Seine-Maritime () 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 1,260,964 in 2023.
History The department of Seine-Inférieure was created from part of the old province of Normandy during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 by the application of a law of 22 December 1789.
After the victory at Waterloo of the coalition armies, the department was occupied by the British Army from June 1815 to November 1818.
In Rouen, Elbeuf and Bolbec, the number of textile factories increased. Metallurgy and naval construction were other industries in the department.
After President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte's coup d'état in 1851, Seine-Inférieure was one of several departments to be placed under a state of emergency (in French, literally, state of siege) Jacques Olivier Boudon, Les Bonaparte : regards sur la France impériale. La Documentation photographique, dossier 8073, janvier-février 2010, p. 11 (carte de Gilles Pécout) because fears of significant republican resistance to the new government.
In 1942, during the German occupation of the Second World War, two Allied raids, the Bruneval and Dieppe, took place in towns of the English Channel coast.
In 1955, the department's name was officially renamed to Seine-Maritime.
Heraldry
Geography The department can be split into three main areas: 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, followed by the prefecture, Rouen. As of 2023, eight communes had more than 20,000 inhabitants:Populations de référence 2023: 76 Seine-Maritime, INSEE
Commune Population (2023) Le Havre 166,687 Rouen 117,662 Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray 29,518 Sotteville-lès-Rouen 29,003 Dieppe 28,496 Le Grand-Quevilly 25,789 Le Petit-Quevilly 22,208 Mont-Saint-Aignan 20,165
Demographics
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" (males) and "Seinomarines" (females).
Politics
The president of the Departmental Council is Bertrand Bellanger, elected in 2019.
Presidential elections 2nd round ElectionWinning candidateParty%2nd place candidateParty% 2022 Emmanuel Macron LREM 55.28 Marine Le Pen FN 44.72 2017 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 Jacques Chirac RPR 82.58 Jean-Marie Le Pen FN 17.42
Current National Assembly Representatives
ConstituencyMemberParty 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
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
External links
Departmental Council website Prefecture website Communes 76