Champagne-Ardenne

Main	Births etc

| name = Champagne-Ardenne | image_map = Champagne-Ardenne in France.svg | image_flag = Champagne Ardenne flag.svg | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = France | seat_type = Prefecture | seat = Châlons-en-Champagne | area_total_km2 = 25606 | area_footnotes = | population_total = 1339270 | population_as_of = 2012-01-01 | population_footnotes = | parts_type = Departments | parts_style = list | parts = 4 | p1 = Ardennes | p2 = Aube | p3 = Marne | p4 = Haute-Marne | blank_name_sec2 = NUTS Region | blank_info_sec2 = FR2 | iso_code = FR-G }}

Champagne-Ardenne (French pronunciation: [ʃɑ̃paɲ aʁdɛn]) is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is famous for its sparkling white wine, named champagne after the eponymous wine region.

The administrative region was formed in 1956, consisting of the four departments Aube, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, and Marne. On 1 January 2016, it merged with the neighboring regions of Alsace and Lorraine to form the new region Grand Est, thereby ceasing to exist as an independent entity.^[1]

Its rivers, most of which flow west, include the Seine, the Marne, and the Aisne. The Meuse flows north.

Transportation[]

Highways[]

A4 connecting Paris and Strasbourg and serving the Reims metropolitan area
A5 connecting Paris and Dijon and serving Troyes and Chaumont
A26 connecting Calais and Troyes and serving Reims and Châlons-en-Champagne
A34 connecting Reims and the Belgian border and serving Charleville-Mézières

Rail[]

The rail network includes the Paris–Strasbourg line, which follows the Marne Valley and serves Épernay, Châlons-en-Champagne, and Vitry-le-François. The LGV Est TGV line also connecting Paris and Strasbourg opened in 2007 and serves Reims with a train station in the commune of Bezannes.

Water[]

The region's canals include the Canal latéral à la Marne and Marne-Rhine Canal, the latter connecting to the Marne at Vitry-le-François. These are petit gabarit canals.

Air[]

The Vatry International Airport, primarily dedicated to air freight, has a runway 3,650 m (11,980 ft) long. The airport is in a sparsely populated area just 150 km (93 mi) from Paris.

Economy[]

FR-51-Landscape5 — Vineyard in Champagne-Ardenne.

61.4% of its land is dedicated to agriculture
1st in France for the production of barley and alfalfa
2nd in France for the production of beets, onions, and peas
3rd in France for the production of tender wheat and rapeseed.
282.37 km² of vineyards
Champagne sales in 2001: 263 million bottles (4% increase from 2000) of which 37.6% were exported.
25% of French hosiery production
3rd metallurgic region in France

Businesses[]

Verreries Mécaniques de Champagne
Produits Métallurgiques à Reims
Vallou

Food processing[]

Champagne-Céréales
France-Luzerne
Béghin-Say

Demographics[]

The population of Champagne-Ardenne has been in steady decrease since 1982 due to a rural exodus. With 1.3 million people and a density of 52/km², it is one of France's least populated regions. After a brief period of stabilization in the 1990s, the region's population is now among the fastest "dying" in Europe, with several municipalities losing people at a faster rate than a lot of Eastern European areas, especially in the Haute-Marne department. The region is among the oldest in France, has a weak fertility rate, and its immigrant population, while growing, is still minimal compared to the national average.

Major communities[]

Châlons-en-Champagne
Charleville-Mézières
Chaumont
Épernay
Reims
Saint-Dizier
Sedan
Troyes

References[]

^ Loi n° 2015-29 du 16 janvier 2015 relative à la délimitation des régions, aux élections régionales et départementales et modifiant le calendrier électoral (in French)

External links[]

[http:// Official website] (French)https://web.archive.org/web/20061013154125/http://www.cr-champagne-ardenne.fr:80/
Champagne-Ardenne at the Open Directory Project (English)
Champagne-Ardenne travel guide from Wikivoyage

Coordinates: 49°00′N 4°30′E / 49, 4.5

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Champagne-Ardenne. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

[reform_law-1] Loi n° 2015-29 du 16 janvier 2015 relative à la délimitation des régions, aux élections régionales et départementales et modifiant le calendrier électoral (in French)

[1]