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MANCHE

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 543 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MANCHE , a See also:

department of See also:north-western See also:France, made up chiefly of the Cotentin and the Avranchin districts of See also:Normandy, and bounded W., N. and N.E. by the See also:English Channel (Fr. La Manche), from which it derives its name, E. by the department of See also:Calvados, S.E. by See also:Orne, S. by See also:Mayenne and Ille-et-Vilaine. Pop. (1906), 487,443. See also:Area, 2475 sq. m. The department is traversed from See also:south to north by a range of hills, in many parts picturesque, and connected in the south with those of See also:Maine and See also:Brittany. In the See also:country See also:round See also:Mortain, which has been called the See also:Switzerland of Normandy, they rise to a height of 1200 ft. The See also:coast-See also:line, See also:running northward along the See also:bay of the See also:Seine from the rocks of See also:Grand See also:Camp to Cape See also:Barfleur, thence westward to Cape la See also:Hague, and finally south-See also:ward to the Bay of Mont St See also:Michel, has a length of 200 See also:miles. The See also:Vire and the Taute (which near the small See also:port of Carentan receives the Ouve as a tributary on the See also:left) fall into the See also:sea at the Calvados border, and are See also:united by a See also:canal some miles above their mouths. From the mouth of the Taute a See also:low See also:beach runs to the port of St Vaast-la-Hougue, where the coast becomes rocky, with sandbanks. Off St Vaast lies the fortified See also:island of Tatihow, with the laboratory of marine See also:zoology of the Natural See also:History Museum of See also:Paris. Between Cape Barfleur and Cape la Hague See also:lie the roads of See also:Cherbourg, protected by the famous See also:breakwater.

The whole western coast is inhospitable; its small havens, lying behind formidable barriers and reefs, are almost dry at low See also:

tide. See also:Great cliffs, such as the points of Jobourg (420 ft. high) and Flamanville, alternate with See also:long strands, such as that which extends for 30 M. from Cape See also:Carteret to See also:Granville. Between this coast and the Channel Islands the tide, pent up between numerous sandbanks, flows with a terrific force that has given these passages such See also:ill-omened names as Passage de la Deroute and the like. The only important harbours are Granville and the haven of See also:refuge of Dielette between Granville and Cherbourg. Carteret carries on a passenger See also:traffic with the Channel Islands. The See also:chief stream is the Sienne, with its tributary the Soulle flowing by See also:Coutances. South of Granville the samds of St Pair are the commencement of the great bay of Mont See also:Saint Michel, whose area of 6o,000 acres was covered with See also:forest till the terrible tide of the See also:year 709. The equinoctial tides reach a See also:vertical height of nearly 50 ft. In the bay the picturesque walls of the See also:abbey rise from the See also:summit of a See also:rock 400 ft. high. The See, which See also:waters See also:Avranches, and the Couesnon (separating Manche from Ille-et-Vilaine) disembogue in the bay. The See also:climate of Manche is mild and humid, from its propinquity to the sea. Frosts are never severe; myrtles and fuchsias flourish in the open See also:air.

Excessive See also:

heat is also unusual; the predominant winds are south-See also:west. The characteristic See also:industry of the department is the rearing of horses and See also:cattle, carried on especially in the See also:rich meadow of the eastern Cotentin; See also:sheep are raised in the western See also:arrondissement of Coutances. See also:Wheat, See also:buckwheat, See also:barley and oats are the chief cereals cultivated. Manche is one of the foremost departments for the See also:production of See also:cider-apples and See also:pears; plums and See also:figs are also largely grown. See also:Butter is an important source of profit, as also are poultry and eggs. Flourishing See also:market-gardens are found in the west. The department contains valuable See also:granite quarries in the Cherbourg arrondissement and the Chausey islands; See also:building and other See also:stone is quarried. Villedieu manufactures See also:copper-See also:ware and Sourdeval See also:iron and other See also:metal-ware; and there are See also:wool-See also:spinning See also:mills, See also:paper-See also:works and See also:leather-works, but the department as a whole is industrially unimportant. There are See also:oyster-beds on the coast (St Vaast, &c.), and the maritime See also:population, besides fishing for See also:herring, See also:mackerel, lobsters or See also:sole, collect seaweed for agricultural use. Coutances is the seat of a bishopric of the See also:province of See also:Rouen. The department forms See also:part of the region of the X. See also:army See also:corps and of the circumscriptions of the academie (educational See also:division) and See also:appeal-See also:court of See also:Caen. Cherbourg (q. v.), with its.important port, See also:arsenal and See also:shipbuilding yards, is the chief centre of population.

St L8 (q.v.) is the See also:

capital; there are six arrondissements (St LS, Avranches, Cherbourg, Coutances, Mortain, Valognes), with 48 cantbns and 647 communes. Avranches, Mortain, Coutances, Granville and Mont. Saint Michel receive See also:separate treatment. At Lessay and St Sauveur-le-Vicomte there are the remains of See also:ancient See also:Benedictine abbeys, and Torigni-sur-Vire and Tourlaville (See also:close to Cherbourg) have interesting chateaux of the 16th See also:century. Valognes, which in the 17th and 18th centuries posed as a provincial centre of culture, has a See also:church (15th, 16th and 17th centuries) remarkable for its See also:dome, the only one of See also:Gothic See also:architecture in France.

End of Article: MANCHE

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