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Meuse (department)

Coordinates:_type:adm2nd_scale:1000000_source:frwiki49°00′N05°20′E/ 49.000°N 5.333°E/49.000; 5.333
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Meuse
Department
Prefecture building of the Meuse department, in Bar-le-Duc
Prefecturebuilding of the Meuse department, in Bar-le-Duc
Flag of Meuse
Flag
Coat of arms of Meuse
Coat of arms
Location of Meuse in France
Location of Meuse in France
Coordinates:_type:adm2nd_scale:1000000_source:frwiki49°00′N05°20′E/ 49.000°N 5.333°E/49.000; 5.333
CountryFrance
RegionGrand Est
PrefectureBar-le-Duc
SubprefecturesCommercy
Verdun
Government
•President of the Departmental CouncilJérôme Dumont[1]
Area
1
• Total6,211 km2(2,398 sq mi)
Population
(2021)[2]
• Total181,919
• Rank91st
• Density29/km2(76/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Meusiens, Meusiennes
Time zoneUTC+1(CET)
• Summer (DST)UTC+2(CEST)
ISO 3166 codeFR-55
Department number55
Largest cityVerdun
Arrondissements3
Constituency2
Cantons17
Intercommunality15
Communes499
^1French Land Register data, which excludeestuaries,and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2
Part ofa serieson
Lorraine
Flag of Lorraine since the 13th century
History
Culture
Religion
Law
Administrative divisions
Lorraine in theEU
Related topics

Meuse(French pronunciation:[møz]ⓘ) is adepartmentin northeastFrance,named after theRiver Meuse.Meuse is part of the currentregionofGrand Estand is landlocked and borders by the French departments ofArdennes,Marne,Haute-Marne,Vosges,Meurthe-et-Moselle,andBelgiumto the north. Parts of Meuse belong toParc naturel régional de Lorraine.It had a population of 184,083 in 2019.[3]Front lines intrench warfareduringWorld War Iran varying courses through the department and it hosted an important battle/offensive in 1916 in and aroundVerdun.

History[edit]

Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during theFrench Revolutionon 4 March 1790, by order of theNational Constituent Assembly.The new departments were to be uniformly administered and approximately equal to one another in size and population. The department was created from the formerprovincesofBarrois(area ofBar-le-Duc) andThree Bishoprics(area ofVerdun).[4]

From about 500 AD, theFrankscontrolled this part of northeastern France, and theCarolingian Empirewas the last stage of their rule. The Carolingian territories were divided into three sections in 843 at theTreaty of Verdun,and the area that is now the department of Meuse became part ofMiddle Francia.The new ruler wasLothair I,and on his death in 855, his territory north of the Alps was passed to his second sonLothair II,after whom the hitherto nameless territory was called Lotharingia, which name eventually evolved into the modern Lorraine. Lothair II died without legitimate heirs and Lotharingia was divided into east and west parts. The king ofEast Francia,Louis the German,received the eastern part andCharles the Bald,king ofWest Francia,received the western part, which included Meuse, thus effectively establishing the medieval Kingdoms ofGermanyandFrance.[5]

TheBattle of Sedanwas fought in the western part of the department during theFranco-Prussian Warin 1870. It resulted in the capture of theEmperor Napoleon IIIand large numbers of his troops and effectively decided the war in favour ofPrussiaand its allies.[6]The area was again a battleground inWorld War Iwhen theBattle of Verdunwas fought in 1916. In theSecond World Warit again saw action inanother battlewhen the Germans sought to establish a base from which to capture the Meuse bridges and cross the river.[7]

Geography[edit]

Meuse is a department in northeastern France and is part of the region ofGrand Est.The capital and largest town in the department isBar-le-Duc,and other large towns areCommercyandVerdun.The northern edge of the department is on the border with Belgium, to the east lies the department ofMeurthe-et-Moselle,to the south liesVosges,to the southwest liesHaute-Marne,to the west liesMarneand to the northwest,Ardennes.The main rivers flowing through the department are theRiver Meuse,theAireand theChiers.A ridge running from south to north separates the watersheds of theSeineand theRhine.These hills are called theArgonneand are clothed in oak forests. The area of the department is 2,408 sq mi (6,237 km2).[8]

The total land area of the department is 1,539,700 acres (623,100 ha), and of this, 830,000 acres (340,000 ha) are cultivated for arable crops, 120,000 acres (49,000 ha) are grassland, 440,000 acres (180,000 ha) are woods and forests and 35,000 acres (14,000 ha) are cultivated for the production of grapes.[9]The principal crops grown are wheat, barley and oats, potatoes, oilseed rape, vegetables and fruit. Livestock is raised and timber is extracted from the forests. The main industries are brewing and the manufacture of glass and tiles. Lace-making is a traditional craft in the department.[8]

Part of the department is in theLorraine Regional Natural Park,a stretch of pastoral countryside stretching eastward fromMetzandNancyand spanning three departments. The park has many natural habitats including calcareous grassland, forested valleys,wet meadows,ponds and streams. There are manyNatura 2000protected areas and it is an important resting area for migratory birds. Among the different habitats it includes a stretch of coast, the plain ofWoëvre,theLac de Madine,the Meuse valley and the Hague plateau. The total area of the park is 205,000 hectares (510,000 acres).[10]It has a very short border with Belgium.

Spring in Meuse

Demographics[edit]

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1801269,522—
1806284,703+1.10%
1821291,385+0.15%
1831314,588+0.77%
1841326,372+0.37%
1851328,657+0.07%
1861305,540−0.73%
1872284,725−0.64%
1881289,861+0.20%
1891292,253+0.08%
1901283,480−0.30%
1911277,955−0.20%
1921207,309−2.89%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1931215,819+0.40%
1936216,934+0.10%
1946188,786−1.38%
1954207,106+1.16%
1962215,985+0.53%
1968209,513−0.51%
1975203,904−0.39%
1982200,101−0.27%
1990196,344−0.24%
1999192,198−0.24%
2006193,696+0.11%
2011193,557−0.01%
2016189,055−0.47%
source:[11][12]

Since the mid-nineteenth century, the exodus of the countryside inhabitants to the cities has caused the population of rural France to fall. Meuse has no big cities to receive population and the total population of the department has thus decreased. It reached 328,657 inhabitants in 1851, with a population density of 52.9, but had fallen to 277,955 by 1911. Meuse experienced the greatest proportional population decline in French departments in just ten years, from 278,000 inhabitants in 1911 into just 207,000 in 1921. The First World War dealt a heavy blow to the department, and by 1921, only 207,309 inhabitants were recorded. Many residents had fled, and entire villages that were on or near thefront linein 1916 were destroyed. Meuse thus has several uninhabited communes because the villages were never rebuilt, and in fact are known as "Morts pour la France" ( "Died for France" ); the number of displaced persons from the villages varies from 131 to 718.[13]Since the end of theBattle of Verdunin 1916, these communes have been unoccupied with an official population of zero; the villages areBeaumont-en-Verdunois,Bezonvaux,Cumières-le-Mort-Homme,Fleury-devant-Douaumont,Haumont-près-SamogneuxandLouvemont-Côte-du-Poivre.[3]In the later part of the twentieth century the number of inhabitants in the department varied little but eventually fell below 200,000 inhabitants in the 1980s.

Because of its low population density Meuse is considered to fall within theempty diagonal.

Principal towns[edit]

The most populous commune isVerdun;the prefecture,Bar-le-Duc,is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 4,000 inhabitants:[3]

Commune Population (2019)
Verdun 16,942
Bar-le-Duc 14,625
Commercy 5,386
Saint-Mihiel 4,039
Ligny-en-Barrois 4,018

Politics[edit]

The president of the Departmental Council is Jérôme Dumont, elected in July 2021.

Presidential elections 2nd round[edit]

Election Winning Candidate Party % 2nd Place Candidate Party %
2022 Emmanuel Macron LREM 44.39 Marine Le Pen RN 55.61
2017[14] Emmanuel Macron LREM 51.62 Marine Le Pen FN 48.38
2012 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 53.80 François Hollande PS 46.20
2007 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 56.93 Ségolène Royal PS 43.07
2002[14] Jacques Chirac RPR 78.22 Jean-Marie Le Pen FN 21.78
1995[15] Jacques Chirac RPR 52.29 Lionel Jospin PS 47.71

Current National Assembly Representatives[edit]

Constituency Member[16] Party
Meuse's 1st constituency Bertrand Pancher Union of Democrats and Independents
Meuse's 2nd constituency Émilie Cariou The New Democrats

Tourism[edit]

TheEuropean Beer Museum(Musée Européen de la bière) inStenay,founded in 1986, is considered the largest of its kind on the continent.[17][18][19]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux".data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises(in French). 4 May 2022.
  2. ^"Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2021"(in French).The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.28 December 2023.
  3. ^abcPopulations légales 2019: 55 Meuse,INSEE
  4. ^Schama, Simon (1989).Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution.New York:Knopf.ISBN9780394559483.
  5. ^Nelson, Janet L. (1996).The Frankish World, 750-900.A&C Black. pp. 133–144.ISBN978-1-85285-105-7.
  6. ^"Franco-Prussian War: July 19, 1870 - May 10, 1871".Retrieved28 September2015.
  7. ^Dear, Ian (2001).The Oxford Companion to World War II.Oxford, Oxfordshire:Oxford University Press.p. 326.ISBN0-19-860446-7.
  8. ^abBozman, E.F. (1966).Everyman's Encyclopaedia: Volume 8.J.M. Dent and Sons.p. 402.
  9. ^Comprehensive Dictionary of the World.Mittal Publications. 1992. pp. 882–883. GGKEY:RC6C27C4NE1.
  10. ^IUCN Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas (November 1990).1990 United Nations list of national parks and protected areas.IUCN. p. 89.ISBN978-2-8317-0032-8.
  11. ^"Historique de la Meuse".Le SPLAF.
  12. ^"Évolution et structure de la population en 2016".INSEE.
  13. ^Le Naour, Jean-Yves (2011).La Première Guerre mondiale Pour les Nuls.EDI8. p. 185.ISBN978-2-7540-3496-8.
  14. ^ab"Présidentielles".
  15. ^"Résultats de l'élection présidentielle de 1995 par département - Politiquemania".
  16. ^Nationale, Assemblée."Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français".Assemblée nationale.
  17. ^"Musée de la bière".Retrieved2018-08-31.
  18. ^"Meuse tourism".Retrieved2018-08-31.
  19. ^"Meuse tourism".Retrieved2018-08-31.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Meuse_(department)&oldid=1229681424"