39 km² (67 sq mi)
Île Madame, the smallest of the four islands.

Climate

The climate of La Rochelle is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.^[5]

The average amount of precipitation for the year in La Rochelle is 685.8 mm (27.0 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is October with 83.8 mm (3.3 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of 40.6 mm (1.6 in).

The average temperature for the year in La Rochelle is 12.8 °C (55.0 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 20.0 °C (68.0 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 6.1 °C (43.0 °F).

Administration

The department is managed by the Departmental Council of the Charente-Maritime in La Rochelle. Charente-Maritime is part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Administrative divisions

There are 5 arrondissements (districts), 27 cantons and 469 communes (municipalities) in Charente-Maritime.^[6]

Arrondissements of the Charente-Maritime
INSEE code	Arrondissement	Capital	Population^[7] (2014)	Area^[8] (km²)	Density (Inh./km²)	Communes
171	Jonzac	Jonzac	56,973	1,529.9	37.2	129
172	Rochefort	Rochefort	187,843	1,527.5	123.0	82
173	La Rochelle	La Rochelle	210,151	817.7	257.0	58
174	Saintes	Saintes	128,786	1,546.5	83.3	89
175	Saint-Jean-d'Angély	Saint-Jean-d'Angély	53,336	1,442.2	37.0	111

The following is a list of the 27 cantons of the Charente-Maritime department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:^[9]

Aytré (1701)
Chaniers (1702)
Châtelaillon-Plage (1703)
Île d'Oléron (1704)
Île de Ré (1705)
La Jarrie (1706)
Jonzac (1707)
Lagord (1708)
Marans (1709)
Marennes (1710)
Matha (1711)
Pons (1712)
Rochefort (1713)
La Rochelle-1 (1714)
La Rochelle-2 (1715)
La Rochelle-3 (1716)
Royan (1717)
Saint-Jean-d'Angély (1718)
Saint-Porchaire (1719)
Saintes (1720)
Saintonge Estuaire (1721)
Saujon (1722)
Surgères (1723)
Thénac (1724)
Tonnay-Charente (1725)
La Tremblade (1726)
Les Trois Monts (1727)

Demographics

The inhabitants of Charente-Maritime are known, in French, as Charentais maritimes (women: Charentaises maritimes).^[10]

Charente-Maritime has a population, in 2014, of 637,089,^[3] for a population density of 92.8 inhabitants/km². The arrondissement of Rochelle, with 210,151 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other four, Rochefort, Saintes, Jonzac and Saint-Jean-d'Angély, have respectively 187,843, 128,786, 56,973 and 53,336 inhabitants.^[7]

Evolution of the population in Charente-Maritime

The 10 main cities in the department are:

City	Population^[7] (2014)	Arrondissement
La Rochelle	74,998	La Rochelle
Saintes	25,149	Saintes
Rochefort	24,300	Rochefort
Royan	18,388	Rochefort
Aytré	8,821	La Rochelle
Tonnay-Charente	7,926	Rochefort
Périgny	7,866	La Rochelle
Saujon	7,221	Saintes
Lagord	7,199	La Rochelle
Saint-Jean-d'Angély	7,123	Saint-Jean-d’Angély

Gallery

References

↑ "Le Président du Département" (in French). Conseil départamental de la Charente-Maritime. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Département de la Charente-Maritime (17)". Comparateur de territoire (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 "Populations légales 2014: Recensement de la population - Régions, départements, arrondissements, cantons et communes" (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 "Historique de la Charente-Maritime". Le SPLAF (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2016.
↑ "La Rochelle, France - Köppen Climate Classification". Weatherbase. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
↑ "Département de la Charente-Maritime (17)". Géographie administrative et d'étude (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 "Régions, départements, arrondissements, cantons et communes" (PDF). Populations légales 2014 (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
↑ "Département de la Charente-Maritime (17)". Comparateur de territoire (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
↑ "Décret n° 2014-269 du 27 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département de la Charente-Maritime" (in French). Légifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
↑ "Charente-Maritime (17)" (in French). habitants.fr. Retrieved 10 August 2016.