Charente-Maritime

The Charente -Maritime [ ˌ ʃa ʀãtmaʀitim ] is a French department of atomic number 17 It is in the west of the country in the Poitou -Charentes on the Atlantic coast and is named after the Charente River and its maritime location. Capital is the ancient fortress city of La Rochelle.

Geography

The Charente -Maritime is bordered to the north by the Vendée, and on the northeast by the Deux-Sevres, on the east by the department of Charente, in the extreme southeast of the Dordogne, in the south of the Gironde department and to the west by the Gironde the Atlantic Ocean.

Most important rivers are the Sevre Niortaise, predominantly northern border of the Vendée, the eponymous Charente, which crosses the Territory to the west and flows behind Rochefort in the Atlantic, its right tributary Boutonne, further south the Seudre whose estuary to extensive oyster and shellfish is used, and in the southeast the Dronne, which forms the border with the Dordogne short.

For Charente -Maritime also includes the Atlantic coast barrier islands Île de Ré, Ile d' Oleron, Ile- d'Aix and Ile Madame.

The area around and especially north of the central city in the department of Saintes forms the historical province of Saintonge.

Coat of arms

Description: In split into blue and red coat of arms is a silver front miter of three ( 1, 2) accompanied golden lilies and rear swept against a golden crowned pigeon.

Cities

The most densely populated municipalities of the department of Charente -Maritime are:

Administrative divisions

The Charente -Maritime is divided into five arrondissements, 51 cantons and 472 communes: