Marne () is a

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is named after the river

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

which flows through it. The

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

(capital) of Marne is

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the department of Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renam ...

(formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne). The subprefectures are

Épernay Épernay () is a commune in the Marne department of northern France, 130 km north-east of Paris on the mainline railway to Strasbourg. The town sits on the left bank of the Marne at the extremity of the Cubry valley which crosses it. Éperna ...

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, and

Vitry-le-François Vitry-le-François () is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France. It is located on the river Marne and is the western terminus of the Marne–Rhine Canal. Vitry-le-François station has rail connections to Paris, Reims, Strasbour ...

. It had a population of 566,855 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 51 Marne
INSEE The

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

vineyards producing the eponymous sparkling wine are in Marne.

Name

The department is named after the

, which was called ''Matrona'' in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times.

History

Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

on March 4, 1790. It was created from the province of

. Marne has a long association with the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

. 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

. 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 Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

. The Battles of the Marne, where the British and French fought against Germany during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, took place here.

Geography

Marne is part of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

and is surrounded by the departments of

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; 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.Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne (river), Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square ...

, and

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

plain in the east and the more wooded and hilly

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

and

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

in the west. Rivers draining the department include the

Vesle The Vesle () is the river on which the city of Reims stands. It is a fourth order river of France and a left-bank tributary of the Aisne. It is long, and rises in the ''département'' of Marne through which it flows most of its course. Geography ...

, 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 Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

in the department of Marne.

Principal towns

The most populous commune in the department is

; the prefecture

is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are five communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called ''Marnais''. Population development since 1801:

Politics

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

Presidential elections 2nd round

Current National Assembly Representatives

Tourism

, with its cathedral in which the

kings of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

were traditionally crowned, is a major attraction. Others include the bird reserve on the

Lake Der-Chantecoq Lake Der-Chantecoq (French: ''Lac du Der-Chantecoq'') is situated close to the commune of Saint-Dizier in the departments of Marne and Haute-Marne. It is the largest artificial lake in France, covering with 350 million m³ of water. The lake is n ...

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

. File:The Porte Mars, an ancient Roman triumphal arch in Reims dating from the 3rd century AD and the widest arch in the Roman world, Durocortorum (Reims, France) (9292412785).jpg, The

Porte de Mars Porte de Mars is an ancient Roman triumphal arch in Reims, France. It dates from the third century AD, and was the widest arch in the Roman world. The Arch The monumental Mars Gate dates from the first part of the 3rd century and is the only r ...

, a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...

from the third century AD. File:La Cathédrale de Reims .jpg,

Cathedral of Reims , image = Reims Kathedrale.jpg , imagealt = Facade, looking northeast , caption = Façade of the cathedral, looking northeast , pushpin map = France , pushpin map alt = Location within France , ...

where the

were traditionally crowned File:View of Épernay from Mont Bernon.jpg, Vineyards near

File:Reims 2008 -Wineries of Champagne- by-RaBoe 05.jpg,

bottles File:Valmy Windmuehle 01 09.jpg, Valmy Battlefield File:Notredamedevaux-chevet.jpg,

Notre-Dame-en-Vaux The Notre-Dame-en-Vaux is a Roman Catholic church located in Châlons-en-Champagne. The cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcop ...

collegiate church in

References

External links

*
Prefecture website
*
Departmental Council website
* *
Official Tourist Board
{{Authority control 1790 establishments in France Departments of Grand Est States and territories established in 1790