Marne (department)

Marne
Department
Prefecture building of the Marne department, in Châlons-en-Champagne
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Marne in France
Coordinates: 49°00′N 04°15′E
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Prefecture	Châlons-en-Champagne
Subprefectures	Épernay Reims Vitry-le-François
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Christian Bruyen
Area 1
• Total	8,162 km2 (3,151 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	565,292
• Rank	45th
• Density	69/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-51
Department number	51
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	23
Communes	613
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Marne (French pronunciation: [maʁn]) is a department in the Grand Est region of France. It is named after the river Marne which flows through it. The prefecture (capital) of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne (formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne). The subprefectures are Épernay, Reims, and Vitry-le-François. It had a population of 566,855 in 2019.

The Champagne vineyards producing the eponymous sparkling wine are in Marne.

Name

The department is named after the Marne, which was called Matrona in Roman times.

History

Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the province of Champagne.

Marne has a long association with the French Army. The training ground of the Camp Militaire de Mailly straddles the border with the département of Aube in the south while that of the Camp de Mourmelon occupies a large area north of Châlons-en-Champagne. The smaller Camp de Moronvilliers lies to the east of Reims and the Camp Militaire de Suippes lies to the east of that. These are all located on the chalk grounds of the Champagne plateau, a feature comparable in geology but not size, with the British military training ground on Salisbury Plain.

The Battles of the Marne, where the British and French fought against Germany during World War I, took place here.

Geography

Marne is part of the region of Grand Est and is surrounded by the departments of Ardennes, Meuse, Haute-Marne, Aube, Seine-et-Marne, and Aisne.

Geologically, it divides into two distinct parts; the Upper Cretaceous chalk plain in the east and the more wooded and hilly Eocene and Oligocene in the west.

Rivers draining the department include the Marne, Vesle, Ardre and Somme-Soude. Numerous other rivers, such as the Grande and the Petite Morin rise in the department but flow mainly in others. Conversely, the Aube joins the Seine in the department of Marne.

Principal towns

The most populous commune in the department is Reims; the prefecture Châlons-en-Champagne is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are five communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Commune	Population (2019)
Reims	181,194
Châlons-en-Champagne	44,379
Épernay	22,433
Vitry-le-François	11,376
Tinqueux	10,294

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Marnais.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 304,651 —     1806 311,017 +0.41% 1821 307,644 −0.07% 1831 337,076 +0.92% 1841 356,632 +0.57% 1851 373,302 +0.46% 1861 385,498 +0.32% 1872 386,157 +0.02% 1881 421,800 +0.99% 1891 434,734 +0.30% 1901 432,882 −0.04% 1911 436,310 +0.08% 1921 366,734 −1.72%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 412,156 +1.17% 1936 410,238 −0.09% 1946 386,926 −0.58% 1954 415,141 +0.88% 1962 442,135 +0.79% 1968 485,388 +1.57% 1975 530,399 +1.27% 1982 543,627 +0.35% 1990 558,217 +0.33% 1999 565,229 +0.14% 2006 565,841 +0.02% 2011 566,571 +0.03% 2016 570,883 +0.15%
Sources:

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Christian Bruyen, elected in 2017.

Presidential elections 2nd round

Election		Winning Candidate	Party	%	2nd Place Candidate	Party	%
	2022	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	52.10	Marine Le Pen	FN	47.90
	2017	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	57.01	Marine Le Pen	FN	42.99
	2012	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	55.31	François Hollande	PS	44.69
	2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	59.20	Ségolène Royal	PS	40.80
	2002	Jacques Chirac	RPR	79.83	Jean-Marie Le Pen	FN	20.17
	1995	Jacques Chirac	RPR	54.53	Lionel Jospin	PS	45.47

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member	Party
	Marne's 1st constituency	Valérie Beauvais	The Republicans
	Marne's 2nd constituency	Aina Kuric	La République En Marche!
	Marne's 3rd constituency	Éric Girardin	La République En Marche!
	Marne's 4th constituency	Lise Magnier	The Republicans
	Marne's 5th constituency	Charles de Courson	Union of Democrats and Independents

Tourism

Reims, with its cathedral in which the kings of France were traditionally crowned, is a major attraction. Others include the bird reserve on the Lake Der-Chantecoq and the fishing lakes nearby. The Parc Naturel Régional de la Montagne de Reims is a major area of country recreation. In the west of the département there are many scenic routes as also are the several wine cellars of Épernay.

• 
  The Porte de Mars in Reims, a triumphal arch from the third century AD.
• 
  Cathedral of Reims where the kings of France were traditionally crowned
• 
  Vineyards near Épernay
• 
  Champagne bottles
• 
  Valmy Battlefield
• 
  Notre-Dame-en-Vaux collegiate church in Châlons-en-Champagne

See also

• Arrondissements of the Marne department
• Cantons of the Marne department
• Champagne Riots
• Communes of the Marne department
• French wine

External links

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in English and French) Official Tourist Board