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Normandy (Normandie, Norman: ''Normaundie'') is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany (to the west) and Picardy (to the east) and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands. The territory is divided between French and British sovereignty. The continental territory under French sovereignty covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions: Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie. The Channel Islands (referred to as ''Îles Anglo-Normandes'' in French) covers 194 km² and comprise 2 bailiwicks: Guernsey and Jersey, both under British rule.

Upper Normandy (Haute-Normandie) consists of the French ''départements'' of Seine-Maritime and Eure, and Lower Normandy (Basse-Normandie) of the ''départements'' of Orne, Calvados, and Manche. The former province of Normandy comprised present-day Upper and Lower Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the ''départements'' of Eure-et-Loir, Mayenne, and Sarthe.

The name of Normandy is derived from the settlement and conquest of the territory by Vikings (''Northmen'') from the 9th century, and confirmed by treaty in the 10th century. For a century and a half following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman rulers, but following 1204 the continental territory was ultimately held by France.

During the Battle of Normandy in World War II, Normandy became the landing site for the invasion and liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany.

The population of Normandy is around 3.45 million. The continental population of 3.26 million accounts for 5.5% of the population of France (in 2005).

Basse-Normandie is predominantly agricultural in character, with cattle breeding the most important sector (although in decline from the peak levels of the 1970s and 1980s). The ''bocage'' is a patchwork of small fields with high hedges, typical of western areas. Haute-Normandie contains a higher concentration of industry. Normandy is a significant cider-producing region, and also produces calvados, a distilled cider or apple brandy. Other activities of economic importance are dairy produce, flax (60% of production in France), horse breeding (including two French national stud farms), fishing, seafood, and tourism. The region contains three French nuclear power stations.

History

Archeological finds, such as cave paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times.

Belgian Celts, known as Gauls, invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th century BC to the 3rd century BC.

When Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Gallic tribes in Normandy.

The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the usual methods: Roman roads and a policy of urbanisation. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy.

In the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates. Then it was Christianity which began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast. The Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy.

As early as 486, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis.

The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Viking leader Rollo (also known as Robert of Normandy). Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks Charles the Simple through the Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he and his Viking allies had previously conquered. The name ''Normandy'' reflects Rollo's Viking (i.e. ''Northman'') origins.

The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romantic language and intermarried with the area’s original inhabitants. They became the Normans – a Norman French-speaking mixture of Scandinavians, Hiberno-Norse, Orcadians, Anglo-Danish, and indigenous Franks and Gauls.

Rollo's descendant William, Duke of Normandy became king of England in 1066 in the Norman Conquest culminating at the Battle of Hastings while retaining the fiefdom of Normandy for himself and his descendants.

Norman expansion

Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, the Normans expanded into other areas.

Tancred's sons William Iron Arm, Drogo of Hauteville, Humphrey of Hauteville, Robert Guiscard and Roger the Great Count conquered the Emirate of Sicily and additional territories in Southern Italy. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader States of Asia Minor and the Holy Land.

The 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom on the Canary Islands. Béthencourt received the title King of the Canary Islands but recognised as his overlord Henry III of Castile, who had provided aid during the conquest.

Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, played important parts in the Crusades.

13th century to 17th century

In 1204, during the reign of England's King John, mainland Normandy was taken from England by France under Philip II of France. Insular Normandy (the Channel Islands) remained under English control. In 1259, Henry III of England recognised the legality of French possession of mainland Normandy under the Treaty of Paris. His successors, however, often fought to regain control of mainland French Normandy.

The ''Charte aux Normands'' granted by Louis X of France in 1315 (and later re-confirmed in 1339), like the analogous Magna Carta granted in England in the aftermath of 1204, guaranteed the liberties and privileges of the province of Normandy.

French Normandy was occupied by English forces during the Hundred Years' War in 1345–1360 and again in 1415–1450. Afterward prosperity returned to Normandy until the Wars of Religion. When many Norman towns (Alençon, Rouen, Caen, Coutances, Bayeux) joined the Protestant Reformation, battles ensued throughout the province. In the Channel Islands, a period of Calvinism following the Reformation was suppressed when Anglicanism was imposed following the English Civil War.

From the 1660s onwards, France engaged in a policy of expansion in North America. Normans continued the exploration of the New World: René Robert Cavelier de La Salle travelled in the area of the Great Lakes of the United States and Canada, then on the Mississippi River. Territories located between Quebec and the Mississippi Delta were opened up to establish French Louisiana.

Honfleur and Le Havre were two of the principal slave traders ports of France.

Colonists from Normandy (in particular Basse-Normandie) in New France (Quebec) were among the most active.

18th century and 19th century

Although agriculture remained important, industries such as weaving, metallurgy, sugar refining, ceramics, shipbuilding were introduced and developed.

In the 1780s, the economic crisis and the crisis of the ''Ancien Régime'' struck Normandy as well as other parts of the nation, leading to the French Revolution. Bad harvests, technical progress and the effects of the Eden Agreement signed in 1786 affected employment and the economy of the province. Normans laboured under a heavy fiscal burden.

In 1790 the five departments of Normandy were instituted.

July 11, 1793, Charlotte Corday assassinated Marat.

The Normans reacted little to the many political upheavals which characterised the 19th century. Careful, they accepted overall the changes of régime (First French Empire, Bourbon Restoration, July Monarchy, French Second Republic, Second French Empire, French Third Republic).

There was an economic revival (mechanisation of textile manufacture, first trains...) after the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815).

And a new activity stimulated the seaside: tourism. The 19th century marks the birth of the first seaside resorts.

Franco-Prussian War: the Prussians entered Normandy, animating more than ever nationalism. The nation wanted revenge, which it did not get until after the end of World War I and demands for reparations from Germany.

World War II

During World War II, following the armistice of 22 June 1940 continental Normandy was part of the German occupied zone of France. The Channel Islands were occupied by German forces between 30 June, 1940 and 9 May, 1945.

The town of Dieppe was the site of the unsuccessful Dieppe Raid by Canadian and British armed forces.

During the Second World War, the Allies coordinated a massive build-up of troops and supplies to support a large-scale invasion of Normandy in the D-Day landings under the code name Operation Overlord. The Germans were dug into fortified emplacements above the beaches. Caen, Cherbourg, Carentan, Falaise and other Norman towns endured many casualties in the Battle of Normandy, which continued until the closing of the so-called Falaise gap between Chambois and Montormel, then liberation of Le Havre.

This led to the restoration of the French Republic, and a significant turning point in the war. The remainder of Normandy was liberated only on 9 May, 1945 at the end of the war, when the Occupation of the Channel Islands ended.

Geography

The historical Duchy of Normandy was a formerly independent duchy occupying the lower Seine area, the Pays de Caux and the region to the west through the Pays d'Auge as far as the Cotentin Peninsula.

The region is bordered along the northern coasts by the English Channel. There are granite cliffs in the west and limestone cliffs in the east. There are also long stretches of beach in the centre of the region. The ''bocage'' typical of the western areas caused problems for the invading forces in the Battle of Normandy. There are meanders of the Seine as it approaches its estuary which form a notable feature of the landscape.

The highest point is the Signal d'Écouves (427m) in the Massif armoricain.

Normandy is sparsely forested: 12.8% of the territory is wooded, compared to a French average of 23.6%, although the proportion varies between the departments. Eure has most cover (21%) while Manche has least (4%), a characteristic shared with the Islands.

Regions

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands, although British Crown Dependencies, are considered culturally and historically a part of Normandy.

Although the British surrendered claims to mainland Normandy and other French possessions in 1801, the monarch of the United Kingdom retains the title Duke of Normandy in respect to the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands (except for Chausey) remain Crown dependencies of the British Crown in the present era. Thus the Loyal Toast in the Channel Islands is ''La Reine, notre Duc'' (''The Queen, our Duke''). The British monarch is understood to ''not'' be the Duke of Normandy in regards of the French region of Normandy described herein, by virtue of the Treaty of Paris of 1259, the surrender of French possessions in 1801, and the belief that the rights of succession to that title are subject to Salic Law which excludes inheritance through female heirs.

Rivers

Rivers in Normandy include:

And many coastal rivers :

Towns

The principal cities (population at the 1999 census) are Rouen (518,316 inhabitants in the metropolitan area), the capital of Upper Normandy and formerly of the whole province; Caen (370,852 inhabitants in the metropolitan area), the capital of Lower Normandy; Le Havre (296,773 inhabitants in the metropolitan area); and Cherbourg (117,855 inhabitants in the metropolitan area).