Aube

Aube (ob) is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019), Aube is the 74th department in terms of population. The inhabitants of the department are known as Aubois or Auboises. The department was constituted as it is today by a decree of the National Assembly of 15 January 1790. The Aube department is located in the south-west side of the Grand Est region. It borders the departments of Marne in the north (about 130 km long), Haute-Marne to the east (about 100 km long), Côte-d'Or in the south-east (about 45 km long), Yonne in the south-west (about 175 km long), and Seine-et-Marne in the west (about 45 km long). Within the department regions of natural or traditional countryside can be identified as follows: northwest quarter: Champagne crayeuse (chalky Champagne) northwestern tip: the Nogentais southwest of Troyes: the Othe region to the south: le Chaourçois to the northeast: the Briennois to the east: the Barrois between Troyes and Barrois: Champagne wetlands Communes of the Aube department Aube is divided into 431 communes totalling 310,242 inhabitants (2019). The most populous commune is the prefecture Troyes. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants: All of those communes, except Romilly-sur-Seine, are part of the agglomeration of Troyes. There are 23 rivers throughout the department, the four main rivers being the Seine, the Aube (tributary of the Seine), the Armance (tributary of the Armançon), and the Vanne (a tributary of the Yonne). The department has 140,000 hectares of forests. Located in the Community of communes of Forests, lakes, and lands in Champagne, the Orient Forest Regional Natural Park was one of the first natural parks created in France. In the same place, there is the Orient Lake and the Amance and Temple lakes where fishing, recreational water sports, and bathing are available. Each lake specialises in one or more of these activities.