HAUTE-MARNE

dpartement, Champagne-Ardenne rgion, northeastern France. It was created from part of historic Champagne province and a number of localities in Burgundy and Franche-Comt provinces. The Marne River flows from south to north for more than 80 miles (130 km) through the entire length of the dpartement, bisecting it into eastern and western halves. The Marne first flows north past the ancient cathedral city of Langres and then past Chaumont, the departmental capital, and Joinville. The river leaves the dpartement after passing through Saint-Dizier, an industrial centre and Haute-Marne's largest city. In the south of the dpartement lies the thinly populated Langres Plateau, which reaches elevations of more than 1,500 feet (450 m). This and other limestone highlands in the dpartement are among the most heavily forested areas of France. In the west of the dpartement the Aube River and its tributary, the Aujon, flow north from the Langres Plateau, while in the east the Meuse River similarly rises from the plateau on a northern course. The dpartement's climate is severe, averaging 70 days of frost a year, with long, cold winters and short, hot summers. Outside the forested areas, in which lumbering is important, cattle are raised and cereals are grown on the stony and rather infertile soils of the limestone plateaus. Around Langres and in the river valleys, however, fruits are cultivated. The smelting of iron ore, which continued into the 20th century, was the basis for iron, steel, and cutlery industries, particularly in the Saint-Dizier area and in Nogent. The dpartement is divided into the arrondissements of Chaumont, Langres, and Saint-Dizier. It is in the educational division of Reims. Area 2,398 square miles (6,211 square km). Pop. (1990) 204,067.