Title: Saintes, Charente-Maritime Content: Saintes is a French commune and historic town, a subprefecture in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. It is in the Nouvelle- Aquitaine region. It is also the capital of the arrondissement of Saintes. Before the French Revolution, Saintes was the capital of the old province of Saintonge. ==Geography== Saintes is in the central eastern part of the Charente-Maritime department, in the old province of Saintonge, along the Charente river that flows through the commune from south to north. The commune has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is . The distances from Saintes to other cities are: * Paris, the national capital - ; * Bordeaux, the regional capital - ; * Toulouse - ; * Reims - ; * Lyon - ; * Montpellier - ; * Strasbourg - ; * Nantes - ; * Marseille - .  The commune of Saintes is surrounded by the communes: ===Climate=== The climate of Saintes, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers. ==Population== The inhabitants of this city are known, in French, as Saintais (women: Saintaises). With a population of 25,149, Saintes has a population density of inhabitants/km2. Evolution of the population in Saintes Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:500 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:28000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1968 text:1968 bar:1975 text:1975 bar:1982 text:1982 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:1999 text:1999 bar:2006 text:2006 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2014 text:2014 PlotData= color:barra width:30 align:left bar:1968 from:0 till: 26507 bar:1975 from:0 till: 26891 bar:1982 from:0 till: 25471 bar:1990 from:0 till: 25874 bar:1999 from:0 till: 25595 bar:2006 from:0 till: 26531 bar:2011 from:0 till: 25586 bar:2014 from:0 till: 25149 PlotData= bar:1968 at: 26507 fontsize:S text: 26,507 shift:(-12,5) bar:1975 at: 26891 fontsize:S text: 26,891 shift:(-15,5) bar:1982 at: 25471 fontsize:S text: 25,471 shift:(-15,5) bar:1990 at: 25874 fontsize:S text: 25,874 shift:(-15,5) bar:1999 at: 25595 fontsize:S text: 25,595 shift:(-15,5) bar:2006 at: 26531 fontsize:S text: 26,531 shift:(-15,5) bar:2011 at: 25586 fontsize:S text: 25,586 shift:(-15,5) bar:2014 at: 25149 fontsize:S text: 25,149 shift:(-15,10) == Administration == Saintes is a subprefecture of the Charente-Maritime department, the capital of the arrondissement of Saintes and the administrative centre  of the canton of Saintes. It is part of the intercommunality CA Saintes . === Twinned and partner towns === Saintes is twinned with: * Nivelles, Belgium * Xanten, Germany * Timbuktu, Mali * Vladimir, Russia * Salisbury, England * Cuevas del Almanzora, Spain == Gallery == File:Basilique Saint-Eutrope de Saintes.jpg|Saint-Eutrope basilica. File:Eglise Saint-Pallais de Saintes.jpg|Saint-Pallais church on the right bank. File:File-Panorama Saintes-b.JPG|View of the city with the Saint-Pierre cathedral. File:Arc de Germanicus - panoramio.jpg|Germanicus Arch. File:Charente in Saintes.jpg|The Charente river in Saintes. ==Related pages== * Arrondissement of Saintes * Communes of the Charente-Maritime department