Seine-Maritime () is a

department of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety-s ...

in the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

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 an ...

of northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inférieure. It had a population of 1,255,633 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 76 Seine-Maritime
INSEE

History

;1790 - Creation of the Seine-Inférieure department :The department was created from part of the old province of

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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, on 4 March 1790, through the application of a law of 22 December 1789. ;1815 - Occupation :After the victory at Waterloo of the coalition armies, the department was occupied by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces from June 1815 till November 1818. ;1843 – Railways and industry :In Rouen, Elbeuf, and

Bolbec Bolbec () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Bolbécais'' or ''Bolbécaises''. Geography A farming, quarrying and light industrial town situated at the heart of ...

, the number of textile factories is increasing. Metallurgy and naval construction as well. ;1851 - A republican department :Following President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte's 1851 Coup d'état, Seine-Inférieure was one of several departments placed under a state of emergency (literally, in French, ''

state of siege A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

)'' following fears of significant resistance to the new government. ;

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

:In 1942, during occupation by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, two Allied raids, the

Bruneval Saint-Jouin-Bruneval is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A farming village in the Pays de Caux, situated some north of Le Havre, at the junction of the D940, D139 and D111 roads. ...

and

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

, took place at towns of the channel coast of Seine-Inférieure.

Heraldry

Geography

The department can be split into three main areas: * The

Seine valley ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

. The Seine flows through the provincial capital Rouen. * The chalk plateau

Pays de Caux The Pays de Caux (, , literally ''Land of Caux'') is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French ''département'' of Seine Maritime in Normandy. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs o ...

, with its abrupt coastline (the Alabaster Coast). * The Norman

Pays de Bray The Pays de Bray (, literally ''Land of Bray'') is a small (about 750 km²) natural region of France situated to the north-east of Rouen, straddling the French departments of the Seine-Maritime and the Oise (historically divided among the ...

, with its hills and

bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern France, Southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ''Bocage'' may als ...

landscape.

Administration

The département was created in 1790 as Seine-Inférieure, one of five departements that replaced the former

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. In 1800 five arrondissements were created within the département, namely Rouen,

, Neufchatel and

Yvetot Yvetot () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. It is the capital of the Caux region. History The name Yvetot comes from the Germanic ''Yvo'' and the Old Norse ''-topt''. Therefore, Yvetot mean ...

, although the latter two were disbanded in 1926. On 18 January 1955 the name of the département was changed to Seine-Maritime, in order to provide a more positive-sounding name and in-keeping with changes made in a number of other French departements.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

; the prefecture Rouen is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Previously lacking a demonym, the inhabitants of Seine-Maritime (as the department had been renamed in 1955) chose, following a public consultation, to be identified in official documents as "Seinomarins" (males) and "Seinomarines" (females).

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Bertrand Bellanger, elected in 2019.

Presidential elections 2nd round

Current National Assembly Representatives

Transport

In 1843 the railway from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

reached the region. The département is connected to the adjacent Eure department via the

Tancarville Tancarville () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Geography Tancarville is a farming village surrounded by woodland, by the banks of the river Seine in the Pays de Caux, some east of Le H ...

and

Pont de Normandie The ''Pont de Normandie'' ( en, Normandy Bridge) is a cable-stayed road bridge that spans the river Seine linking Le Havre to Honfleur in Normandy, northern France. Its total length is – between the two piers. It is also the last bridge to ...

bridge crossings of the Seine.

Culture

Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emp ...

'' by

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

is set in Seine Maritime. The novel ''La Place'' by

Annie Ernaux Annie Thérèse Blanche Ernaux (; born 1 September 1940) is a French writer, professor of literature and Nobel laureate. Her literary work, mostly autobiographical, maintains close links with sociology. Ernaux was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize ...

largely takes place in Seine-Maritime and describes events and changes that take place in relation to French society in the 20th century especially in relation to the rural population. The first story of the long-running series ''

Valérian and Laureline ''Valérian and Laureline'' (french: Valérian et Laureline), also known as ''Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent'' (french: Valérian, agent spatio-temporel) or just ''Valérian'', is a French science fiction comics series, created by writer Pie ...

'' is set in Seine-Maritime, with the character Laureline originating from the area. Cauchois is the dialect of the Pays de Caux, and is one of the most vibrant forms of the Norman language beyond

Cotentinais Cotentinais is the dialect of the Norman language spoken in the Cotentin Peninsula of France. It is one of the strongest dialects of the language on the mainland. Dialects Due to the relative lack of standardisation of Norman, there are five ...

Tourism

File:Rouen Cathedral as seen from Gros Horloge 140215 4.jpg, Notre-Dame of Rouen File:Blockhaus Fécamp (3) 0018.JPG, Element of the Atlantic Wall near

Fécamp Fécamp () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is aroun ...

File:LeHavre.jpg, Entirely destroyed during

has been rebuilt in modernist style File:L'Aiguille et la Porte d'Aval-Etretat-Normandie.jpg, Limestone cliffs of

Étretat Étretat () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-Maritime Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region of Northwestern France. It is a Tourism, tourist and Agriculture, far ...