Marennes, Charente-Maritime

Marennes
Part of Marennes-Hiers-Brouage
Coat of arms
Location of Marennes
Marennes Location within France Marennes Location within Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 45°49′21″N 1°06′19″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	Rochefort
Canton	Marennes
Commune	Marennes-Hiers-Brouage
Area 1	20.09 km2 (7.76 sq mi)
Population  (2022)	5,515
• Density	274.5/km2 (711.0/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal code	17320
Elevation	0–21 m (0–69 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Marennes (French pronunciation: [maʁɛn] ^ⓘ) is a former commune in the Charente-Maritime department, southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Marennes-Hiers-Brouage.

History

For a long time it was one of the most prosperous cities of the Saintonge due to its location in the middle of the salt-water marshes at a time where salt was a valuable commodity. Marennes is a center for oyster farming.

Population

The population data in the table below refer to the commune of Marennes proper, in its geography at the given years. In 1908, the commune of Bourcefranc-le-Chapus was created from part of Marennes.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1793	4,996	—
1800	4,633	−1.07%
1806	4,633	+0.00%
1821	4,193	−0.66%
1831	4,605	+0.94%
1836	4,542	−0.28%
1841	4,410	−0.59%
1846	4,542	+0.59%
1851	4,589	+0.21%
1856	4,508	−0.36%
1861	4,455	−0.24%
1866	4,426	−0.13%
1872	4,495	+0.26%
1876	4,565	+0.39%
1881	4,945	+1.61%
1886	4,766	−0.73%
1891	5,415	+2.59%
1896	6,293	+3.05%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1901	6,459	+0.52%
1906	6,408	−0.16%
1911	4,519	−6.75%
1921	3,900	−1.46%
1926	4,082	+0.92%
1931	4,011	−0.35%
1936	3,957	−0.27%
1946	3,806	−0.39%
1954	3,829	+0.08%
1962	4,345	+1.59%
1968	4,443	+0.37%
1975	4,214	−0.75%
1982	4,549	+1.10%
1990	4,634	+0.23%
1999	4,685	+0.12%
2006	5,237	+1.60%
2022	5,515	+0.32%

Source: EHESS and INSEE (2006-2022)