CHARENTE
Coat of arms of Charente (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Département de la Charente (16) is in western France.
The River Charente flows southwards, then westwards through the department, which was formed in 1790 mainly from the Angoumois, but also from Saintonge, Poitou, Limousin and Périgord.
Most of the department was in occupied France from 1940, only the northeastern corner escaping occupation until after the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942. In 1941 the northeastern corner was placed under the Regional Prefect at Limoges for police and economic matters. Later in the year the Regional Prefect at Poitiers was given similar responsibilities in the part under German occupation.
Since 1960 the Charente has been part of the Poitou-Charentes region.
Its capital is Angoulême, which is also the seat of the Bishop. Angoulême is an old diocese in the province of Bordeaux. The sub-prefectures for the other arrondissements are at Cognac (in the west) and Confolens (northeast). Barbezieux-St-Hilaire (southwest) and Ruffec (north) were also sub-prefectures between 1800 and 1926.
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