CHAMPAGNE ARDENNE - Geography and history
Champagne-Ardenne covers an area of 25 606 km2 and comprises four départements: Ardennes, Aube, Marne and Haute-Marne. It is situated between the Paris Basin and the East of France.
The region is low-lying, the highest point being only 523 m in Haute-Marne. Although people think of Champagne-Ardenne as being flat and sparsely wooded, this is only true of the chalk-soiled area of Champagne proper. The rest of the region, however, is thickly wooded: the Ardennes hills, Argonne, the Forêt d'Orient and Haute-Marne have green landscapes with a relatively wide range of flora and fauna.
Situated at an average distance of 300 km from the sea, Champagne-Ardenne is still close enough to the Atlantic for its climate to be influenced by it. The summers are pleasant, and the winters are rarely harsh. It is a region of large lakes, including the Der-Chantecoq Lake (almost 5 000 ha).
A crossroads where people are on the move
By virtue of its geographical situation in Europe, Champagne-Ardenne is both a thoroughfare and a meeting place. The modernisation of its road network, and the fact that the TGV (highspeed train) will pass through it, mean that it is a real link between the Mediterranean and north-west Europe. The region is also a major relay in the French telecommunications system thanks to its satellite telecommunications centre in Bercenay-en-Othe (Aube), which is second only to Pleumeur-Bodou in the whole of France.
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