Marne (department)

**Marne** is a department in northeastern France named after the river Marne which flows through the department.  The prefecture (capital) of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne (formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne).

The Champagne vineyards producing the world-famous sparkling wine are located within Marne.

## History

Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Châlons-sur-Marne as is capital. It was formed with part of the former province of Champagne.

It was divided in six districts: Châlons-sur-Marne, Reims, Épernay, Sézanne, Sainte-Menehould and Vitry-le-François.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the six districts were changed into five _arrondissements_: Châlons-sur-Marne, Épernay, Reims, Sainte-Menehould and Vitry-le-François.

After the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the Austrian army from June 1815 to November 1818.

On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Sainte-Menehould was eliminated but in 1940 Sainte-Menehould was made again an _arrondissement_.

In 1995, the name of Châlons-sur-Marne was changed to Châlons-en-Champagne but it was rejected in 1997. But, finally, this change was accepted in 1998.

## Geography

The Marne department is in the Grand Est region after being part of the Champagne-Ardenne region till 2016. It is surrounded by 6 departments in 3 regions:
- Grand Est region
    - Ardennes department (north)
    - Meuse department (east)
    - Haute-Marne department (southeast)
    - Aube department (south)
- Île-de-France region
    - Seine-et-Marne department (southwest)
- Hauts-de-France region
    - Aisne department (west)

Marne has an area of , the 7th largest department of the Metropolitan France. The department is  long from Villeneuve-la-Lionne to Trois-Fontaines-l'Abbaye, and  wide from Cormicy to Clesles.

There are three geographic regions in the department:
1. The _Champagne crayeuse_ in the centre of the department; it is a plain where cereals are grown.
1. A region with low hills in the eastern part of the department.
1. Champagne vineyards, in the western part of the deparment. Here is the _Montagne de Reims_ ("Mountain of Reims") where are the highest points of the department in the forests of the Verzey _commune_; several hills are  high ().

The Marne river flows through the department from the southeast to the west.

### Climate

This area is characterized by climates with few extremes of temperature. The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Châlons-en-Champagne is a "Marine West Coast Climate" and of the subtype "Cfb".

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Châlons-en-Champagne is . The month with the most precipitation on average is July with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Châlons-en-Champagne is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of

## Administration

Marne is managed by the _Departmental Council of Marne_ in Châlons-en-Champagne. The department is part of the Grand Est region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 4 _arrondissements_ (districts), 23 _cantons_ and 613 _communes_ (municipalities) in Marne.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population (2014) !! width="50px" | Area (km²) !! Density (Inh./km²) !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|511|Châlons-en-Champagne|Châlons-en-Champagne|103,110|1,778.3||150|
|512|Épernay|Épernay|109,771|2,332.7||208|
|513|Reims|Reims|296,374|1,525.7||143|
|514|Vitry-le-François|Vitry-le-François|47,741|1,503.6||110|

The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the **Marne** department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Argonne Suippe et Vesle <small>(5101)</small>
1. Bourgogne <small>(5102)</small>
1. Châlons-en-Champagne-1 <small>(5103)</small>
1. Châlons-en-Champagne-2 <small>(5104)</small>
1. Châlons-en-Champagne-3 <small>(5105)</small>
1. Dormans-Paysages de Champagne <small>(5106)</small>
1. Épernay-1 <small>(5107)</small>
1. Épernay-2 <small>(5108)</small>
1. Fismes-Montagne de Reims <small>(5109)</small>
1. Mourmelon-Vesle et Monts de Champagne <small>(5110)</small>
1. Reims-1 <small>(5111)</small>
1. Reims-2 <small>(5112)</small>
1. Reims-3 <small>(5113)</small>
1. Reims-4 <small>(5114)</small>
1. Reims-5 <small>(5115)</small>
1. Reims-6 <small>(5116)</small>
1. Reims-7 <small>(5117)</small>
1. Reims-8 <small>(5118)</small>
1. Reims-9 <small>(5119)</small>
1. Sermaize-les-Bains <small>(5120)</small>
1. Sézanne-Brie et Champagne <small>(5121)</small>
1. Vertus-Plaine Champenoise <small>(5122)</small>
1. Vitry-le-François-Champagne et Der <small>(5123)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of the Marne department are known, in French, as _Marnais_ (women: _Marnaises_),

Marne had a population, in 2014, of 570,817, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Reims, with 296,374 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Marne**

The 10 _communes_ with more inhabitants in the Marne department are:

|City|Population (2014)|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Reims|183,042|Reims|
|Châlons-en-Champagne|45,002|Châlons-en-Champagne|
|Épernay|23,176|Épernay|
|Vitry-le-François|13,144|Vitry-le-François|
|Tinqueux|10,096|Reims|
|Bétheny|6,473|Reims|
|Cormontreuil|6,210|Reims|
|Aÿ-Champagne|5,795|Épernay|
|Saint-Memmie|5,583|Châlons-en-Champagne|
|Mourmelon-le-Grand|5,379|Châlons-en-Champagne|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Marne department
- Communes of the Marne department

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website
- Prefecture of the Marne department
- Tourism in Champagne

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Marne
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Préfecture de la Marne (51).jpg
- **image alt**: Prefecture of the Marne department
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Marne department, in Châlons-en-Champagne
- **image flag**: Drapeau fr département Marne.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Marne.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Marne-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Marne in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Grand Est
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Châlons-en-Champagne
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Épernay
- **p2**: Reims
- **p3**: Vitry-le-François
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: René-Paul Savary
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 8161.6
- **population total**: 570817
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Marnais
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 4
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 23
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 613
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-51