Seine-Maritime

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]

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
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  (2022)[2]
• Total	1,260,205
• 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

History

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.

Heraldry

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

Geography

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.

Administration

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.

Principal towns

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]

Commune	Population (2019)
Le Havre	168,290
Rouen	112,321
Sotteville-lès-Rouen	29,068
Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray	28,352
Dieppe	28,241
Le Grand-Quevilly	25,963
Le Petit-Quevilly	22,000

Demographics

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%
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).

Politics

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

Presidential elections 2nd round

Election		Winning Candidate	Party	%	2nd Place Candidate	Party	%
	2022	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	55.28	Marine Le Pen	FN	44.72
	2017[9]	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	60.42	Marine Le Pen	FN	39.58
	2012	François Hollande	PS	54.94	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	45.06
	2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	50.20	Ségolène Royal	PS	49.80
	2002[9]	Jacques Chirac	RPR	82.58	Jean-Marie Le Pen	FN	17.42

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member[10]	Party
	Seine-Maritime's 1st constituency	Florence Hérouin-Léautey	Socialist Party
	Seine-Maritime's 2nd constituency	Annie Vidal	Renaissance
	Seine-Maritime's 3rd constituency	Édouard Bénard	French Communist Party
	Seine-Maritime's 4th constituency	Alma Dufour	La France Insoumise
	Seine-Maritime's 5th constituency	Gérard Leseul	Socialist Party
	Seine-Maritime's 6th constituency	Patrice Martin	National Rally
	Seine-Maritime's 7th constituency	Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo	Horizons
	Seine-Maritime's 8th constituency	Jean-Paul Lecoq	French Communist Party
	Seine-Maritime's 9th constituency	Marie-Agnès Poussier-Winsback	Horizons
	Seine-Maritime's 10th constituency	Robert Le Bourgeois	National Rally

Transport

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.

Culture

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.

Tourism

• 
  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

See also

• 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

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 4 May 2022.
2. "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
3. Populations légales 2019: 76 Seine-Maritime, INSEE
4. Jacques Olivier Boudon, Les Bonaparte : regards sur la France impériale. La Documentation photographique, dossier 8073, janvier-février 2010, p. 11 (carte de Gilles Pécout)
5. "Seine Maritime". France-For-Visitors.com. Rough Guides. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
6. "Historique de la Seine-Maritime". Le SPLAF.
7. "Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
8. "Seinomarins, un beau nom !". Commune76.
9. l'Intérieur, Ministère de. "Présidentielles". interieur.gouv.fr.
10. Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français". Assemblée nationale.

External links

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