Saintes, Charente-Maritime

**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**

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 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

## References
## Other websites
* Ville de Saintes website 
* Tourist Office Saintes & Saintonge