Haute-Marne
Template:Short description Template:Original research Template:Infobox settlement Haute-Marne (Template:IPA; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.<ref name=pop2019>Populations légales 2019: 52 Haute-Marne, INSEE</ref>
History
[edit]Haute-Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Champagne, Burgundy, Lorraine and Franche-Comté.<ref name=Hutchinson>Haute-Marne, Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia. Research Machines plc. September 8, 2005. accessed on October 19, 2006.</ref>
In March 1814 the departmental prefecture, Chaumont, was the unwitting witness to the end of the First Empire. On 1 March, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom and Austria signed an accord forbidding any individual peace deal with Napoleon I, and to fight until his final defeat.
During World War II, Haute-Marne was partitioned under German occupation. The canal which runs from the Marne to the Saône served as a border, dividing the department into east and west. The east was a "reserved zone", intended for the creation of a new German (Ripuarian) state, whereas to the west would be the traditional "occupied zone". Haute-Marne was finally liberated by the Allies, in the form of the division of General Leclerc, between August and September 1944.
Geography
[edit]Haute-Marne is part of the region of Grand Est and is surrounded by the departments of Meuse, Vosges, Haute-Saône, Côte-d'Or, Aube, and Marne.
The highest mountain is Haut-du-Sac, in the Langres Plateau, in the southwest of the department, which rises to a height of Template:Convert. The lowest points at Template:Convert are found on the plains of Perthois and Der.<ref name=Hutchinson/>
The department is named after the river Marne, whose source is near Langres. This river covers Template:Convert within the department. The department is to the east of the Parisian basin, and is characterised by a concentric sequence of cliff faces of varying geological origin, oriented northeast–southwest.
Principal towns
[edit]The most populous commune is Saint-Dizier; the prefecture Chaumont is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 3,000 inhabitants:<ref name=pop2019/>
Commune | Population (2019) |
---|---|
Saint-Dizier | 22,928 |
Chaumont | 21,847 |
Langres | 7,668 |
Nogent | 3,591 |
Joinville | 3,015 |
Demographics
[edit]Population development since 1801:Template:Historical populations
Tourism
[edit]The Haute-Marne department is not a famous department but this peaceful territory has numerous interesting places to visit. Indeed, the department was one of the most powerful in French history thanks to metallurgy economy and was a land of confrontations along history.
Thus, among other examples, the French Wars of Religion (from 1562 to 1598) began with the Massacre of Vassy in the north of the Haute-Marne department. Following this event, open military conflicts across France Kingdom began. The Edict of Nantes is the consequence of this period.
The fortified town of Langres, famous for Denis Diderot author of the Encyclopédie, the Renaissance castle of Joinville, the Lake Der-Chantecoq (one of the biggest artificial lake in Europe), the Chateau de Cirey where Voltaire lived for a while with Émilie du Châtelet and the village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises where Charles De Gaulle lived until his death are all major attractions.
Haute-Marne is also well known for some famous French great men and women as:
- Louise Michel
- Camille Flammarion and his brother Ernest Flammarion
- Goncourt brothers most famous all around the world with the Prix Goncourt, literature prize given by the académie Goncourt for "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"
- Albin Michel
-
View from the walls of Langres
-
Charles de Gaulle's private residence in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises
-
Frankish sword discovered in Saint-Dizier
-
Château of Cirey-sur-Blaise
Politics
[edit]Charles de Gaulle was a longtime resident of the department, in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, and died there on 9 November 1970, at the age of 79.
The president of the Departmental Council is Nicolas Lacroix, elected in 2017.
Presidential elections 2nd round
[edit]Election | Winning Candidate | Party | % | 2nd Place Candidate | Party | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
style="background:Template:Party color;"| | 2022 | Emmanuel Macron | LREM | 43.04 | Marine Le Pen | RN | 56.96 |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | 2017<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> | Emmanuel Macron | LREM | 50.48 | Marine Le Pen | FN | 49.52 |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | 2012 | Nicolas Sarkozy | UMP | 54.43 | François Hollande | PS | 45.57 |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | 2007 | Nicolas Sarkozy | UMP | 59.14 | Ségolène Royal | PS | 40.86 |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | 2002<ref name="auto"/> | Jacques Chirac | RPR | 76.17 | Jean-Marie Le Pen | FN | 23.83 |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | 1995<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Jacques Chirac | RPR | 52.17 | Lionel Jospin | PS | 47.83 |
Current National Assembly Representatives
[edit]Constituency | Member<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Haute-Marne's 1st constituency | Christophe Bentz | National Rally |
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Haute-Marne's 2nd constituency | Laurence Robert-Dehault | National Rally |
See also
[edit]- Arrondissements of the Haute-Marne department
- Cantons of the Haute-Marne department
- Communes of the Haute-Marne department
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Template:In lang Prefecture website
- Template:In lang Departmental Council website
- Template:In lang Official Tourist Board website