Charente

**Charente** (Saintongeais: _Chérente_, ) 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

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 .

The highest point of the department is _Rocher aux Oiseaux_,  high, in the _commune_ of Montrollet; the lowest point is in the valley of the Charente river, _commune_ of Merpins, and is  high.

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

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 . The month with the most precipitation on average is November with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Cognac 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

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 <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|161|Angoulême|Angoulême|197,377|2,217.1||117|
|162|Cognac|Cognac|92,224|1,471.2||116|
|163|Confolens|Confolens|64,252|2,267.7||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:

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

## 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  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. 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 <small>(2014)</small>|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|

## Economy

The **cognac** is an alcoholic drink, a kind of brandy. It is made from grapes. It is made mainly around the city of Cognac.

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Charente department
- Communes of the Charente department

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website
- Prefecture website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Charente
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Ang prefect.JPG
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Charente department
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Charente department, in Angoulême
- **image flag**: Flag of Charente.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **flag alt**: Flag of Charente
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Charente.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Charente-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Charente in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Angoulême
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Cognac, Charente, Cognac
- **p2**: Confolens
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: François Bonneau
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5956
- **population total**: 353853
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Charentais
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 19
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 383
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-16
- **website**: [http://www.lacharente.fr/ http://www.lacharente.fr]