city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
Manche
Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.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 ...
, northwestern France, established on 1 January 2016.Arrêté préfectoral 1 December 2015 The commune takes its name from
Cherbourg
Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...
, the main town of the commune, and the
Cotentin Peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...
. Cherbourg is an important commercial, ferry and military port on the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...
. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is a Maritime prefecture and sub-prefecture of Manche. Due to its union, it is the most populous commune in its department with 79,144 inhabitants as of 2018 (of which 35,545 in
Cherbourg-Octeville
Cherbourg-Octeville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
and the second in the region after
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,urban unit
In France, an urban unit (''fr: "unité urbaine"'') is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a ...
is composed of three communes (Cherbourg-en-Cotentin,
Martinvast
Martinvast () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
See also
*Communes of the Manche department
The following is a list of the 446 Communes of France, communes of the Manche Departments of France, departm ...
and
Tollevast
Tollevast () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
See also
*Communes of the Manche department
The following is a list of the 446 communes of the Manche department of France.
The communes cooperate in th ...
), and has 81,963 inhabitants (2018). Its larger functional area (covering 77 communes) has 152,630 inhabitants (2018).
Toponymy
The
onomastics
Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An '' orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study.
Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, ...
of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin are, particularly for the first particle, heavily contested. Theories include descent from
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...
,
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
, and
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
. A medieval
folk etymology
Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...
from ''*Caesaris burgis'' ("Caesar's town", from
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
) is easily discounted.
Administration
The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of
Cherbourg-Octeville
Cherbourg-Octeville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
,
Équeurdreville-Hainneville
Équeurdreville-Hainneville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.La Glacerie
La Glacerie （） is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Querqueville
Querqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Tourlaville
Tourlaville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. The seat of the commune is in Cherbourg. Cherbourg-Octeville was established on 28 February 2000 by merger of the former communes of Cherbourg and Octeville.Décret 23 February 2000
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is part of the
arrondissement of Cherbourg
The arrondissement of Cherbourg is an arrondissement of France in the Manche department in the Normandy region. It lies entirely on the Cotentin Peninsula and has 144 communes. Its population is 189,748 (2016), and its area is .
Composition
The c ...
La Hague
La Hague () is a commune in the department of Manche, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Beaumont-Hague (the seat), Acqueville, Auderville, Biville, Branville-Hague, ...
.
Population
Housing
In 2017, in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin there were 43,118 dwellings of which 88.8% of primary residences, 3.5% second homes and 7.7% vacant houses. 50.5% were houses and 48.8% were apartments.Dossier complet: Commune de Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (50129) INSEE Of the 37,983 principal residences built before 2015, the largest share (35.7%) was built between 1971 and 1990. 6.6% were built between 2006 and 2014, which is much lower than the departmental rate (11.1%).
The commune shares the social housing with the
Communauté d'agglomération du Cotentin
Communauté d'agglomération du Cotentin is the ''communauté d'agglomération'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, city of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, on the Cotentin Peninsula. It is lo ...
. Several
HLM
An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies.
HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France.Home Lycée privé Thomas-Hélye. Retrieved on November 17, 2016.
Politics
Presidential elections second round
Sights
* The Notre-Dame-du-Vœu Abbey (built in 1145)
* The Basilica of the Holy Trinity.
* The Notre-Dame-du-Vœu church
* The Saint-Clément church
See also
*
Cherbourg Harbour
Cherbourg Harbour (French: ''rade de Cherbourg''; literally, the "roadstead of Cherbourg"), is a harbour situated at the northern end of the Cotentin Peninsula, on the English Channel coastline, in Normandy, northwestern France. With a surface ...
*
Communes of the Manche department
The following is a list of the 446 Communes of France, communes of the Manche Departments of France, department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities (as of 2020):