111-817: Le Mans ( / l ə ˈ m ɒ̃ / , French: [lə mɑ̃] ) is a city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne . Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine , it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans . Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region . Its inhabitants are called Manceaux (male) and Mancelles (female). Since 1923,
222-421: A "realm of 100,000 steeples". Parishes lacked the municipal structures of post-Revolution communes. Usually, one contained only a building committee ( conseil de fabrique ), made up of villagers, which managed the buildings of the parish church, the churchyard, and the other numerous church estates and properties, and sometimes also provided help for the poor, or even administered parish hospitals or schools. Since
333-466: A 64-mile (103 km) circuit based at Le Mans in 1906. Since the 1920s, the city has been best known for its connection with motorsports. There are two official and separate racing tracks at Le Mans, though they share certain portions. The smaller is the Bugatti Circuit (named after Ettore Bugatti , founder of the car company bearing his name), a relatively short permanent circuit, which
444-445: A category currently being phased out), made up of 33,327 communes (91.1 percent of all the communes of metropolitan France), and 52.86 million inhabitants, i.e., 86.7 percent of the population of metropolitan France. These impressive results however may hide a murkier reality. In rural areas, many communes have entered a community of communes only to benefit from government funds. Often the local syndicate has been turned officially into
555-537: A commune for their administration. This is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions: Furthermore, two regions without permanent habitation have no communes: In metropolitan France , the average area of a commune in 2004 was 14.88 square kilometres (5.75 sq mi). The median area of metropolitan France's communes at
666-537: A community of communes, the new community of communes in fact managing only the services previously managed by the syndicate, contrary to the spirit of the law which has established the new intercommunal structures to carry out a much broader range of activities than that undertaken by the old syndicates. Some say that, should government money transfers be stopped, many of these communities of communes would revert to their former status of syndicate, or simply completely disappear in places where there were no syndicates prior to
777-589: A density of communes as France, and even there an extensive merger movement has started in the last 10 years. To better grasp the staggering number of communes in France, two comparisons can be made: First, of the original 15 member states of the European Union there are approximately 75,000 communes; France alone, which comprises 16 percent of the population of the EU-15, had nearly half of its communes. Second,
888-897: A few highland areas of Tasmania , and the Australian and Southern Alps . This type of climate is even found in very remote parts of the New Guinea Highlands . The classification used for this regime is Cfc. Temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) and below −20 °C (−4 °F) are rare. In the most marine areas under this regime, temperatures above 20 °C (68 °F) are extreme weather events, even during summer. Small areas in Yunnan, Sichuan ; parts of Bolivia and Peru ; and parts of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania have summers sufficiently short to be Cwc with fewer than four months over 10 °C (50 °F). This
999-769: A massive merger of communes, including by such distinguished voices as the president of the Cour des Comptes (the central auditing administrative body in France). In 1971 the Marcellin law offered support and money from the government to entice the communes to merge freely with each other, but the law had only a limited effect (only about 1,300 communes agreed to merge with others). Many rural communes with few residents struggle to maintain and manage basic services such as running water, garbage collection, or properly paved communal roads. Mergers, however, are not easy to achieve. One problem
1110-592: A much larger territory covering 449,964 km (173,732 sq mi) and yet is divided into only 290 municipalities ( kommuner ). Alsace has more than double the total number of municipalities of the Netherlands which, in spite of having a population nine times larger and a land area four times larger than Alsace, is divided into just 390 municipalities ( gemeenten ). Most of the communes in Alsace, along with those in other regions of France, have rejected
1221-514: A product and reflection of the cool ocean adjacent to them. In the autumn, winter, and early spring, when the polar jet stream is most active, the frequent passing of marine weather systems creates the frequent fog, cloudy skies, and light drizzle often associated with oceanic climates. They are typically found poleward of Mediterranean climates , except in Australia where they are poleward of both such climates and humid subtropical climates due to
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#17327836168911332-561: A relatively narrow annual temperature range and few extremes of temperature. Oceanic climates can be found in both hemispheres generally between 40 and 60 degrees latitude, with subpolar versions extending to 70 degrees latitude in some coastal areas. Other varieties of climates usually classified together with these include subtropical highland climates , represented as Cwb or Cfb , and subpolar oceanic or cold subtropical highland climates , represented as Cfc or Cwc . Subtropical highland climates occur in some mountainous parts of
1443-612: A result of their location, these regions tend to be on the cool end of oceanic climates, approaching polar regions . Snowfall tends to be more common here than in other oceanic climates. Subpolar oceanic climates are less prone to temperature extremes than subarctic climates or continental climates , featuring milder winters than these climates. Subpolar oceanic climates feature only one to three months of average monthly temperatures of at least 10 °C (50 °F). As with oceanic climates, none of its average monthly temperatures fall below -3.0 °C (26.6 °F) or 0 °C depending on
1554-750: A strict air-mass sense, not oceanic: they are affected by southerlies directly from the Mediterranean, and polar intrusions from Siberia. Yet their position near the Black Sea makes them too wet in summer to be Mediterranean , too mild during winter to be humid continental , and not hot enough in summer to be humid subtropical ; therefore Köppen classifies them as oceanic. Despite their anomalous position, however, their temperatures, around 4–5 °C (39–41 °F) in winter and 20–22 °C (68–72 °F) in summer, are not wholly atypical for European oceanic climates. Some Eastern European regions such as
1665-717: Is 35 km (14 sq mi); and in Germany , the majority of Länder have communes ( Gemeinden ) with a median area above 15 km (5.8 sq mi). Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany were the only places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of France's overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards. They usually group into
1776-425: Is a climate variety, often grouped together with oceanic climates, which exists in some mountainous or elevated portions of the world in either the subtropics or tropics. Despite the latitude, the higher elevations of these regions mean that the climate shares characteristics with oceanic climates. Subtropical highland climates with uniform rainfall ( Cfb ) usually have rainfall spread relatively evenly throughout
1887-604: Is a level of administrative division in the French Republic . French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes . Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage
1998-463: Is below 18 °C (64 °F). Without their elevation, many of these regions would likely feature either humid subtropical or tropical climates. This type of climate exists in parts of east, south and southeastern Africa , interior southern Africa and elevated portions of eastern Africa as far north as Ethiopia and of western Africa (west region of Cameroon) up to the southwestern Angola highlands also share this climate type. It also exists in
2109-571: Is climatically Mediterranean , some parts of Southern Europe also have oceanic climates. However, these instances of the climate are highly variable, and often somewhat anomalous. The north coast of Spain , the western Azores off the coast of Portugal are too wet in summer to be Mediterranean, and too mild in summer to be humid subtropical , though they often have winter means above 9 °C (48 °F), unusual for European oceanic climates. Another anomalous case can be found in northwestern Turkey, including northern Istanbul . These places are, in
2220-617: Is found in parts of coastal Iceland , the Faroe Islands , upland/mountainous parts of Scotland and Northern England , northwestern coastal areas of Norway (most of Lofoten , Vesterålen , warmest part of Tromsø reaching to 71°N on some islands), uplands/highlands in western Norway, the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and northern parts of the Alaskan Panhandle , the southwest of Argentina and Chile , and
2331-735: Is in South Africa from Mossel Bay on the Western Cape coast to Plettenberg Bay (the Garden Route ), with additional pockets of this climate inland of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coast. It is usually warm most of the year with no pronounced rainy season, but slightly more rain in autumn and spring. The Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic also has an oceanic climate. Although oceanic climate
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#17327836168912442-452: Is more frequent and commonplace in the subpolar oceanic climates due to the colder weather in those locations. Overall temperature characteristics of the oceanic climates feature cool temperatures and infrequent extremes of temperature. In the Köppen climate classification , oceanic climates have a mean temperature of 0 °C (32 °F) or higher (or −3 °C (27 °F) or higher) in
2553-715: Is rare in Asia, subtropical highland climates and cold subtropical highland climates can be found in parts of Southwestern China , and the Himalayan regions of the northern Indian subcontinent . The oceanic climate is prevalent in the more southerly parts of Oceania . A mild maritime climate is in existence in New Zealand. In Australia, the climate is found in Tasmania , southern half of Victoria and southeastern New South Wales (southwards from Wollongong ). Some parts of
2664-402: Is that mergers reduce the number of available elected positions, and thus are not popular with local politicians. Moreover, citizens from one village may be unwilling to have their local services run by an executive located in another village, whom they may consider unaware of or inattentive to their local needs. In December 2010 the law n° 2010-1563 regarding reform of territorial collectivities
2775-516: Is the only administrative unit below the commune in the French Republic but exists only in these three communes. These municipal arrondissements are not to be confused with the arrondissements that are subdivisions of French départements : French communes are considered legal entities , whereas municipal arrondissements, by contrast, have no official capacity and no budget of their own. The rights and obligations of communes are governed by
2886-722: Is the smallest and oldest administrative division in France . " Commune " in English has a historical association with socialist and collectivist political movements and philosophies. This association arises in part from the rising of the Paris Commune (1871) which could have more felicitously been called, in English, "the rising of the City of Paris". There is nothing intrinsically different between "town" in English and commune in French. The French word commune appeared in
2997-528: Is used for racing throughout the year and regularly hosts the French motorcycle Grand Prix . The longer and more famous Circuit de la Sarthe is composed partly of public roads. These are closed to the public when the track is in use for racing. Since 1923, this route has been used for the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car endurance race . Boutiques and shops are set up during the race, selling merchandise and promoting products for cars. The " Le Mans start "
3108-765: The Antarès , which served as one of the host arenas of the FIBA EuroBasket 1999 . Le Mans was the birthplace of: Notable residents include: Died in Le Mans: Le Mans is twinned with: The culinary specialty of Le Mans is rillettes , a shredded pork pâté . Located at Mayet near Le Mans, the Le Mans-Mayet transmitter has a height of 342 m and is one of the tallest radio masts in France. Communes of France The commune ( French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] )
3219-552: The Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) which replaced the Code des communes (except for personnel matters) with the passage of the law of 21 February 1996 for legislation and decree number 2000-318 of 7 April 2000 for regulations. From 1794 to 1977 — except for a few months in 1848 and 1870-1871 — Paris had no mayor and was thus directly controlled by the departmental prefect. This meant that Paris had less autonomy than certain towns or villages. Even after Paris regained
3330-705: The Grand Banks of Newfoundland , is thought to greatly modify the climate of northwest Europe. As a result of the North Atlantic Current , west coast areas located in high latitudes like Ireland, the UK, and Norway have much milder winters (for their latitude) than would otherwise be the case. The lowland attributes of western Europe also help drive marine air masses into continental areas, enabling cities such as Dresden , Prague , and Vienna to have maritime climates in spite of being located well inland from
3441-846: The Guiana Shield , The highest elevations of the Brazilian Highlands , and due to variations in rainfall and temperature patterns in some places of the Tropical Andes in Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Most of Yunnan and mountainous areas across Southeast Asia , parts of the Himalayas , parts of Sri Lanka , and parts of the Hawaiian Islands of Maui and Hawaii . In the Caribbean , only
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3552-565: The National Assembly ( Assemblée Nationale ) passed a law creating the commune, designed to be the lowest level of administrative division in France, thus endorsing these independently created communes, but also creating communes of its own. In this area as in many others, the work of the National Assembly was, properly speaking, revolutionary: not content with transforming all the chartered cities and towns into communes,
3663-522: The Ninth Air Force IX Engineering Command began construction of a combat Advanced Landing Ground outside of the town. The airfield was declared operational on 3 September and designated as " A-35 ". It was used by several American fighter and transport units until late November of that year in additional offensives across France; the airfield was closed. Le Mans has a temperate oceanic climate ( Cfb ) influenced by
3774-793: The Northern Hemisphere include parts of coastal Iceland , the coast of Norway north of Bodø , the Scottish Highlands , the mountains of Vancouver Island , and Haida Gwaii in Canada . In the Southern Hemisphere examples include extreme southern Chile and Argentina (such as Punta Arenas and Ushuaia ), the Tasmanian Central Highlands , and parts of New Zealand . Oceanic climates are not necessarily found in coastal locations on
3885-482: The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539 by Francis I , the priest in charge of the parish was also required to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Except for these tasks, villages were left to handle other issues as they pleased. Typically, villagers would gather to decide over a special issue regarding the community, such as agricultural land usage, but there existed no permanent municipal body. In many places,
3996-631: The United States , with a territory fourteen times larger than that of the French Republic, and nearly five times its population, had 35,937 incorporated municipalities and townships at the 2002 Census of Governments, fewer than that of the French Republic. The number of barangays in the Philippines, villages of Indonesia, and muban in Thailand also have a higher number than the French communes. There have long been calls in France for
4107-444: The mairies . These abrupt changes profoundly alienated devout Catholics, and France soon was plunged into the throes of civil war , with the fervently religious regions of western France at its center. It would take Napoleon I to re-establish peace in France, stabilize the new administrative system, and make it generally accepted by the population. Napoleon also abolished the election of the municipal councils, which now were chosen by
4218-716: The prefect , the local representative of the central government. Today, French communes are still very much the same in their general principles as those that were established at the beginning of the Revolution. The biggest changes occurred in 1831, when the French Parliament re-established the principle of the election of municipal councils, and in 1837 when French communes were given legal "personality", being now considered legal entities with legal capacity. The Jacobin revolutionaries were afraid of independent local powers, which they saw as conservative and opposed to
4329-425: The subtropics or tropics , some of which have monsoon influence, while their cold variants and subpolar oceanic climates occur near polar or tundra regions. Locations with oceanic climates tend to feature frequent cloudy conditions with precipitation, low hanging clouds, and frequent fronts and storms. Thunderstorms are normally few, since strong daytime heating and hot and cold air masses meet infrequently in
4440-893: The subtropics . It exists in both hemispheres between 35° and 60°: at low altitudes between Mediterranean , humid continental , and subarctic climates. Western sea breezes ease temperatures and moderates the winter, especially if warm sea currents are present, and cause cloudy weather to predominate. Precipitation is constant, especially in colder months, when temperatures are warmer than elsewhere at comparable latitudes. This climate can occur farther inland if no mountain ranges are present or nearby. As this climate causes sufficient moisture year-round without permitting deep snow cover, vegetation typically prospers in this climate. Deciduous trees are predominant in this climate region. However, conifers such as spruce , pine , and cedar are also common in few areas, and fruits such as apples , pears , and grapes can often be cultivated here. In
4551-551: The 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia , for a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis , 'things held in common'. As of January 2021, there were 35,083 communes in France , of which 34,836 were in metropolitan France , 129 in the overseas departments , and 83 in the overseas collectivities and New Caledonia . This is a considerably higher total than that of any other European country , because French communes still largely reflect
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4662-512: The 1999 census was even smaller, at 10.73 square kilometres (4.14 sq mi). The median area gives a better sense of the size of a typical mainland France commune than the average area since the average includes some very large communes. In Italy , the median area of communes ( comuni ) is 22 km (8.5 sq mi); in Belgium it is 40 km (15 sq mi); in Spain it
4773-495: The 19th century which saw the development of railway and motor vehicle production as well as textiles and tobacco manufacture. Wilbur Wright began official public demonstrations of the airplane he had developed with his younger brother Orville on 8 August 1908, at the Hunaudières horse racing track near Le Mans. Soon after Le Mans was liberated by the U.S. 79th and 90th Infantry Divisions on 8 August 1944, engineers of
4884-401: The 36,683 communes have fewer than 500 inhabitants and, with 4,638,000 inhabitants, these smaller communes constitute just 7.7 percent of the total population. In other words, just 8 percent of the French population live in 57 percent of its communes, whilst 92 percent are concentrated in the remaining 43 percent. Alsace , with an area of 8,280 km (3,200 sq mi), and now part of
4995-565: The National Assembly also decided to turn all the village parishes into full-status communes. The Revolutionaries were inspired by Cartesian ideas as well as by the philosophy of the Enlightenment . They wanted to do away with all the peculiarities of the past and establish a perfect society, in which all and everything should be equal and set up according to reason, rather than by tradition or conservatism. Thus, they set out to establish administrative divisions that would be uniform across
5106-500: The Romans in 47 BC, was within the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis . A 3rd-century amphitheatre is still visible. The thermae were demolished during the crisis of the third century when workers were mobilized to build the city's defensive walls. The ancient wall around Le Mans is one of the most complete circuits of Gallo-Roman city walls to survive. As the use of the French language replaced late Vulgar Latin in
5217-502: The Région Grand Est, used to be the smallest of the regions of metropolitan France , and still has no fewer than 904 communes. This high number is typical of metropolitan France but is atypical when compared with other European countries. It shows the distinctive nature of the French commune as a geo-political or administrative entity. With its 904 communes, Alsace has three times as many municipalities as Sweden , which has
5328-424: The aforementioned parallels; however, in most cases oceanic climates parallel higher middle latitude oceans. The polar jet stream , which moves in a west to east direction across the middle latitudes, advances low pressure systems, storms, and fronts. In coastal areas of the higher middle latitudes (45–60° latitude), the prevailing onshore flow creates the basic structure of most oceanic climates. Oceanic climates are
5439-586: The area, Cenomanus , with dissimilation , became known as Celmins. Cel- was taken to be a form of the French word for "this" and "that", and was replaced by le , which means "the". As the principal city of Maine , Le Mans was the stage for struggles in the eleventh century between the counts of Anjou and the dukes of Normandy . When the Normans had control of Maine, William the Conqueror successfully invaded England and established an occupation. In 1069
5550-452: The benefit of poorer suburbs. Moreover, intercommunal structures in many urban areas are still new, and fragile: Tensions exist between communes; the city at the center of the urban area often is suspected of wishing to dominate the suburban communes; communes from opposing political sides also may be suspicious of each other. Two famous examples of this are Toulouse and Paris. In Toulouse, on top of there being six intercommunal structures,
5661-532: The central government's calls for mergers and rationalization. By way of contrast, in the German states bordering Alsace, the geo-political and administrative areas have been subject to various re-organizations from the 1960s onward. In the state of Baden-Württemberg , the number of Gemeinden or communities was reduced from 3,378 in 1968 to 1,108 in September 2007. In comparison, the number of communes in Alsace
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#17327836168915772-410: The chartered cities) suddenly became legal entities for the first time in their history. This is still the case today. During the revolution, approximately 41,000 communes were created, on territory corresponding to the limits of modern-day France (the 41,000 figure includes the communes of the departments of Savoie , Haute-Savoie and Alpes-Maritimes which were annexed in 1795, but does not include
5883-550: The citizens of Maine revolted and expelled the Normans, resulting in Hugh V being proclaimed count of Maine . Geoffrey V of Anjou married Matilda of England in the cathedral . Their son Henry II Plantagenet, king of England , was born in the town. In the 13th century Le Mans came under the control of the French crown. It was subsequently invaded by England during the Hundred Years' War . Industrialization took place in
5994-642: The city has hosted the 24 Hours of Le Mans , the world's oldest active endurance sports car race. The event is among the most attended and prestigious motor sports events in the world. First mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy , the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci , a sub tribe of the Aedui . Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum (City of the Cenomani ), or Cenomanus . Their city, seized by
6105-535: The city of Toulouse chartered by the counts of Toulouse). These cities were made up of several parishes (up to c. 50 parishes in the case of Paris), and they were usually enclosed by a defensive wall . They had been emancipated from the power of feudal lords in the 12th and 13th centuries, had municipal bodies which administered the city, and bore some resemblance with the communes that the French Revolution would establish except for two key points: In
6216-570: The coldest month, compared to continental climates where the coldest month has a mean temperature of below 0 °C (32 °F) (or −3 °C (27 °F)) in the coldest month. Summers are warm but not hot, with the warmest month having a mean temperature below 22 °C (72 °F). Poleward of the latter is a subtype of it, the subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc ), with long but relatively mild (for their latitude) winters, and cool and short summers with average temperatures of at least 10 °C (50 °F) for one to three months. Examples in
6327-544: The country: the whole of France would be divided into départements , themselves divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons, themselves divided into communes, no exceptions. All of these communes would have equal status, they would all have a mayor at their head and a municipal council elected by the inhabitants of the commune. This was a real revolution for the thousands of villages that never had experienced organized municipal life before. A communal house had to be built in each of these villages, which would house
6438-464: The departments of modern-day Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine , which were part of France between 1795 and 1815). This was fewer than the 60,000 parishes that existed before the revolution (in cities and towns, parishes were merged into one single commune; in the countryside, some very small parishes were merged with bigger ones), but 41,000 was still a considerable number, without any comparison in
6549-412: The difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy. A commune
6660-599: The division of France into villages or parishes at the time of the French Revolution . (1) Within the current limits of metropolitan France, which existed between 1860 and 1871 and from 1919 to today. (2) Within the current extent of overseas France, which has remained unchanged since the independence of the New Hebrides in 1980. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes; even uninhabited mountains or rain forests are dependent on
6771-551: The east, and (in some locations) summers become hotter. The line between oceanic Europe and Mediterranean Europe normally runs west to east and is related to changes in precipitation patterns and differences to seasonal temperatures; although intrusions of polar air, remnants of marine air-masses, and higher summer precipitation can create oceanic climates in Eastern Europe and transcontinental regions as far south as 40°N. The oceanic climate exists in an arc spreading across
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#17327836168916882-427: The end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille , the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris City Hall. Although in the Middle Ages the provosts of the merchants symbolized the independence of Paris and even had openly rebelled against King Charles V , their office had been suppressed by the king, then reinstated but with strict control from
6993-425: The exposed areas of the High Atlas , some mountainous areas across southern Europe , mountainous sections of North America , including parts of the southern Appalachians and the Central America Volcanic Arc . In South America , it can be found mainly in temperate mountainous areas in the Tropical Andes , Venezuelan Coastal Range , the highest elevations of Serra do Mar in Southeastern Brazil , and tepuis of
7104-480: The fact that there are pronounced differences in size between French communes. As mentioned in the introduction, a commune can be a city of 2 million inhabitants such as Paris, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, or just a hamlet of 10 inhabitants. What the median population tells us is that the vast majority of the French communes only have a few hundred inhabitants, but there are also a small number of communes with much higher populations. In metropolitan France 57 percent of
7215-558: The form of a law on 22 March 1890, which provided for the establishment of single-purpose intercommunal associations. French lawmakers having long been aware of the inadequacy of the communal structure inherited from the French Revolution for dealing with a number of practical matters, the so-called Chevènement law of 12 July 1999 is the most recent and most thoroughgoing measure aimed at strengthening and simplifying this principle. In recent years it has become increasingly common for communes to band together in intercommunal consortia for
7326-817: The hottest month, the average temperature is below 22 °C (72 °F), and at least four months feature average temperatures higher than 10 °C (50 °F). The average temperature of the coldest month must not be colder than −3–0 °C (27–32 °F), or the climate will be classified as continental. The average temperature variations in the year are between 10–15 °C (50–59 °F), with average annual temperatures between 6–13 °C (43–55 °F). Rain values can vary from 50–500 cm (20–197 in), depending on whether mountains cause orographic precipitation . Frontal cyclones can be common in marine west coast regions, with some areas experiencing more than 150 rainy days annually, but strong storms are rare. Cfb climates are predominant in most of Europe except
7437-654: The immediate west and northwest in transition for humid continental , the remainder of Cape Cod ) and northeastern Georgia both in the eastern United States . It is also found in the highest portions of the Brazilian state of Bahia and Roraima (in transition or strongly influenced for Cwb ), Brønnøy Municipality in Nordland at 65.28 °N ( Norway north-central coast), the provinces of Sabah (northeastern Malaysia ), and Baluchistan , Pakistan . Although there are more or less rare places associated with relatively isolated mountainous regions (e.g., North Oceania islands and China ). The subtropical highland climate
7548-505: The isotherm used. Typically, these areas in the warmest month experience daytime maximum temperatures below 17 °C (63 °F), while the coldest month features highs slightly above freezing and lows near or just below freezing while keeping the average warm enough. It typically carries a Cfc designation, though very small areas in Argentina and Chile have summers sufficiently short to be Cwc with fewer than four months over 10 °C (50 °F). This variant of an oceanic climate
7659-548: The king, and so they had ended up being viewed by the people as yet another representative of the king, no longer the embodiment of a free municipality. Following that event, a "commune" of Paris was immediately set up to replace the old medieval chartered city of Paris, and a municipal guard was established to protect Paris against any attempt made by King Louis XVI to quell the ongoing revolution. Several other cities of France quickly followed suit, and communes arose everywhere, each with their municipal guard. On 14 December 1789,
7770-437: The kingdom. A parish was essentially a church, the houses around it (known as the village), and the cultivated land around the village. France was the most populous country in Europe at this time, with a population of approximately 25 million inhabitants in the late 18th century ( England in contrast had only 6 million inhabitants), which accounts for the large number of parishes. French kings often prided themselves on ruling over
7881-653: The law. In urban areas, the new intercommunal structures are much more a reality, being created by local decision-makers out of genuine belief in the worth of working together. However, in many places, local feuds have arisen, and it was not possible to set up an intercommunal structure for the whole of the urban area: some communes refusing to take part in it, or even creating their own structure. In some urban areas like Marseille there exist four distinct intercommunal structures! In many areas, rich communes have joined with other rich communes and have refused to let in poorer communes, for fear that their citizens would be overtaxed to
7992-552: The least money per inhabitant, whereas urban communities are given the most money per inhabitant, thus pushing communes to form more integrated communities where they have fewer powers, which they might otherwise have been loath to do if it were not for government money. The Chevènement law has been extremely successful in the sense that a majority of French communes now have joined the new intercommunal structures. On 1 January 2007, there were 2,573 such communities in metropolitan France (including five syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle ,
8103-474: The local feudal lord ( seigneur ) still had a major influence in the village's affairs, collecting taxes from tenant-villagers and ordering them to work the corvée , controlling which fields were to be used and when, and how much of the harvest should be given to him. Additionally, some cities had obtained charters during the Middle Ages, either from the king himself or from local counts or dukes (such as
8214-575: The lowest communes' median population of all the European countries (communes in Switzerland or Rhineland-Palatinate may cover a smaller area, as mentioned above, but they are more populated). This small median population of French communes can be compared with Italy, where the median population of communes in 2001 was 2,343 inhabitants, Belgium (11,265 inhabitants), or even Spain (564 inhabitants). The median population given here should not hide
8325-480: The main community of Toulouse and its suburbs is only a community of agglomeration, although Toulouse is large enough to create an Urban Community according to the law. This is because the suburban communes refused an urban community for fear of losing too much power, and opted for a community of agglomeration, despite the fact that a community of agglomeration receives less government funds than an urban community. As for Paris, no intercommunal structure has emerged there,
8436-466: The maximum allowable pay of the mayor and deputy mayors, and municipal campaign finance limits (among other features) all depend on the population echelon into which a particular commune falls. Since the PLM Law of 1982, three French communes also have a special status in that they are further divided into municipal arrondissements : these are Paris, Marseille , and Lyon . The municipal arrondissement
8547-486: The mayors. Civil marriages were established and started to be performed in the mairie with a ceremony not unlike the traditional one, with the mayor replacing the priest, and the name of the law replacing the name of God (" Au nom de la loi, je vous déclare unis par les liens du mariage. " – "In the name of the law, I declare you united by the bonds of marriage."). Priests were forced to surrender their centuries-old baptism, marriage, and burial books, which were deposited in
8658-425: The meetings of the municipal council as well as the administration of the commune. Some in the National Assembly were opposed to such a fragmentation of France into thousands of communes, but eventually Mirabeau and his ideas of one commune for each parish prevailed. On 20 September 1792, the recording of births, marriages, and deaths also was withdrawn as a responsibility of the priests of the parishes and handed to
8769-441: The mild Atlantic air travelling inland. Summers are warm and occasionally hot, whereas winters are mild and cloudy. Precipitation is relatively uniform and moderate year round. As of 2018, there were 367,082 inhabitants in the metropolitan area ( aire d'attraction ) of Le Mans, with 143,252 of these living in the city proper ( commune ). In 1855 Le Mans absorbed four neighbouring communes. The population data for 1851 and earlier in
8880-489: The north of Croatia and Serbia and some parts of the Czech Republic , also have oceanic climates; these are generally near the boundary for being humid continental . The line between oceanic and continental climates in Europe runs in a generally north to south direction. For example, western Germany is more impacted by milder Atlantic air masses than eastern Germany. Thus, winters across Europe become colder to
8991-521: The north, cities tended to be administered by échevins (from an old Germanic word meaning judge), while in the south, cities tended to be administered by consuls (in a clear reference to Roman antiquity), but Bordeaux was administered by jurats (etymologically meaning "sworn men") and Toulouse by capitouls ("men of the chapter"). Usually, there was no mayor in the modern sense; all the échevins or consuls were on equal footing, and rendered decisions collegially. However, for certain purposes, there
9102-818: The northeast, as global temperatures became warmer towards late 20th and early 21st century. They are the main climate type in New Zealand and the Australian states of Tasmania , Victoria , and southeastern New South Wales (starting from the Illawarra region). In North America, they are found mainly in Vancouver Island and neighbouring parts of British Columbia , as well as many coastal areas of southeast Alaska . There are pockets of this iteration of Cfb climates in South American countries, mostly in regions of southern Chile and Argentina, parts of
9213-655: The northeastern coast of Honshu , such as Mutsu, Aomori in Japan, feature this climate, which is rare in Asia due to the lack of a west coast in the middle latitudes. Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul , both part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands , are located in the subtropics and have an oceanic climate (akin to Tristan da Cunha; see above). Temperate oceanic climates, also known as "marine mild winter" climates or simply oceanic climates, are found either at middle latitudes . They are often found on or near
9324-620: The northwestern coast of North America from the Alaskan panhandle to northern Washington . In addition, some east coast areas such as Block Island , Cape Cod , Martha's Vineyard , and Nantucket have a similar climate. And in the highlands of Central and South America with the variant Cfb. An extensive area of oceanic climates distinguishes the coastal regions of southern Chile and extends into bordering Argentina . The only noteworthy area of maritime climate at or near sea-level within Africa
9435-523: The number of communes in the process – the Gemeinden of West Germany were decreased from 24,400 to 8,400 in the space of a few years – France only carried out mergers at the margin, and those were mostly carried out during the 19th century. From 41,000 communes at the time of the French Revolution, the number decreased to 37,963 in 1921, to 36,569 in 2008 (in metropolitan France). Thus, in Europe, only Switzerland has as high
9546-404: The number of municipalities compared to the large and populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (396 Gemeinden in September 2007). Despite differences in population, each of the communes of the French Republic possesses a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ), which jointly manage the commune from the municipal hall ( mairie ), with exactly the same powers no matter
9657-704: The ocean. Oceanic climates in Europe occupy a large stretch of land, from Norway 's Atlantic coast, Ireland and the United Kingdom and southeast to some parts of Turkey . Western Europe is almost exclusively oceanic between 45°N to 54.913°N; including most of France (away from the Mediterranean), nearly all of Belgium , the Netherlands , Austria , most of Luxembourg , most of Denmark , western Germany , northwestern Switzerland , south coast and western areas of Norway north to Skrova and extreme southern Sweden . While most of Southern Europe
9768-631: The only partially successful statute enacted in 1966 and enabling urban communes to form urban communities or the more marked failure of the Marcellin law of 1971, the Chevènement law met with a large measure of success, so that a majority of French communes are now involved in intercommunal structures. There are two types of these structures: In exchange for the creation of a community, the government allocates money to them based on their population, thus providing an incentive for communes to team up and form communities. Communities of communes are given
9879-842: The peaks in the highest mountain ranges have this climate (including the Blue Mountains in Jamaica and Cerro Maravilla in Puerto Rico ), with only Hispaniola 's Cordillera Central and Chaîne de la Selle having significant urban settlements under this climate zone, such as cities like Kenscoff in Haiti and Constanza in the Dominican Republic . Areas with subpolar oceanic climates feature an oceanic climate but are usually located closer to polar regions, with long but relatively mild winters and short, cool summers. As
9990-403: The place of the former communes, which are represented by a delegated mayor and a delegated council. Between 2012 and 2021, about 820 communes nouvelles have been established, replacing about 2,550 old communes. The expression "intercommunality" ( intercommunalité ) denotes several forms of cooperation between communes. Such cooperation first made its appearance at the end of the 19th century in
10101-541: The populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris , to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes ( "lieu dit" or "bourg" ),
10212-650: The provinces of Chubut , Santa Cruz , and southeast Buenos Aires province in Argentina. In Western Asia , the climate can be found on the Black Sea coast of northern Turkey and Georgia , often transitional to humid subtropical . While Cfb zones are rare in Africa, one dominates the coastline of the Eastern Cape in South Africa . The climate subtype can also be found in Nantucket , Massachusetts (in
10323-495: The provision of such services as refuse collection and water supply. Suburban communes often team up with the city at the core of their urban area to form a community charged with managing public transport or even administering the collection of local taxes. The Chevènement law tidied up all these practices, abolishing some structures and creating new ones. In addition, it offered central government finance aimed at encouraging further communes to join in intercommunal structures. Unlike
10434-419: The regions, but are more common in subtropical highland climates where these air masses meet more frequently due to the influence of hotter weather in the subtropics or tropics, especially in monsoon-influenced climates. In most areas with an oceanic climate, precipitation comes in the form of rain for the majority of the year. Most oceanic climate zones, however, experience at least one snowfall per year. Snowfall
10545-489: The revolution, and so they favored a powerful central state. Therefore, when they created the communes, they deprived them of any legal "personality" (as they did with the départements ), with only the central state having legal "personality." By 1837 that situation was judged impractical, as mayors and municipal councils could not be parties in courts. The consequence of the change, however, was that tens of thousands of villages which had never had legal "personality" (contrary to
10656-469: The right to elect its own mayor in 1977, the central government retained control of the Paris police. In all other French communes, the municipal police are under the mayor's supervision. French communes were created at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789–1790. Before the revolution, France's lowest level of administrative division was the parish ( paroisse ), and there were up to 60,000 of them in
10767-406: The same as those designed at the time of the French Revolution more than 200 years ago, with the same limits. Countless rural communes that had hundreds of inhabitants at the time of the French Revolution now have only a hundred inhabitants or fewer. On the other hand, cities and towns have grown so much that their urbanized area is now extending far beyond the limits of their commune which were set at
10878-403: The same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them. In Réunion, demographic expansion and sprawling urbanization have resulted in the administrative splitting of some communes . The median population of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was 380 inhabitants. Again this is a very small number, and here France stands absolutely apart in Europe, with
10989-552: The shape of the continent. Only in Europe do they penetrate far inland, where they eventually transition into warm-summer humid continental climates ; in other continents, they are blocked by a large mountain range or limited by nearby oceans. The North Atlantic Gulf Stream , a tropical oceanic current that passes north of the Caribbean and up the East Coast of the United States to North Carolina , then heads east-northeast to
11100-414: The size of the commune. This uniformity of status is a legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences in status that existed in the kingdom of France. French law makes allowances for the vast differences in commune size in a number of areas of administrative law. The size of the municipal council, the method of electing the municipal council,
11211-570: The suburbs of Paris fearing the concept of a "Greater Paris", and so disunity still is the rule in the metropolitan area, with the suburbs of Paris creating many different intercommunal structures all without the city. Oceanic climate An oceanic climate , also known as a marine climate or maritime climate , is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as Cfb , typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool to warm summers and cool to mild winters (for their latitude), with
11322-427: The table and graph below refer to the pre-1855 borders. The Gare du Mans is the main railway station of Le Mans. It takes 1 hour to reach Paris from Le Mans by TGV high speed train. There are also TGV connections to Lille, Marseille, Nantes, Rennes and Brest. Gare du Mans is also a hub for regional trains. Le Mans inaugurated a new light rail system on 17 November 2007. The first French Grand Prix took place on
11433-609: The time of the revolution. The most extreme example of this is Paris, where the urbanized area sprawls over 396 communes. Paris in fact was one of the very few communes of France whose limits were extended to take into account the expansion of the urbanized area. The new, larger, commune of Paris was set up under the oversight of Emperor Napoléon III in 1859, but after 1859 the limits of Paris rigidified. Unlike most other European countries, which stringently merged their communes to better reflect modern-day densities of population (such as Germany and Italy around 1970), dramatically decreasing
11544-448: The tropics, a subtropical highland climate typically features mild weather year-round. Temperatures there remain relatively constant throughout the year and snowfall is seldom seen due to warmer winters than most oceanic climates. Areas with this climate feature monthly averages below 22 °C (72 °F) but above either 0 °C (32 °F) or −3 °C (27 °F) depending on isotherm used. At least one month's average temperature
11655-414: The west coast of continents; hence another name for Cfb, "marine west coast climates". In addition to moderate temperatures year-round, one of the characteristics is the absence of a dry season. Except for Europe , this type of climate is confined to narrow bands of territory, largely in mid or high latitudes, although it can appear in elevated areas of continental terrain in low latitudes, e.g. plateaus in
11766-580: The world at the time, except in the empire of China (but there, only county level and above had any permanent administration). Since then, tremendous changes have affected France, as they have the rest of Europe: the Industrial Revolution , two world wars , and the rural exodus have all depopulated the countryside and increased the size of cities. French administrative divisions, however, have remained extremely rigid and unchanged. Today about 90 percent of communes and departments are exactly
11877-571: The year, similar to other oceanic climates, but unlike these climates, they have a high diurnal temperature variation and low humidity, owing to their inland location and relatively high elevation. Subtropical highland climates with monsoon influence ( Cwb ) have distinctive wet summers and dry winters . In locations outside the tropics, other than the drying trend in the winter, subtropical highland climates tend to be essentially identical to an oceanic climate, with mild summers and noticeably cooler winters, plus, in some instances, some snowfall. In
11988-428: Was adopted, which created the legal framework for the communes nouvelles (lit. "new communes"). A commune nouvelle can be created by merger of a number of communes at the request of the municipal councils of all the communes or at the initiative of the state representative in the department (the prefect ). The municipal council of the new commune can decide to create communes déléguées (lit. "delegated communes") in
12099-543: Was formerly used in the 24-hour race: drivers lined up across the track from their cars, ran across the track, jumped into their cars and started them to begin the race. The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a large accident during the race that killed eighty-four spectators. The city is home to Le Mans Sarthe Basket , 2006 Champion of the LNB Pro A , France's top professional basketball division. The team plays its home games at
12210-1053: Was one échevin or consul ranking above the others, a sort of mayor, although not with the same authority and executive powers as a modern mayor. This "mayor" was called provost of the merchants ( prévôt des marchands ) in Paris and Lyon; maire in Marseille, Bordeaux, Rouen , Orléans , Bayonne and many other cities and towns; mayeur in Lille ; premier capitoul in Toulouse; viguier in Montpellier ; premier consul in many towns of southern France; prêteur royal in Strasbourg ; maître échevin in Metz ; maire royal in Nancy ; or prévôt in Valenciennes . On 14 July 1789, at
12321-555: Was only reduced from 946 in 1971 (just before the Marcellin law aimed at encouraging French communes to merge with each other was passed, see Current debate section below) to 904 in January 2007. Consequently, the Alsace region—despite having a land area only one-fifth the size and a total population only one-sixth of that of its neighbor Baden-Württemberg—has almost as many municipalities. The small Alsace region has more than double
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