Manche

For other uses, see Manche (disambiguation).

For the Spanish region, see La Mancha.

Manche (/mɒ̃ʃ/, French pronunciation: [mɑ̃ʃ] ; Norman: Maunche) is a coastal French département in Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as La Manche, literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by Ille-et-Vilaine and Mayenne to the south, Orne and Calvados to the east, the English Channel to the west and north and by sharing maritime borders with the Crown Dependencies of Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey of the United Kingdom to the west. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.

Manche
Department
From top down, left to right: Mont-Saint-Michel, Watchtowers in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Islands of Chausey and Château de Gratot
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Manche in France
Coordinates: 49°03′N 01°15′E
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Prefecture	Saint-Lô
Subprefectures	Avranches Cherbourg Coutances
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Jean Morin (DVD)
Area 1
• Total	5,951 km2 (2,298 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	495,508
• Rank	53rd
• Density	83/km2 (220/sq mi)
Demonyms	Manchois, Manchots
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	50
Arrondissements	4
Constituency	4
Cantons	27
Intercommunality	8
Communes	446
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

Manche is one of the original 83 Departments of France, established during the French Revolution on 26 February 1790. It was created from part of the province of Normandy.

The capital was Coutances until 1796, and it resumed that role after World War II because of the almost complete destruction of Saint-Lô during the Battle of Normandy following D-Day. When Saint-Lô was rebuilt, it once again became the capital.

Geography

Map of Cotentin peninsula

The department includes the Cotentin Peninsula down to the famous Mont St Michel. Of the Channel Islands, only the island of Chausey forms part of the territory of the department.

Manche borders the Normandy departments of Calvados to the east and Orne to the southeast. Mayenne, a department of the Pays de la Loire, is to the south-east, and Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany is to the south-west and it shares maritime borders with Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey of the United Kingdom to the west. The salient of this department is the longest in France. It is also the second longest salient in Europe, after Odesa Oblast in Ukraine.

The region is lush and green with sandy beaches and remains oriented towards farming. The peninsula was originally joined as a single land mass to Cornwall and Dorset in England, meaning that the underlying geological strata of both regions are very similar. However, there are substantial regional differences today in terms of flora and fauna, and farming practices have varied considerably between the United Kingdom and France. Flat marsh areas in the department attract many bird-watchers. The region in and around St Lô is also the equestrian capital of France, where the cooler climate compared to the south is ideal for breeding and training.

France's first EPR nuclear reactor is under construction at Flamanville near Cherbourg and is planned to start operations in late 2023.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Cherbourg-en-Cotentin; and the prefecture Saint-Lô is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are six communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Commune	Population (2019)
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin	78,549
Saint-Lô	19,050
Granville	12,513
La Hague	11,173
Avranches	10,264
Carentan-les-Marais	10,052

Climate

The climate is oceanic with relatively mild winters in which temperatures go below zero only for a few days. Summer temperatures are usually around 20 °C, and can occasionally reach 35 °C in direct sunlight. Precipitation is heavy but varies greatly by region, from 700mm on the coast to 1300mm in the southern central area. Highly localised but not life-threatening flash flooding has been experienced during the last few springs.

The west coast benefits from the influence of the Gulf Stream and this has enabled the naturalization of Mediterranean and exotic plants such as mimosas, palms, and agaves.

There is often a sea breeze on the coast, which combined with tides, contributes to rapid temperature changes in the course of a single day. Sea temperatures can be very pleasant for swimming between June and October.

Demographics

Inhabitants of the department are called Manchots or Manchois.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 530,631 —     1806 581,429 +1.85% 1821 594,196 +0.14% 1831 591,284 −0.05% 1841 597,334 +0.10% 1851 600,882 +0.06% 1861 591,421 −0.16% 1872 544,776 −0.74% 1881 526,377 −0.38% 1891 513,815 −0.24% 1901 491,372 −0.45% 1911 476,119 −0.31% 1921 425,512 −1.12%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 433,473 +0.19% 1936 438,539 +0.23% 1946 435,468 −0.07% 1954 446,860 +0.32% 1962 446,878 +0.00% 1968 451,939 +0.19% 1975 451,662 −0.01% 1982 465,948 +0.45% 1990 479,636 +0.36% 1999 481,471 +0.04% 2006 492,565 +0.33% 2011 499,531 +0.28% 2016 498,362 −0.05%
source:

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Jean Morin, elected in July 2021.

Presidential elections 2nd round

Election		Winning Candidate	Party	%	2nd Place Candidate	Party	%
	2022	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	59.61	Marine Le Pen	FN	40.39
	2017	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	67.23	Marine Le Pen	FN	32.77
	2012	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	50.10	François Hollande	PS	49.90
	2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	56.17	Ségolène Royal	PS	43.83
	2002	Jacques Chirac	RPR	85.31	Jean-Marie Le Pen	FN	14.69

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member	Party
	Manche's 1st constituency	Philippe Gosselin	The Republicans
	Manche's 2nd constituency	Bertrand Sorre	Renaissance
	Manche's 3rd constituency	Stéphane Travert	Renaissance
	Manche's 4th constituency	Anna Pic	Socialist Party

Sports

A neighbourhood in Saint-André-de-l'Épine

• Football: main clubs: AS Cherbourg, US Avranches, FC Saint-Lô, US Granville, CS Villedieu, FC Équeurdreville-Hainneville...
• Cycling: the Tour de France has visited the department 21 times with stages ending at Cherbourg (16), Avranches (2), Granville (1), Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët (1), and the Mont-Saint-Michel (1).
• Sailing: the Solitaire du Figaro has come to Cherbourg several times.
• Tennis: hosts the Challenger La Manche tournament.
• Thai boxing: Villedieu-les-Poêles
• Badminton: Two local clubs compete in the national championship (N3): St Hilaire du Harcouet and Hainneville.
• Golf: course: Granville, Bréhal, Coutainville, Cherbourg, Centre Manche, Fontenay, Côte des Isles

Tourism

• 
  Mont-Saint-Michel
• 
  Chausey islands
• 
  Coutances Cathedral
• 
  Tour Vauban in Tatihou
• 
  Napoleon's statue in Cherbourg
• 
  Le Redoutable submarine at the Cité de la Mer
• 
  A monument of the Normandy landings in Utah Beach

See also

• Cantons of the Manche department
• Communes of the Manche department
• Arrondissements of the Manche department
• Cotentinais, the Norman dialect of Manche.

External links

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in French) A wiki about the Manche
• (in French) Comité départemental du tourisme de la Manche