Aisne

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Department of France

title: "Aisne" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["aisne", "1790-establishments-in-france", "departments-of-hauts-de-france", "states-and-territories-established-in-1790"] description: "Department of France" topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aisne" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Department of France ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Aisne
native_name_lang	fr
type	Department
image_skyline	Views of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon 04.JPG
image_caption	Laon, capital city of the Aisne department
image_flag	Drapeau fr département Aisne.svg
image_shield	Blason département fr Aisne.svg
image_map	Aisne-Position.svg
map_caption	Location of Aisne in France
coordinates
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	France
subdivision_type1	Region
subdivision_name1	Hauts-de-France
seat_type	Prefecture
seat	Laon
parts_type	Subprefectures
parts_style	para
p1	Château-Thierry
Saint-Quentin
Soissons
Vervins
leader_party	UDI
leader_title	President of the Departmental Council
leader_name	Nicolas Fricoteaux
unit_pref	Metric
area_footnotes
area_total_km2	7369
population_total
population_as_of
population_footnotes
population_rank	51st
population_density_km2	auto
blank_name_sec1	Department number
blank_info_sec1	02
blank_name_sec2	Arrondissements
blank_info_sec2	5
blank1_name_sec2	Cantons
blank1_info_sec2	21
blank2_name_sec2	Communes
blank2_info_sec2	798
timezone1	CET
utc_offset1	+1
timezone1_DST	CEST
utc_offset1_DST	+2
footnotes	French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2
::

::callout[type=note] the French department ::

Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374.

Geography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Laon_Blick_auf_die_Ville_Basse_01.jpg" caption="The Aisne department at [[Laon]], 2018"] ::

The department borders Nord (to the north), Somme and Oise (to the west), Ardennes and Marne (east), and Seine-et-Marne (south-west) and Belgium (Province of Hainaut) (to the north-east). The river Aisne crosses the area from east to west, where it joins the Oise. The Marne forms part of the southern boundary of the department with the department of Seine-et-Marne. The southern part of the department is the geographical region known as la Brie poilleuse, a drier plateau known for its dairy products and Brie cheese.

According to the 2003 census, the forested area of the department was 123,392 hectares, or 16.6%, for an average metropolitan area of 27.4%.

The landscape is dominated by masses of rock which often have steep flanks. These rocks appear all over the region, but the most impressive examples are at Laon and the Chemin des Dames ridge.

Principal towns

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Aisne_Villes.png" caption="The main cities of the department"] ::

The department of Aisne includes one medium-sized city (Saint-Quentin) and three small cities (Laon, Soissons, and Château-Thierry), to which may be added the conglomeration formed by Chauny and Tergnier. There are many other agglomerations of an urban character because Aisne has been densely populated since before the 19th century. The villages are numerous and rather small. The most populous commune is Saint-Quentin; the prefecture Laon is the third-most populous. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

::data[format=table]

Commune	Population (2019)
Saint-Quentin	53,570
Soissons	28,712
Laon	24,304
Château-Thierry	15,254
Tergnier	13,588
Chauny	11,653
Villers-Cotterêts	10,424
::

See also: List of the communes of the Aisne department.

Hydrography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Aisne,_Soissons.jpg" caption="Aisne]] river at [[Soissons]], 2008"] ::

The Scheldt (which takes its source near Le Catelet), the Aisne, the Marne, the Ourcq, the Vesle, the Somme (which rises in Fonsommes), the Oise, and the Serre. In the south of the department, there is the Surmelin, the Verdonnelle, and the Dhuys (this river is channeled into the Dhuis Aqueduct, 131 km long, to supply drinking water to Paris since 1 October 1865 and also more recently the Leisure Park of Marne-la-Vallée).

The department is also crossed by numerous canals (e.g. the Canal of Saint-Quentin, 93 km).

Climate

There is an average of 500 to 750 mm precipitation annually.

Transport

Railways

The department is crossed by three railway lines from Paris: the first two from the Gare du Nord and the third from the Gare de l'Est:

the line from Paris to Maubeuge, serving cities including Chauny, Tergnier and Saint-Quentin
the line from Paris to Laon, serving cities including Soissons, Anizy-le-Château, and Laon (prefecture)
the line from Paris to Strasbourg, serving the city of Château-Thierry

In 1873, the department of Aisne had 10 railway companies with a total length of 382 km.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Laon,_France,_2019.jpg" caption="[[Laon]] and its cathedral, 2019"] ::

Aisne developed from the ancient settlement of Acinum, from which its name derives. The Battle of the Axona was fought nearby in 57 BC.

Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France (Laon, Soissons, Noyon, and Valois, which are actually historical and cultural parts of Picardy that were annexed to Île-de-France), Picardy (Thiérache Vermandois), and Champagne (Brie, and Omois).

Most of the old growth forests in the area were destroyed during battles in World War I. The French offensive against the Chemin des Dames in spring 1917 is sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of the Aisne.

Heraldry

|img1=Blason département fr Aisne.svg |legend1=Arms of Aisne |text=The Arms of Aisne combines the arms of the former Comté de Ponthieu at the top with those of the former Province of Champagne below. The wavy middle bar represents the river Aisne. This shield is a proposal by Robert Louis, and has as yet no official value.

The arms of Aisne are blazoned :

Party per fess wavy argent, one of Or three bendlets of azure; two of azure with band argent between two cotices potent counter potent of Or and Azure.

Economy

Agriculture dominates the economy, especially cereal crops. Beet sugar is one of the most important industrial crops of the area. Silk, cotton, and wool weaving flourish in Saint-Quentin and other towns. Saint-Gobain is known for its production of mirrors, which started in the 17th century. Guise is the agricultural centre of the northern area of Aisne. Volkswagen Group France has headquarters in Villers-Cotterêts.

Politics

The department is a mixture of rural areas and working-class towns. As a place of residence for some families working in Paris or Île-de-France, Aisne was for many years a department rather oriented to the left, with a majority on the General Council on the left since 1998, and the same for the majority of parliamentary seats representing the department in the National Assembly. However, since the 2000s, Aisne has strongly shifted in favour of the National Rally. Indeed, Aisne is the department that was most favourable to this party during the 2012 presidential elections, having won 26.33% of votes there.

In 2017, Aisne votes 52.91% in favour of the National Rally during the second round. In 2022, this value was 7 points higher, at 59.91%;

The smaller cities of the northern department such as Guise, Hirson, Vervins and the railway city of Tergnier are sources of support for left-wing parties.

Departmental Council

Main article: Departmental Council of Aisne

The President of the General Council is the Liberal Nicolas Fricoteaux. In the 2021 departmental election, the Departmental Council of Aisne was elected as follows:

::data[format=table] | Party || Seats | Miscellaneous Right}}" | | Miscellaneous Left}}" | | Miscellaneous centre}}" | | Miscellaneous}}" | | The Republicans (France)}}" | | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Miscellaneous right | 16 | | | | | | Miscellaneous left | 12 | | | | | | Miscellaneous centre | 8 | | | | | | Miscellaneous | 2 | | | | | | The Republicans | 2 | | | | | | Centre-right | 2 | | | | | ::

Presidential elections 2nd round

In the second round of the French presidential elections of 2017 Aisne was one of only two departments (along nearby Pas-de-Calais) in which the candidate of the Front National, Marine Le Pen, received a majority of the votes cast: 52.91%. In the second round of the 2022 French presidential election, Aisne was the mainland departement with the highest percentage support for her.

::data[format=table]

Election	Winning candidate	Party	%	2nd place candidate	Party	%
National Front (France)}}"		2022	Marine Le Pen	FN	59.91	Emmanuel Macron
National Front (France)}}"		2017	Marine Le Pen	FN	52.91	Emmanuel Macron
Socialist Party (France)	PS}}"		2012	François Hollande	PS	52.40
Union for a Popular Movement}}"		2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	53.36	Ségolène Royal
Rally for the Republic}}"		2002	Jacques Chirac	RPR	75.43	Jean-Marie Le Pen
Socialist Party (France)	PS}}"		1995	Lionel Jospin	PS	54.55
::

Representatives in the National Assembly

::data[format=table]

Constituency	Member	Party
National Rally}}"		Aisne's 1st constituency
The Republicans (France)}}"		Aisne's 2nd constituency
National Rally}}"		Aisne's 3rd constituency
National Rally}}"		Aisne's 4th constituency
National Rally}}"		Aisne's 5th constituency
::

Administration

Aisne is divided into five arrondissements and 21 cantons. The department has 798 communes and five parliamentary constituencies.

Demography

Aisne lost some of its population in the second half of the 19th century, due to the rural exodus but this was limited by the industrial development in the north of the department (Saint-Quentin, Chaunois, Thiérache).

Greatly affected by the First World War, the department has seen its population grow slightly to the same level as in 1900. For thirty years, the industrial decline has caused stagnation of the population (526,346 in 1968, 535,489 in 1999). Only the south-west of the department, close to the Paris conurbation, has seen much population growth.

Population development since 1791:

Tourism

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Laon,_Cathédrale_Notre-Dame_PM_14294.jpg" caption="[[Laon Cathedral"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/P1040031WK_Donjon_Septmonts.JPG" caption="The keep of the castle of [[Septmonts"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Stadhuis_Saint_Quentin.JPG" caption="Saint-Quentin]] townhall"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Parfondeval_-_église_fortifiée.jpg" caption="Parfondeval"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Soissons-saint-jean-des-vignes.jpg" caption="Ruins of the [[Abbey of St. Jean des Vignes]] in [[Soissons"] ::

The boat tours relates in part to the Canal de Saint-Quentin with its electric towage and two tunnels (Lesdins and Riqueval/Vendhuile).

In 2007, a large infrastructure for tourist accommodation, the Center Parcs, was built on the Lake of Ailette, close to many tourist attractions such as the Cathedral of Laon, the Chemin des Dames and the Château de Coucy.

Among the many places to explore are:

; Monuments

Castle of Villers-Cotterets at Château-Thierry
Château de Condé
Château de Coucy
Castle Oigny-en-Valois
Dungeon of Septmonts
Château of Guise

; Cathedrals

; Churches and abbeys

Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache Abbey
Abbaye du Tortoir de Saint Nicolas aux Bois
Abbaye Saint-Vincent de Laon
Abbaye Saint-Martin de Laon
Longpont Abbey
Abbey of St. Jean des Vignes
Vauclair Abbey
Church of Saint-Caprais
Abbey church of Saint-Yved de Braine

; War memorials of the First World War

Chemin des Dames
The Caverne of the Dragon
The Landowski Ghosts, Margival
Bois de Belleau/Bois de la Brigade de Marine

; Musées

Musée Henri Matisse à Bohain-en-Vermandois
Quentin de Latour Museum in Saint-Quentin
Musée du cheminot, the Familistère de Godin at Guise.

In 2020, the department had 3.4% of second homes.

Culture

During World War I a number of significant architectural monuments were destroyed. Of the buildings that survived, the medieval churches in Laon, Braine, and Urcel are the most significant. The ruined castle of La Ferté-Milon escaped further damage during the war. Of the castles that survived, some were used as prisons, such as the Castle of Vadancourt, near Saint-Quentin (500 prisoners).

It is thought that the Aisne River was the birthplace of the trench warfare seen in the First World War. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had initial early successes driving the Germans back to the Aisne River; the German troops dug in and managed to hold out against both British and French attacks. This German entrenchment was to mould the entire face of World War One as both sides began digging in and fortifying their positions. Thus began the stalemate that became a significant feature of the First World War.

Languages

Picard in the north
Champenois dialect in the south
the French of Île-de-France in the centre and the south.

This linguistic variance probably explains the difficulty for residents south of Aisne to identify themselves as belonging to the Picardy region.

Gastronomy

Rustic cuisine. The north of the department is a farming area and there are products made from cow's milk such as Maroilles cheese and Dulce de leche. There are also typically Picardy specialties such as "ficelle", a sort of rolled crêpe with cream cheese, béchamel, ham, and mushrooms. Foie gras is a product developed in Thiérache of the highest quality.
The cultivation of red fruit (strawberries) is beginning to develop.
Trade shows for: cheeses (La Capelle), blood sausage (Saint-Quentin).
Tastings in flea markets and many opportunities to discover local products in a traditional atmosphere.
In the south there are kidney beans form Soissons and the Tourist route of Champagne where some champagnes produced in the Chateau-Thierry region, like the maroilles, are recognized by the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC).
Thiérache cider and its eau-de-vie and the production of beer (mostly craft) give the department of Aisne real identity.
Large swarms of bees mean that the flavours of honey, mead, gingerbread, vinegar etc. can be found.

Notable people

Camille Desmoulins (1760–1794), revolutionary politician and journalist, was from Guise
Paul and Camille Claudel came from Tardenois
Jean de la Fontaine was from Château-Thierry
Paul Doumer, French president from 1931 to 1932, founder of the journal La tribune de l'Aisne and long time deputy for the departement
Alexandre Dumas was from Villers-Cotterets
The fictional character Jean Valjean was born in Faverolles, Aisne
Jean Racine was from La Ferte-Milon
Maurice Quentin de la Tour was born in Saint-Quentin
Louis Antoine de Saint-Just (1767–1794), revolutionary politician and member of the Committee of Public Safety, was from Blérancourt
François-Noël Babeuf, called Gracchus Babeuf (1760–1797) was from Saint Quentin
Henri Matisse, painter, spent his childhood in Bohain-en-Vermandois
Sébastien Cauet, host-producer of television and radio French, is from Marle
Jean-Baptiste André Godin (1817–1888), an industrialist and French philanthropist, creator of Familistère de Guise
Nicolas de Condorcet (1743–1794), a philosopher, mathematician and political scientist was from Ribemont
Leo Lemoine, mayor of Saulchery member of the Resistance in February 1941 and died for France in exile at Buchenwald Dora with his son Jacques (17 years old)
Kamini, a rapper, is from Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache

References

(4 May 2022). "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux".
{{cite American Heritage Dictionary. Aisne
{{cite Collins Dictionary. Aisne
"Aisne (02) : chiffres-clés du département".
"National Forestry Inventory: Départment of Aisne".
[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/6011060/dep02.pdf Populations légales 2019: 02 Aisne], INSEE
[http://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie-07061-saint-quentin-roupy.html Monthly Climate Archives – Saint Quentin – Roupy (1961–1990)], consulted on 17 May 2013.
[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k393059/f47 ''Geography of the department of Aisne''] (2nd edition), by Adolphe Joanne, 1874, p. 36
Pope, Mildred Katharine. (1952). "From Latin to Modern French with Especial Consideration of Anglo-Norman: Phonology and Morphology". Manchester University Press.
Auguste, Janvier. (1880–1884). "Petite histoire de Picardie".
(21 October 2021). "Engie, Volkswagen France deploy 20MW solar carpark".
Ministère de l'Intérieur. "Résultats de l'élection présidentielle 2012".
[https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Elections/Les-resultats/Departementales/elecresult__departementales-2021/(path)/departementales-2021/002/index.html Résultats des élections départementales 2021: Aisne (02)], Ministère de l'intérieur
"Résultats Aisne – Présidentielle 2017 – 1er et 2nd tour".
"Résultats du second tour de l'élection présidentielle en 2022".
"Les archives des élections en France".
"Présidentielles".
"Résultats de l'élection présidentielle de 1995 par département - Politiquemania".
Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français".
"Historique de l'Aisne".
"Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
fr
"Castle of Vadancourt".
"Association Francaise Buchenwald Dora et Kommandos".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::