Map of Cotentin peninsula

The Cotentin Peninsula, also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula,^[1] is a peninsula in Normandy, forming part of the north-western coast of France. It juts out northwards into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its west lie the Channel Islands. A peninsula in Croatia A peninsula (from the latin words paene insula, almost island) is a geographical landform consisting of an extension of a body of land from a larger body of land, surrounded by water on three sides. ... Flag of Normandy Normandy (in French: Normandie, and in Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region in northern France. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: (IPA: ), the sleeve; Dutch: Het Kanaal) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... This article is about the British dependencies. ...

The peninsula lies wholly within the département of Manche, in the région of Basse-Normandie. The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to British counties. ... Manche is a French département in Normandy named after La Manche (the sleeve), which is the French name of the English Channel. ... {{ Haute-Normandie ... Capital Caen Land area¹ 17,589 km² Regional President Philippe Duron (PS) (since 2004) Population  - Jan. ...

Geography

It is part of the Armorican Massif and lies between the estuary of the Vire River and Mont Saint Michel Bay. It is divided into three areas: the headland of La Hague, the Cotentin Pass, and the valley of the Saire River (Val-de-Saire). Rio de la Plata estuary Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Estuaries An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea[1]. Estuaries are often associated with high rates of... The River Vire is a river in Normandy in France whose 118 km course crosses the départements of Calvados and Manche, flowing through the towns of Vire, Saint-Lô and Isigny-sur-Mer, finally flowing out into the English Channel. ... Mont-Saint-Michel: sheep graze on the reclaimed pr -sal or salt meadow (2004) Mont Saint Michel is a small rocky islet, roughly one kilometer from the north coast of France at the mouth of the Couesnon River, near Avranches in Normandy, close to the border of Brittany. ... La Hague is a region on the tip of the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, France. ...

It forms the bulk of the Manche département. Manche is a French département in Normandy named after La Manche (the sleeve), which is the French name of the English Channel. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English counties. ...

The largest town in the peninsula is Cherbourg on the north coast, a major cross-channel port. Cherbourg is a city of Normandy, in northwestern France, in the Manche département, of which it is a sous_préfecture. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Port. ...

Other towns of note: Coutances, Barfleur, Saint-Lô, Bricquebec, Granville, Barneville-Carteret, Carentan, Avranches. Coutances is a commune of Normandy, France, in the Manche département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... Barfleur is a small picturesque fishing-port and commune in north-western France, in the Manche département in the Basse-Normandie région. ... Saint-Lô is a town and commune of France, the préfecture (capital) of the Manche département, in Normandy. ... Bricquebec, a commune of the département of Manche, in the Basse-Normandie région, France. ... Granville is a commune of the Manche département, in France. ... Carentan is a town and commune of the Manche département in Normandy, France. ... Avranches is a commune of Normandy, France, in the Manche département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ...

The western coast of the peninsula, known as la Côte des Îles (the coast of the islands) faces the Channel Islands and ferry links serve Carteret, Granville and the islands (including Chausey). This article is about the British dependencies. ... The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, ca. ... Chausey forms part of the Channel Islands from a geographical point of view, but because it is under French jurisdiction it is almost never mentioned in the context of the other Channel Islands. ...

Off the east coast of the peninsula lie the island of Tatihou and the Îles Saint-Marcouf. Tatihou is an island of Normandy in France with an area of 290,000 square metres. ... ÃŽles Saint-Marcouf are a group of two small uninhabited islands off the coast of Normandy, France. ...

History

The town known today as Coutances, capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, acquired the name of Constantia in 298 during the reign of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus. The whole peninsula, called in Latin the pagus Constantinus subsequently became known as the Cotentin. Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... Events Constantius Chlorus overthrows the Alamanni in the territory of the Lingones (Langres) and strengthened the Rhine frontier Christians are expelled from the Roman army Baths of Diocletian built in Rome Births Athanasius of Alexandria, bishop and opponent of Arianism Deaths Diophantus, mathematician (approximate date) King Chaekgye of Baekje Categories... On the reverse of this argenteus struck in Antioch under Constantius Chlorus, the tetrarcs are sacrificing to celebrate a victory against the Sarmatians. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Until the construction of modern roads, the peninsula was almost inaccessible in winter due to the band of marshland cutting off the higher ground of the promontory itself. this explains occasional historical references to the Cotentin as an island.

The town of Valognes was, until the French Revolution, a provincial social resort for the aristocracy, nicknamed the Versailles of Normandy. Little remains of the grand houses and châteaux as a result of the destruction of the Battle of Normandy. The social scene was described in the novels of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly (himself from the Cotentin). Valognes is a town in Normandy, northwestern France, in the Manche département. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Château de Chenonceau A rural château in France. ... Combatants United States United Kingdom Canada Free France Poland Germany Commanders Dwight Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Omar Bradley (US 1st Army) Miles Dempsey (UK 2nd Army) Harry Crerar (Canadian 1st Army) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (Heeresgruppe B... Jules Amédée Barbey dAurevilly (November 2, 1808 – April 23, 1889), was a French novelist. ...

The Battle of La Hougue took place in 1692 at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue near Barfleur. Combatants France England United Provinces Commanders Anne Hilarion de Tourville Edward Russell Strength 44 ships (3,142 guns) 98 ships (8,980 guns) Casualties 15 ships burnt 2 ships sunk The related naval battles of Barfleur and La Hougue took place between 27 May and 3 June 1692 (17-23... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is a commune of Normandy, north-west France. ... Barfleur is a small picturesque fishing-port and commune in north-western France, in the Manche département in the Basse-Normandie région. ...

A significant portion of World War II, through the summer of 1944, was fought in the area. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Economy

Nuclear activity is prominent in this remote region of France. At Flamanville there is a nuclear power plant, which in the coming years will see its capacity considerably enlarged by the addition of an extra reactor. Just a few miles to the north of this nuclear site, at Beaumont-Hague, the sprawling, infamous COGEMA La Hague site is located, a treatment plant for nuclear waste. The roads used for transport of nuclear waste to this heavily guarded site have been blocked many times in the past by environmental actiongroup Greenpeace. Local environment groups have voiced concerns about the radioactivity levels of the cooling water of both these nuclear sites, which is being flushed into the bay of Vauville. The nuclear sites employ a lot of people from the region. Tourism is also an important economic activity in this region. Many tourists visit the D-Day invasion beaches, the paratrooper linked town of Sainte-Maire-Eglise, the American war cemetery at Colleville sur Mer and the German war cemetary at La Cambe. The region is also famous for its shellfish culture, like the oysters from St. Vaast and Pirou, and the manufacturing of alcoholic bevarages like cider and calvados, made from local grown apples and pears. There are two communes that have the name Flamanville in northern France: Flamanville, in the Manche département Flamanville, in the Seine-Maritime département This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A nuclear power station. ... The COGEMA La Hague site is a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant near La Hague on the French Cotentin Peninsula that currently has over half of the worlds light water reactor spent nuclear fuel reprocessing capacity. ... Political Punk band from Victorville, Ca WWW.MYSPACE.COM/NUCLEARWASTEX ... Greenpeace protest against Esso / Exxon Mobil. ...

Culture

After quitting political life, the political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville retreated to the family estate of Tocqueville where he wrote much of his work. For other uses, see Tocqueville (disambiguation) Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (Verneuil-sur-Seine, Île-de-France, July 29, 1805– Cannes, April 16, 1859) was a French political thinker and historian. ...

Due to its comparative isolation, the peninsula is one of the remaining strongholds of the Norman language, and the local dialect is known as Cotentinais. The Norman language poet Côtis-Capel described the environment of the peninsula, while French language poet Jacques Prévert made his home at Omonville-la-Petite. The painter Jean-François Millet was born in the peninsula. Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. ... Map of Cotentin peninsula Cotentinais is the dialect of the Norman language spoken in the Cotentin Peninsula. ... Jacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter who was born on February 4, 1900 in Neuilly-sur-Seine and died on April 11, 1977 in Omonville-la-Petite. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The Norman language writer Alfred Rossel, native of Cherbourg, composed many songs which form part of the heritage of the region. Rossel's song Sus la mé ("on the sea") is often sung as a regional patriotic song.

Footnotes

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ...

External links

Coordinates: 49°30′N, 1°30′W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...