Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (, ; Norman: ''Tchidbouo'') is a port

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in the department of

Manche Manche (, ; Norman language, Norman: ) is a coastal Departments of France, French ''département'' in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as , literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, northwestern France, established on 1 January 2016.Arrêté préfectoral
1 December 2015 The commune takes its name from

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

, the main town of the commune, and from the

Cotentin Peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; ), 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 west lie the Gu ...

. Cherbourg is an important commercial, ferry and military port on the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is a maritime prefecture and a sub-prefecture of Manche. The merger makes it the most populous commune in the department, with 79,144 inhabitants as of 2018 (of which 35,545 in Cherbourg-Octeville)Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2018
INSEE and the largest city of the department, ahead of the

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. Its

urban unit In France, an urban unit () 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 commune alone or a grou ...

is composed of three communes (Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Martinvast and Tollevast) and has 81,963 inhabitants (2018). Its larger functional area covers 77 communes and had 152,630 inhabitants as of 2018.

Toponymy

The

onomastics Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onom ...

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 spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, Gallo-Latin,

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

and

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

. A medieval

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

from ''*Caesaris burgis'' ("Caesar's town", from

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

) is easily discounted.

Administration

The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by a merger of the former communes of Cherbourg-Octeville, Équeurdreville-Hainneville, La Glacerie, Querqueville and Tourlaville. The seat of the commune is in Cherbourg. Cherbourg-Octeville had been 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, and of 6 cantons: Cherbourg-en-Cotentin-1, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin-2, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin-3, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin-4, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin-5 and

La Hague La Hague () is a commune in the department of Manche, northwestern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Gui ...

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. Several HLM agencies are responsible for social housing of the agglomeration: ''Presqu'île Habitat'', ''Les Cités Cherbourgeoises'', ''HLM du Cotentin'', ''Manche Habitat'' and ''HLM Coutances Granville''.

Education

Public senior high schools/sixth-form colleges include: * Lycée Jean-François-Millet (former Cherbourg-Octeville) * Lycée Victor-Grignard (former Cherbourg-Octeville) * Lycée Alexis-de-Tocqueville (former Cherbourg-Octeville) Private senior high schools/sixth-form colleges include: * Lycée privé Thomas-Hélye (former Cherbourg-Octeville)Home
Lycée privé Thomas-Hélye. Retrieved on November 17, 2016.

Politics

Presidential elections second round

Sights

* * * The Church of Saint-Clément