Charente Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Charente

Prefecture building of the Charente department, in Angoulême

Flag	Coat of arms

Location of Charente in France

Country

France

Region

Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Département

4 March 1790

Area

• Total

5,956 km² (2,300 sq mi)

Population

(2014)

• Total

353,853

• Density

59.411/km² (153.874/sq mi)

Demonym(s)

Charentais

Time zone

UTC+1 (CET)

• Summer (DST)

UTC+2 (CEST)

FR-16

383

Website

http://www.lacharente.fr

For other uses, see Charente (disambiguation).

Charente (Saintongeais: Chérente, Occitan: Charanta) is a department in southwestern France, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

It is named after the Charente river, the most important river in the department. The two largest towns of the department, Angoulême and Cognac, are along this river.

History
Geography
- Climate
Administration
- Administrative divisions
Demographics
Economy
Gallery
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

History

Charente is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created from the old province of Angoumois with lands around Angoulême.

The new department had six districts: Ruffec, Confolens, La Rochefoucauld, Angoulême, Barbezieux and Cognac. The capital (now prefecture) was Angoulême.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the six districts were changed into five arrondissements: Angoulême, Barbezieux, Cognac, Confolens and Ruffec.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissements of Barbezieux and Ruffec were eliminated.

Geography

Charente is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It has an area of 5,956 km² (2,300 sq mi).

The highest point of the department is Rocher aux Oiseaux, 368 m (1,207 ft) high, in the commune of Montrollet; the lowest point is in the valley of the Charente river, commune of Merpins, and is 8 m (26 ft) high.

The department is bordered by the departments: Deux-Sèvres, Vienne, Haute-Vienne, Dordogne and Charente-Maritime.

Deux-Sèvres	Vienne
Charente-Maritime		Haute-Vienne
	Charente

Charente-Maritime	Dordogne	Dordogne

The main river in the department is the Charente that gives its name to the department. Other rivers are the Dronne and the Vienne.

Climate

The climate of Cognac is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Cognac is 777.2 mm (30.6 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is November with 86.4 mm (3.4 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of 48.3 mm (1.9 in).

The average temperature for the year in Cognac is 13.3 °C (55.9 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 21.1 °C (70.0 °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 in Angoulême. Charente is part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Administrative divisions

There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 19 cantons and 383 communes (municipalities) in Charente.

INSEE code	Arrondissement	Capital	Population (2014)	Area (km²)	Density (Inh./km²)	Communes
161	Angoulême	Angoulême	197,377	2,217.1	89.0	117
162	Cognac	Cognac	92,224	1,471.2	62.7	116
163	Confolens	Confolens	64,252	2,267.7	28.3	150

The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the Charente department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

Angoulême-1 (1601)
Angoulême-2 (1602)
Angoulême-3 (1603)
Boëme-Échelle (1604)
Boixe-et-Manslois (1605)
Charente-Bonnieure (1606)
Charente-Champagne (1607)
Charente-Nord (1608)
Charente-Sud (1609)
Charente-Vienne (1610)
Cognac-1 (1611)
Cognac-2 (1612)
La Couronne (1613)
Gond-Pontouvre (1614)
Jarnac (1615)
Touvre-et-Braconne (1616)
Tude-et-Lavalette (1617)
Val de Nouère (1618)
Val de Tardoire (1619)

Demographics

The inhabitants of Charente are known, in French, as Charentais (women: Charentaises).

Charente has a population, in 2014, of 353,853, for a population density of 59.4 inhabitants/km². The arrondissement of Angoulême, with 197,377 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Cognac and Confolens, have respectively 92,224 and 64,252 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Charente-Maritime

The 10 main cities in the department are:

City	Population (2014)	Arrondissement
Angoulême	41,955	Angoulême
Cognac	18,717	Cognac
Soyaux	9,322	Angoulême
La Couronne	7,636	Angoulême
Ruelle-sur-Touvre	7,292	Angoulême
Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente	7,210	Angoulême
Gond-Pontouvre	5,907	Angoulême
L' Isle-d'Espagnac	5,412	Angoulême
Champniers	5,251	Angoulême
Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire	4,730	Cognac