Charente

• Name — Charente • Native Name — Chérente (Saintongeais) Charanta • Type — Department of France • Image Flag — Flag of Charente.svg • Image Shield — Blason département fr Charente.svg • Image Map — Charente-Position.svg • Map Caption — Location of Charente in France • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — France • Subdivision Type1 — Region • Subdivision Name1 — Nouvelle-Aquitaine • Seat Type — Prefecture • Seat — Angoulême • Parts Type — Subprefectures • Parts Style — para • P1 — Cognac Confolens • Leader Party — DVG • Leader Title — President of the Departmental Council • Leader Name — Philippe Bouty • Unit Pref — Metric • Area Total Km2 — 5956 • Population Total — population_total • Population As Of — population_as_of • Population Footnotes — population_footnotes2 • Population Rank — 68th • Population Density Km2 — 59 • Custom Label Sec1 — Department number • Custom Data Sec1 — 16 • Custom Label Sec2 — Arrondissements • Custom Data Sec2 — 3 • Custom Label1 Sec2 — Cantons • Custom Data1 Sec2 — 19 • Custom Label2 Sec2 — Communes • Custom Data2 Sec2 — 359 • Time Zone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +1 • Time Zone1 Dst — CEST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +2 • Postal Code — Angoulême has the postal code of 16000 • Iso Code — FR-16 • Footnotes — area French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km 2 Charente (Saintongese: Chérente; Charanta) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited. In 2023, it had a population of 352,683.

Charente is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Angoumois, and western and southern portions of Saintonge. Prior to the creation of the department as a single unit, much of it was commercially prosperous thanks to traditional industries such as salt and cognac production. Although the river Charente became silted up and was unnavigable for much of the twentieth century, in the eighteenth century it provided important links with coastal shipping routes both for traditional businesses and for newly evolving ones such as paper goods and iron smelting. The accelerating pace of industrial and commercial development during the first half of the nineteenth century led to a period of prosperity, and the department's population peaked in 1851. During the second half of the nineteenth century Charente, like many of France's rural departments, experienced a decline in population as the economic prospects available in the cities and in France's overseas empire attracted working-aged people. Economic ruin came to many in the Charentais wine industry with the arrival in 1872 of phylloxera. During the twentieth century, the department with its traditional industries was adversely impacted by two major world wars, and in the second half of the century, it experienced relatively low growth. The overall population remaining remarkably stable at around 340,000 throughout the second half of the twentieth century, although industrial and commercial developments in the conurbation surrounding Angoulême have added some 10,000 to the overall population during the first decade of the twenty-first century. The relatively relaxed pace of economic development in the twentieth century encouraged the immigration of retirees from overseas. Census data in 2006 revealed that the number of British citizens residing in the department had risen to 5,083, placing the department fourth in this respect behind Paris, Dordogne and Alpes-Maritimes.

It is largely part of the Aquitaine Basin, with the northeastern part in the Massif Central. The Charente flows through it and gave its name to the department, along with Charente-Maritime. It is composed with the historical region of Angoumois and contains part of the regions of Saintonge, Limousin, Périgord and Poitou. The department is part of the current region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is surrounded by the departments of Charente-Maritime, Dordogne, Haute-Vienne, Vienne and Deux-Sèvres. The southernmost “major” town (town with over 1,000 people) in the Charente is Chalais.

The most populous commune is Angoulême, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are nine communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants: • Commune — Population (2023) • Angoulême — 41,908 • Cognac — 18,532 • Soyaux — 10,087 • La Couronne — 7,765 • Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente — 7,539 • Ruelle-sur-Touvre — 7,408 • Gond-Pontouvre — 5,862 • L'Isle-d'Espagnac — 5,682 • Champniers — 5,281

The inhabitants of the department are called Charentais or in feminine, Charentaise. Population development since 1791:

The President of the Departmental Council is Philippe Bouty of the Miscellaneous left (DVG), elected in July 2021. • Party || seats • • — Socialist Party — 15 • Union for a Popular Movement — 6 • Miscellaneous Right — 6 • • — Miscellaneous Left — 6 • • — French Communist Party — 2

• Constituency — Member — Party • Charente's 1st constituency — René Pilato — La France Insoumise • Charente's 2nd constituency — Sandra Marsaud — Renaissance • Charente's 3rd constituency — Caroline Colombier — National Rally

Cognac and pineau are two of the major agricultural products of the region, along with butter. The Charentaise slipper (a type of slipper made from felt and wool) is another well-known traditional product.

• Illustration — Angoulême Cathedral • Illustration — Champagne-Vigny • Illustration — Verteuil-sur-Charente • Illustration — Abbey of La Couronne • Illustration — Plassac-Rouffiac • Illustration — Aubeterre-sur-Dronne • Illustration — Château de la Faye