Seine-Maritime

Seine-Maritime
Department
Prefecture building of the Seine-Maritime department, in Rouen
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Seine-Maritime in France
Coordinates: 49°40′N 0°50′E / 49.667°N 0.833°E / 49.667; 0.833
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Prefecture	Rouen
Subprefectures	Dieppe Le Havre
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Bertrand Bellanger[1]
Area 1
• Total	6,278 km2 (2,424 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	1,255,918
• Rank	16th
• Density	200/km2 (520/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-76
Department number	76
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	35
Communes	708
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Seine-Maritime (French pronunciation: [sɛn maʁitim] ^ⓘ) is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inférieure. It had a population of 1,255,633 in 2019.^[3]

1790 - Creation of the Seine-Inférieure department

The department was created from part of the old province of Normandy during the French Revolution, 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 forces from June 1815 till November 1818.

1843 – Railways and industry

In Rouen, Elbeuf, and Bolbec, 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) ^[4] following fears of significant resistance to the new government.

World War II

In 1942, during occupation by Nazi Germany, two Allied raids, the Bruneval and Dieppe, took place at towns of the channel coast of Seine-Inférieure.

1955 - Rename to Seine-Maritime

In 1955, the department's name was officially changed to Seine-Maritime.

The arms of the departement Seine-Maritime are blazoned : Gules a fess wavy argent between two lions passant gardant or armed and langued azure.

The department can be split into three main areas:^[5]

• The Seine valley. The Seine flows through the provincial capital Rouen.
• The chalk plateau Pays de Caux, with its abrupt coastline (the Alabaster Coast).
• The Norman Pays de Bray, with its hills and bocage landscape.

The département was created in 1790 as Seine-Inférieure, one of five departements that replaced the former province of Normandy. In 1800 five arrondissements were created within the département, namely Rouen, Le Havre, Dieppe, Neufchatel and Yvetot, 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.

The most populous commune is Le Havre; the prefecture Rouen is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:^[3]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 609,843 —     1821 655,804 +0.36% 1831 693,683 +0.56% 1841 737,206 +0.61% 1851 762,039 +0.33% 1861 789,988 +0.36% 1872 790,022 +0.00% 1881 814,068 +0.33% 1891 839,876 +0.31% 1901 853,883 +0.17% 1911 877,383 +0.27% 1921 880,671 +0.04% 1931 905,278 +0.28%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1936 915,628 +0.23% 1946 846,131 −0.79% 1954 941,684 +1.35% 1962 1,035,844 +1.20% 1968 1,113,977 +1.22% 1975 1,172,743 +0.74% 1982 1,193,039 +0.25% 1990 1,223,429 +0.31% 1999 1,239,138 +0.14% 2006 1,243,830 +0.05% 2011 1,251,282 +0.12% 2016 1,255,755 +0.07%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
source:[6][7]

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" ^[8] (males) and "Seinomarines" (females).

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

In 1843 the railway from Paris reached the region. The département is connected to the adjacent Eure department via the Tancarville and Pont de Normandie bridge crossings of the Seine.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is set in Seine Maritime.

The novel La Place by Annie Ernaux 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 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.

• 
  Notre-Dame of Rouen
• 
  Element of the Atlantic Wall near Fécamp
• 
  Entirely destroyed during World War II, Le Havre has been rebuilt in modernist style
• 
  Limestone cliffs of Étretat

• Arrondissements of the Seine-Maritime department
• Cantons of the Seine-Maritime department
• Communauté de communes d'Yères et Plateaux
• Communes of the Seine-Maritime department

• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Communes 76