Aisne

**Aisne** is a department in the north of France, in the Hauts-de-France region. It is named after the Aisne river, a tributary of the Oise. Its prefecture is Laon.

## History
Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Laon as its capital. It was formed from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France (Laon, Soissons, Noyon,and Valois), Picardy (Thiérache Vermandois), and Champagne (Brie and Omois).

It was divided into six districts: Château-Thierry, Chauny, Laon, Saint-Quentin, Soissons and Vervins.

In 1800, with the creation of the *arrondissements* in France, the six districts were changed into five *arrondissements*: Château-Thierry, Laon, Saint-Quentin, Soissons and Vervins.

The southern part of the department is the geographical region known as *la Brie poilleuse*, a drier plateau known for its dairy products and Brie cheese.

Several rivers flow through the department; the main rivers are the Scheldt/Escaut, the Aisne, the Marne, the Ourcq, the Vesle, the Somme, the Oise, and the Serre.

### Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Laon is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype "Cfb".

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Laon is . The month with the most precipitation on average is July with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is March with an average of .

In Laon, there is an average of  of snow. The month with the most snow is February, with  of snow.

The average temperature for the year in Laon 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
Aisne is managed by the *Departmental Council of Aisne* in Laon. The department is part of the Hauts-de-France region.

### Administrative divisions
There are 5 *arrondissements* (districts), 21 *cantons* and 804 *communes* (municipalities) in Aisne.

The following is a list of the 21 cantons of the **Aisne** department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

# Bohain-en-Vermandois (0201)
# Château-Thierry (0202)
# Chauny (0203)
# Essômes-sur-Marne (0204)
# Fère-en-Tardenois (0205)
# Guignicourt (0206)
# Guise (0207)
# Hirson (0208)
# Laon-1 (0209)
# Laon-2 (0210)
# Marle (0211)
# Ribemont (0212)
# Saint-Quentin-1 (0213)
# Saint-Quentin-2 (0214)
# Saint-Quentin-3 (0215)
# Soissons-1 (0216)
# Soissons-2 (0217)
# Tergnier (0218)
# Vervins (0219)
# Vic-sur-Aisne (0220)
# Villers-Cotterêts (0221)

## Demographics
The inhabitants of Aisne are known, in French, as *Axonais* (women: *Axonaises*), from the Celtic name of the Aisne river, *Axona*.

Aisne had a population, in 2014, of 539,783, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The *arrondissement* of Laon, with 165,489 inhabitants, is the *arrondissement* with the most inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Aisne**

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 bar:2014 at: 539783 fontsize:S text: 539,783 shift:(-18,5)

The 10 *communes* in the department with more inhabitants are:

## Gallery

File:Cathédrale de Laon 14 09 2008 2.jpg|Notre-Dame de Laon cathedral
File:FR-02-Soissons18.JPG|Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais cathedral in Soissons
File:Stadhuis Saint Quentin.JPG|Saint Quentin town hall
File:Quai Gayant.jpg|Canal of Saint-Quentin

## Related pages
* Arrondissements of the Aisne department
* Communes of the Aisne department

## References
## Other websites
* Departmental Council website 
* Prefecture website