CHERBOURG

naval station, fortified town, and seaport in Manche dpartement, Basse-Normandie rgion, northwestern France. It lies along the English Channel, west-northwest of Paris, and is situated at the mouth of the small Divette River on the north shore of the Cotentin peninsula. The steep Roule Mountain nearby offers a panoramic view of the town. The port benefits from a remarkable harbour, well-sheltered except to the north, and is situated close to the great maritime routes that ply the English Channel. Although the port's cargo traffic is now light, passenger traffic is intense, especially passengers and their cars crossing between Cherbourg and Southampton, Eng. Both yachting and commercial fishing have developed in Cherbourg in recent years. Industries depending on the port are very important; shipbuilding and ship repair yards employ thousands. The construction of oil tankers and offshore oil platforms, as well as nuclear submarines, is supplemented by industries relocated from Paris, including electronics, telephone equipment, and specialized small metallurgical manufactures. Nearby, the nuclear power plant at La Hague recycles nuclear wastes. Cherbourg is thus a major industrial centre, despite its relative isolation from the rest of French industry. A museum in the htel de ville (town hall) houses many paintings by the 19th-century French painter Jean-Franois Millet, who was born near the town. The Emmanuel-Liais park has interesting tree and plant specimens. In the 11th century Cherbourg was known as Carusburc and (like the rest of Normandy) was fought over by the French and English. Charles VII of France finally recovered it in 1450. The town was pillaged by the English in a surprise attack in 1758. A vast breakwater, begun under Louis XVI in 1776, was completed 70 years later. During World War II, most of the port installations were destroyed in the fighting when the town was taken from the Germans by Allied forces after the Normandy Invasion in June 1944. A temporary port was rapidly rebuilt and handled a vast quantity of war materiel until hostilities ended. Pop. (1990) 28,773.