Charleville-Mézières

Charleville-Mézières

Place Ducale

Coat of arms
Charleville-Mézières

Coordinates: 49°46′19″N 4°42′58″E / 49.7719°N 4.7161°E / 49.7719; 4.7161Coordinates: 49°46′19″N 4°42′58″E / 49.7719°N 4.7161°E / 49.7719; 4.7161
Country France
Region Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine
Department Ardennes
Arrondissement Charleville-Mézières
Intercommunality Cœur d'Ardenne
Government
 • Mayor (2014–2020) Boris Ravignon
Area1 31.44 km2 (12.14 sq mi)
Population (2009 [1])2 49,975
 • Density 1,600/km2 (4,100/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 08105 / 08000
Elevation 133–323 m (436–1,060 ft)
(avg. 148 m or 486 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Charleville-Mézières (French pronunciation: ​[ʃaʁ.lə.vil.me.zjɛʁ]) is a commune in northern France, capital of the Ardennes department in the Champagne-Ardenne region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the Meuse River.

History

The commune of Charleville-Mézières was created in 1966 by the fusion of two adjacent communities, Charleville and Mézières. Another commune, Le Theux, had already been merged into Mézières in 1965. It has a population of about 51,000. The inhabitants of Charleville were known as Carolopolitains; those of Mézières as Macériens. The inhabitants of the new merged community are called Carolomacériens. It was also formerly home to an armory, which is the namesake of the Charleville musket. One of the most famous French poets Arthur Rimbaud was born in Charlesville. Famous farmer Henry Fisher also lives in the countryside of Charleville.

Panorama of Place ducale

Climate

Climate data for Charleville-Mézières (1981–2010 averages)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.0
(59)		 17.5
(63.5)		 22.0
(71.6)		 28.1
(82.6)		 30.7
(87.3)		 34.9
(94.8)		 35.3
(95.5)		 37.0
(98.6)		 30.7
(87.3)		 27.7
(81.9)		 19.9
(67.8)		 15.6
(60.1)		 37.0
(98.6)
Average high °C (°F) 5.1
(41.2)		 6.6
(43.9)		 10.8
(51.4)		 14.6
(58.3)		 18.8
(65.8)		 21.6
(70.9)		 24.1
(75.4)		 23.7
(74.7)		 19.6
(67.3)		 14.9
(58.8)		 9.1
(48.4)		 5.7
(42.3)		 14.6
(58.3)
Average low °C (°F) −0.5
(31.1)		 −0.7
(30.7)		 1.6
(34.9)		 3.3
(37.9)		 7.3
(45.1)		 10.2
(50.4)		 12.1
(53.8)		 11.7
(53.1)		 8.9
(48)		 6.2
(43.2)		 2.7
(36.9)		 0.5
(32.9)		 5.3
(41.5)
Record low °C (°F) −17.5
(0.5)		 −16.7
(1.9)		 −13.8
(7.2)		 −8.5
(16.7)		 −4.4
(24.1)		 −2.4
(27.7)		 1.7
(35.1)		 0.4
(32.7)		 −2.0
(28.4)		 −6.7
(19.9)		 −11.8
(10.8)		 −16.4
(2.5)		 −17.5
(0.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 102.3
(4.028)		 77.0
(3.031)		 82.5
(3.248)		 62.7
(2.469)		 69.4
(2.732)		 70.4
(2.772)		 74.6
(2.937)		 70.8
(2.787)		 67.2
(2.646)		 88.3
(3.476)		 86.9
(3.421)		 106.3
(4.185)		 958.4
(37.732)
Average precipitation days 13.7 11.3 13.3 10.9 11.3 10.4 10.0 9.6 10.2 11.8 12.9 14.1 139.5
Mean monthly sunshine hours 53.6 66.5 118.5 163.5 186.6 195.2 206.3 196.9 143.5 97.2 45.6 42.6 1,515.9
Source: Météo France[2][3]

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
17937,240—    
18007,724+6.7%
18068,430+9.1%
18218,320−1.3%
18317,773−6.6%
18368,878+14.2%
18419,875+11.2%
18469,353−5.3%
18519,162−2.0%
186611,244+22.7%
187212,676+12.7%
187613,759+8.5%
188116,185+17.6%
188616,906+4.5%
189117,390+2.9%
189617,805+2.4%
190118,772+5.4%
190620,702+10.3%
191122,654+9.4%
192121,689−4.3%
192622,634+4.4%
193122,708+0.3%
193622,557−0.7%
194620,193−10.5%
195422,536+11.6%
196224,668+9.5%
196855,343+124.4%
197560,176+8.7%
198258,667−2.5%
199057,008−2.8%
199955,490−2.7%
200850,876−8.3%
200949,975−1.8%

Culture

Puppetry is an important part of the cultural life of Charleville-Mézières, which is called the "World Capital of Puppetry Arts". An international puppet festival has been held there every three years since 1961 and became biennial event in 2011.[4] The town is also home to the world headquarters of UNIMA[5] as well as the International Puppetry Institute (French: Institut International de la Marionnette),[6] which is housed in a historic building featuring a giant automaton of a puppeteer who performs a puppet show every hour on the hour.

The poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891) was born in Charleville. The Rimbaud museum is located in the old water mill (Le Vieux Moulin) to the north of the town.

Transport

City buses are run by TAC,[7] Transports de l’Agglomération de Charleville-Mézières. The Gare de Charleville-Mézières railway station offers connections to Paris (by TGV), Reims, Lille, Metz and regional destinations.

Sport

OFC Charleville represent the town at association football. Étoile de Charleville-Mézières is a basketball club.

International relations

Charleville-Mézières is twinned with:[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Insee - Chiffres cls : Commune de Charleville-Mzires (08105)". Insee.fr. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  2. ↑ "Données climatiques de la station de Charleville-Mézières" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Climat Champagne-Ardenne" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  4. ↑ "L'histoire". Festival-marionnette.com. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  5. ↑ "UNIMA: Accueil". Unima.org. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  6. ↑ "INSTITUT INTERNATIONAL DE LA MARIONNETTE - IIM". Marionnette.com. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  7. ↑ Archived 21 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ "Les villes jumelles". charleville-mezieres.fr. Retrieved 8 January 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charleville-Mézières.


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