Marne

Marne is a department in northeastern France named after the river Marne which flows through the department. The prefecture (capital) of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne (formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne).
The Champagne vineyards producing the world-famous sparkling wine are located within Marne.
History.
Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Châlons-sur-Marne as is capital. It was formed with part of the former province of Champagne.
It was divided in six districts: Châlons-sur-Marne, Reims, Épernay, Sézanne, Sainte-Menehould and Vitry-le-François.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the six districts were changed into five "arrondissements": Châlons-sur-Marne, Épernay, Reims, Sainte-Menehould and Vitry-le-François.
After the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the Austrian army from June 1815 to November 1818.
On 10 September 1926, the "arrondissement" of Sainte-Menehould was eliminated but in 1940 Sainte-Menehould was made again an "arrondissement".
In 1995, the name of Châlons-sur-Marne was changed to Châlons-en-Champagne but it was rejected in 1997. But, finally, this change was accepted in 1998.
Geography.
The Marne department is in the Grand Est region after being part of the Champagne-Ardenne region till 2016. It is surrounded by 6 departments in 3 regions:
Marne has an area of , the 7th largest department of the Metropolitan France. The department is long from Villeneuve-la-Lionne to Trois-Fontaines-l'Abbaye, and wide from Cormicy to Clesles.
There are three geographic regions in the department:
The Marne river flows through the department from the southeast to the west.
Climate.
This area is characterized by climates with few extremes of temperature. The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Châlons-en-Champagne is a "Marine West Coast Climate" and of the subtype "Cfb".
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Châlons-en-Champagne is . The month with the most precipitation on average is July with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .
The average temperature for the year in Châlons-en-Champagne is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 
Administration.
Marne is managed by the "Departmental Council of Marne" in Châlons-en-Champagne. The department is part of the Grand Est region.
Administrative divisions.
There are 5 "arrondissements" (districts), 23 "cantons" and 616 "communes" (municipalities) in Marne.
The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the Marne department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
Demographics.
The inhabitants of the Marne department are known, in French, as "Marnais" (women: "Marnaises"),
Marne had a population, in 2014, of 570,817, for a population density of inhabitants/km2. The "arrondissement" of Reims, with 296,374 inhabitants, is the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants.
Evolution of the population in Marne
The 10 "communes" with more inhabitants in the Marne department are: