The Cotentin Peninsula juts out into the English Channel from Normandy towards England, forming part of the north-west coast of France. The English Channel, also for some time known as the British Sea (French: La Manche, the sleeve) 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 Ocean. ... Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site and a symbol of Normandy Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ...

Geography

It is part of the Armorican Massif and lies between the estuary of the River Vire and Mont Saint Michel Bay. It is divided into three areas: the headland of La Hague, the Cotentin Pass, and the valley of the River Saire (Val-de-Saire). Estuaries and coastal waters are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing numerous ecological, economic, cultural, and aesthetic benefits and services. ... 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, roughly analogous to British 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. ... Categories: Stub | Commercial item transport and distribution | Transportation ...

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 in north-western France, in the Manche département in the Basse-Normandie région. ... Saint-Lô is a city and commune of France, the préfecture (capital) of the Manche département, in Normandy. ... Granville is a commune of the Manche département, in France. ... Carentan is a 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). The Channel Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Normandy, France, in the English Channel. ... The Pride of Burgundy, a P&O Ferries car ferry on the Dover-Calais route A ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and sometimes their vehicles, on scheduled services. ... 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. ...

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 (from Latin Gallia, c. ... 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 Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

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. ... During the French Revolution (1789-1799) democracy and republicanism overthrew the absolute monarchy in France, and the French portion of the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ... A château (French for castle; plural châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of gentry, usually French, with or without fortifications. ... The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German forces occupying Western Europe and the invading Allied forces as part of the larger conflict of World War II. Sixty years later, the Normandy invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord, remains the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving almost three million... 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. The Battle of Barfleur, 29 May 1692 by Richard Paton, painted 18th century. ... 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 in north-western France, in the Manche département in the Basse-Normandie région. ...

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 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. 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 plant in Cattenom, France. ... 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. ... A Russian fissile material storage facility Radioactive waste is waste material containing radioactive chemical elements which does not have a practical purpose. ... The Greenpeace logo Greenpeace is an international environmental organisation founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1971. ...

Culture

Due to its comparative isolation, the peninsula is one of the remaining strongholds of the Norman language. The Norman language poet Côtis-Capel described the environment of the peninsula, while French language poet Jacques Prévert made his home at Omonville. The painter Jean Millet was born in the peninsula. The Norman language is a Romance language, one of the Oïl languages. ... Jacques Prévert (February 4, 1900 - April 11, 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. ... Jean-François Millet (October 4, 1814 - January 20, 1875) was a painter and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. ...

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.