Aube ( ) is a French department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. It has 310,447 inhabitants (2023).
The department was constituted by a decree of the National Assembly of 15 January 1790.
Geography
Location
thumb|Entry to the Aube department from Route N77
The Aube department is located in the southwest 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 southeast (about 45 km long), Yonne in the southwest (about 175 km long), and Seine-et-Marne in the west (about 45 km long).
Subregions of Aube
thumb|Map of natural and traditional regions of the department.
Within the department regions of natural or traditional countryside can be identified as follows:
- northwest quarter: Champagne crayeuse (chalky Champagne soil)
- 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 Aube
Aube is divided into 431 communes. The most populous commune is the prefecture Troyes. As of 2023, there are 8 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:
{| class=wikitable
! Commune
! Population (2023)
|-
| Troyes
| style="text-align: center;" | 62,088
|-
| Romilly-sur-Seine
| style="text-align: center;" | 14,959
|-
| Saint-André-les-Vergers
| style="text-align: center;" | 12,806
|-
| La Chapelle-Saint-Luc
| style="text-align: center;" | 12,648
|-
| Sainte-Savine
| style="text-align: center;" | 10,289
|-
| Saint-Julien-les-Villas
| style="text-align: center;" | 6,760
|-
| Nogent-sur-Seine
| style="text-align: center;" | 5,537
|-
| Pont-Sainte-Marie
| style="text-align: center;" | 5,249
|}
All of those communes, except Romilly-sur-Seine and Nogent-sur-Seine, are part of the agglomeration of Troyes.
Topography and geology
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left;width:60%;font-size:95%;"
|+ Altitude of the main towns of Aube
|-
! !! Troyes !! Romilly-sur-Seine !! Bar-sur-Aube !! Nogent-sur-Seine
|-
| Lowest Altitude||align="center"| 100 metres || align="center"|67 metres || align="center"|156 metres || align="center"|60 metres
|-
| Highest Altitude|| align="center"|126 metres ||align="center"| 112 metres ||align="center"| 348 metres || align="center"|113 metres
|-
| Average Altitude ||align="center"| 113 metres || align="center"|90 metres ||align="center"| 252 metres ||align="center"| 87 metres
|-
| Town Hall Altitude || align="center"|107 metres ||align="center"| 77 metres ||align="center"| 165 metres || align="center"|71 metres
|}
Hydrography
thumb|The [[Seine at Bar-sur-Seine]]
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).
Forests and lakes
thumb|left|Temple Lake seen from the [[dam]]
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.
Climate
The climate is moderate without intense cold or excessive heat which represents a climate similar to continental and oceanic.
Between 1950 and 1985 the average annual temperature recorded in the department was 10.1 °C which is equivalent to the Paris basin and the cities of north-eastern France. The average sunshine hours per year is 1771.
Average annual rainfall is quite high (653.4 mm over 115 days of rain
|Sunshine=1,817
|Rain=645
|Snow=15
|Storm=17
|Fog=38
Channels of communication and transport
Road network
The department has 150 km of autoroutes, 33 km of national roads, 4,517 km of departmental roads and 2,116 km of local roads. The network currently serves eleven communes including two outside the Troyes agglomeration. Other cities, including Romilly-sur-Seine, have no transport network.
Aube also has intercity transport networks. 21 regular bus routes are operated between the major cities of the department. The use of these lines is entrusted to private coaches: Transdev – The Carriers of Aube has 15 routes, Keolis Sud Lorraine has 4 routes, Procars Champagne has 2 routes, Autocars Bardy has one route.
Rail network
thumb|[[Gare de Troyes|Troyes Station]]
Five railway stations are currently in operation. These are: Nogent-sur-Seine, Romilly-sur-Seine, Troyes, Vendeuvre-sur-Barse, Bar-sur-Aube.
Aube does not have a strong rail coverage. Only one main non-electrified line passes through Aube – the line that connects Paris-Est to Mulhouse.
Navigable waterways
The department has 34.8 km of navigable waterways. The city of Nogent-sur-Seine has two river ports for grain.
History
Early history
The first inhabitants of Aube were the Tricasses and Lingones with a substantial human settlement around the year 400 BC.
Saints Potentian and Savinian, Greek priests from Samos, came to preach the gospel from the middle of the 3rd century. Saint Patroclus was one of the first martyrs of the new faith in the year 259. Shortly after Saint Jule and some notables of the city of Tricasses also suffered martyrdom. Nevertheless, as elsewhere, the Christian community became large enough to accommodate a bishop. Saint Amateur was the first in 340. In the year 286 the Bagaudae ravaged the land which forms Aube. Emperor Julian came to Troyes with his army and rescued it.
The territory making up Aube was first attached to France in 843, following the Treaty of Verdun.
The 12th century and the monasteries
thumb|The Abbey of Clairvaux: today a prison
Two important monasteries were founded in the department: one at Clairvaux in 1114, created by Bernard of Clairvaux, the other was the Abbey of the Paraclete near Nogent-sur-Seine, by his illustrious rival, Pierre Abélard and of which Héloïse d'Argenteuil was the first abbess. Bernard of Clairvaux was noted for his eloquence at the Council of Troyes and his preaching of the Second Crusade which had no result and whose outcome was disastrous.
The reunion of Champagne with the kingdom of France was finalised in 1361. Yet people wanted absolutely the incorporation of Champagne but in 1328 King Philip VI gave the city of Bar-sur-Seine to Philippe de Croy. The inhabitants, however, ransomed him to return it to the king on the condition that it become inalienable.
Definitive reunion with Kingdom of France
The decree of the National Assembly of 15 January 1790 formally established the department of Aube. Its first president was Augustin-Henri-Marie Picot and his first deputy was Louis Antoine Joseph Robin. Jacques Claude Beugnot was elected attorney-general and also MP.
In 1932, Turkish president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk visited Aube and signed a friendship treaty with France there on 4 July 1938.
Heraldry
Politics and administration
Departmental council
The departmental council of Aube is located in Troyes. Its president is Philippe Pichery (Miscellaneous right). It includes the 34 councillors of the 17 cantons of Aube. Of these, 32 are from the Right (mainly the UMP), the others are from the Miscellaneous left.
Aube returns three Deputies to the National Assembly, two of whom are from The Republicans (LR), and two Senators: one UMP and one right-wing independent.
Presidential elections 2nd round
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Winning candidate!!Party!!%!!2nd place candidate!!Party!!%
|-
|
|2022
|Emmanuel Macron
|LREM
|48.32
|Marine Le Pen
|RN
|51.68
|-
|style="background-color: " |
| 2017
| Emmanuel Macron
| LREM
| 54.15
| Marine Le Pen
| FN
| 45.85
|-
|style="background-color: " |
| 2012
| Nicolas Sarkozy
| UMP
| 57.37
| François Hollande
| PS
| 42.63
|-
|style="background-color: " |
| 2007
| Nicolas Sarkozy
| UMP
| 61.70
| Ségolène Royal
| PS
| 38.30
|-
|style="background-color: " |
| 2002
| Jacques Chirac
| RPR
| 55.30
| Lionel Jospin
| PS
| 44.70
|}
Current National Assembly Representatives
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Constituency!!Member!!Party
|-
|style="background-color: " |
| Aube's 1st constituency
| Jordan Guitton
| National Rally
|-
|style="background-color: " |
| Aube's 2nd constituency
| Valérie Bazin-Malgras
| The Republicans
|-
|style="background-color: " |
| Aube's 3rd constituency
| Angélique Ranc
| National Rally
|}
{| align="center" rules="all" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin-top: 1em; border: 1px solid #999; border-right: 2px solid #999; border-bottom: 2px solid #999"
|+Seats in the Departmental Council by Political Party
|-
! Party!! Abbrev. !! No. Members
|-
| colspan="3" align=center bgcolor=pink| Left Wing
|-
| Socialist Party || align=center | PS || align=center | 2
|-
| Communist Party || align=center | PCF || align=center | 2
|-
| Miscellaneous left || align=center | DVG || align=center | 1
|-
| Europe Ecology – The Greens || align=center | EELV || align=center | 1
|-
| colspan="3" align=center bgcolor=lightblue| Right Wing
|-
| Democratic Movement || align=center | MoDem || align=center | 1
|-
| New Centre || align=center | NC || align=center | 2
|-
| Miscellaneous right || align=center | DVD || align=center | 10
|-
| Union for a Popular Movement || align=center | UMP || align=center | 13
|-
| colspan="3" align=center bgcolor=white| Independent
|-
| Independent || align=center | SE || align=center | 1
|-
| colspan="3" align=center bgcolor=white| President of the General Council
|-
| colspan="3" align=center bgcolor=lightblue|
|-
|}
Demography
Aube is inhabited by 311,000 people with 45% (140,000 inhabitants) living in the Troyes agglomeration (2022).
Demographic change
Distribution of age groups
Percentage Distribution of Age Groups in Aube Department in 2017
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! !! colspan=2 | Aube
|-
! Age Range!! Men!! Women
|-
| 0 to 14 Years || 19.4 || 17.3
|-
| 15 to 29 Years || 17.9 || 16.2
|-
| 30 to 44 Years || 18.2 || 17.4
|-
| 45 to 59 Years || 19.9 || 19.2
|-
| 60 to 74 Years || 17.0 || 17.7
|-
| 75 to 89 Years || 7.0 || 10.3
|-
| 90 Years+ || 0.7 || 1.9
|}
Source: INSEE
Breakdown of population by socio-professional categories
{| class="wikitable centre" width="80%"
|+Population of 15 years or more by sex, age, and socio-professional category
!rowspan="2"|socio-professionnel category
!colspan="2"|2017
!colspan="2"|2007
!colspan="2"|1999
|-
!Nb
!%
!Nb
!%
!Nb
!%
|-
|Total|||| |||| ||||
|-
|Farmers and Farm workers||||1.7||||2.1||||2.3
|-
|Artisans, shopkeepers, business managers||||3.0||||2.9||||3.2
|-
|Executives and Intellectuals||||5.5||||5.1||||4.0
|-
|Intermediate Professions||||12.0||||11.7||||10.6
|-
|Employees||||16.2||||16.3||||14.9
|-
|Workers||||15.3||||17.8||||20.2
|-
|Retirees||||29.9||||27.7||||24.8
|-
|Others without occupation||||16.3||||16.3||||20.0
|-
! colspan="10"| Source : INSEE Census 2017</small>
! style="background: #F5F5F5; color:#000000;" |<small>Public Administration</small>
|-
! style="background: #F5F5F5; color:#000000;" |<small>Aube</small>
| style="background: #D1E8FF; color:#000000;" | 3.4%
| style="background: #D1E8FF; color:#000000;" | 17.9%
| style="background: #D1E8FF; color:#000000;" | 6.7%
| style="background: #D1E8FF; color:#000000;" | 39.6%
| style="background: #D1E8FF; color:#000000;" | 32.4%
|-
| colspan="7" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|Source: INSEE
|}
</div>
Main economic sectors
Industry
{| class="wikitable centre"
|+ Large Industrial Companies
- 18,465 students in primary school across 255 schools (including 14 private);
- 5,199 students in schools of general education across 10 institutions (including 3 private);
;List of Universities and Higher Educational Schools
Public Schools
- University of Technology of Troyes (UTT)
- Institute of Technology of Troyes (University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne)
- Faculty (University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne)
- Institute for Heritage Skills (IUMP)
- Institute for Teacher Training (IUFM)
- Institute for Nursing Education (IFSI of Troyes/DE IDE)
- Preparatory classes for Higher Education (CPGE) scientific and economic
- Graduate School for Applied Arts in Troyes
- National Conservatory of Music in Troyes
Private Schools
- Graduate School of Commerce in Troyes
- Supinfo