France Guide - Department de l'Aisne

Départment de l'Aisne
The Aisne is a department of the Picardie region, and owes its name to the River Aisne.
It has a surface area of 7,369 km², a population of 535,000 inhabitants, and is divided into five administrative districts (arrondissements in French) for a total of 42 cantons and 816 municipalities.
It borders (clockwise from the North) the departments of the Nord, Ardennes, Marne, Seine-Marne,and Oise.
In ancient times, the Aisne belonged to the Roman Province of Gallia Belgica. In Merovingian times, Soissons became a Royal city, along with Paris, Orléans and Metz. In Medieval times, depending on the period, it was part the County of Vermandois, centered around the town of Vermand, or the County of Champagne, or else the County of Flanders. The illustrious Dukes of Guise are named after the homonynous town in the arrondissement of Vervins.
Touristic places
Laon
Soissons
Chateau-Thierry

French Cities (North)
Paris
Amiens
Arras
Bavay
Beauvais
Béthune
Boulogne
Calais
Cambrai
Charleville-Mézières
Colmar
Douai
Dunkirk
Epinal
Laon
Lille
Maubeuge
Metz
Nancy
Noyon
Reims
Rethel
Sedan
Senlis
Soissons
Strasbourg
Valenciennes
Verdun

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