Charente

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Charente
Coat of arms of the Charente department
Location
Administration
Department number:	16
Region:	Poitou-Charentes
Prefecture:	Angoulême
Subprefectures:	Cognac Confolens
Arrondissements:	3
Cantons:	35
Communes:	404
President of the General Council:	Michel Boutant PS
Statistics
Population	Ranked 66th
-1999	339,628
Population density:	57/km2
Land area¹:	5956 km2
¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2.

Charente (Saintongeais: Chérente, Occitan: Charanta) is a department in southwestern France named after the Charente River.

History

Charente is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Angoumois, west and south of Saintonge.

Geography

The department is part of the current region of Poitou-Charentes. It is surrounded by the departments of Vienne, Haute-Vienne, Dordogne, Charente-Maritime, and Deux-Sèvres. It contains part of the geographical regions of Poitou and Limousin. Its capital is Angoulême.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Charentais.

Economy

Cognac and pineau are two of the major agricultural products. They also produce excellent butter. But the Charentaise slipper is the 2nd most well-known product (after cognac).

See also

• Cantons of the Charente department
• Communes of the Charente department
• Arrondissements of the Charente department

External links

• (French) Prefecture website
• (French) General Council website
• (English) Official Charente Tourist Board

Coordinates: 45°50′N 00°20′E / 45.833°N 0.333°E / 45.833; 0.333