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:
 The Champagne crayeuse in the centre of the department; it is a plain where cereals are grown.
 A region with low hills in the eastern part of the department.
 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.

+ Arrondissements of Marne INSEEcode  Arrondissement  Capital  Population(2014)  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:

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

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/km2. 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

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Marne department
 Communes of the Marne department

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture of the Marne department 
 Tourism in Champagne