Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et-Vilaine.

Mayenne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. The northern two thirds correspond to the western part of the former province of Maine. The southern third of Mayenne corresponds to the northern portion of the old province of Anjou. The inhabitants of the department are called Mayennais. It had a population of 305,468 in 2023.

The American first army's 90th Infantry Division were tasked with capturing the town in 1944.

Geography

Mayenne is a department in northwestern France and is part of the region of Pays de la Loire. The department does not have a sea coast, but about thirty kilometres to the northwest is Mont Saint-Michel Bay. The capital and largest town is Laval in the centre of the department. To the north lies the department of Orne, to the east lies Sarthe, to the south lies Maine-et-Loire, to the west lies Ille-et-Vilaine and to the northwest lies Manche. The department forms a roughly rectangular shape, being long by wide, with a total area of about . The river Mayenne flows centrally through it from north to south, passing through the towns of Mayenne, Laval and Château-Gontier. After leaving the department, the river joins the river Sarthe to form the Maine which later joins the Loire.

The department is varied in topography. Much of it is largely flat, but there are also hilly areas, some with steep-sided valleys and ravines. Of the total area of , some are arable, are grassland, are forests and woodland and are heathland and moorland. To the north lies the Armorican Massif, a plateau that has been eroded over time, the highest summit of which, the Mont des Avaloirs, is the highest point in the department at above sea level. A branch range to the south of this plateau forms the ridge that divides the Mayenne Valley from the Vilaine Valley.

{| class=wikitable

! Commune

! Population (2023)

|-

| Laval

| style="text-align: center;" | 49,400

|-

| Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne

| style="text-align: center;" | 16,584

|-

| Mayenne

| style="text-align: center;" | 12,883

|-

| Évron

| style="text-align: center;" | 8,252

|-

| Saint-Berthevin

| style="text-align: center;" | 7,479

|-

| Changé

| style="text-align: center;" | 6,502

|-

| Bonchamp-lès-Laval

| style="text-align: center;" | 6,302

|-

| Ernée

| style="text-align: center;" | 5,499

|}

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Olivier Richefou, elected in 2014.

Presidential elections 2nd round

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="2"|Election!!Winning candidate!!Party!!%!!2nd place candidate!!Party!!%

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2022

| Emmanuel Macron

| LREM

| 64.21

| Marine Le Pen

| RN

| 35.79

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2017

| Emmanuel Macron

| LREM

| 72.02

| Marine Le Pen

| FN

| 27.98

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2012

| Nicolas Sarkozy

| UMP

| 53.07

| François Hollande

| PS

| 46.93

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2007

| Nicolas Sarkozy

| UMP

| 55.45

| Ségolène Royal

| PS

| 44.55

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2002

| Jacques Chirac

| RPR

| 59.49

| Lionel Jospin

| PS

| 40.51

|}

Current National Assembly Representatives

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="2"|Constituency!!Member!!Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Mayenne's 1st constituency

| Guillaume Garot

| Socialist Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Mayenne's 2nd constituency

| Géraldine Bannier

| MoDem

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Mayenne's 3rd constituency

| Yannick Favennec Becot

| Horizons

|}

Flora and fauna

Mayenne has a diversity of habitat types such as forest, heathland, bog and farmland. Some 1445 species of plants, 63 species of mammals, 280 species of birds, 16 species of amphibians and 11 species of reptiles have been recorded, as well as thousands of species of invertebrates. The peat-lands and bogs are often fringed with woodlands of alder and ash, and in some places carnivorous plants such as sundew and butterwort flourish, fritillaries, marsh cinquefoil and cottongrass grow and butterflies, dragonflies and spiders abound.

The woodlands are mostly small with the deciduous trees dominated by oak. Here roe deer, badger, mole, hedgehog, red deer, red squirrel, fire salamander, Aesculapian snake, middle spotted woodpecker, little owl and white admiral can be found and uncommon plants present including European columbine and wild russet apple. Livestock farming predominates, with the breeding of cattle, horses and pigs, and also bee-keeping being important. Office furniture is manufactured in Château-Gontier, and Laval is active in the industrial sector, with dairy products, electronics and chemicals in a modern science park.

Tourism

<gallery>

File:Château de Laval 43.JPG|Laval

File:Paysage Coëvrons.JPG|View from the Armorican Massif

File:Couvent des Ursulines - Château-Gontier 15.JPG|Abbey in Château-Gontier

File:Chateau Ste-Suzanne 53.jpg|Château de Sainte-Suzanne

File:Château de Lassay 13.JPG|Chateau de Lassay

</gallery>

See also

  • Cantons of the Mayenne department
  • Communes of the Mayenne department
  • Arrondissements of the Mayenne department
  • Duke of Mayenne
  • Departmental Council of Mayenne
  • Jublains archeological site

References

  • Prefecture website
  • Departmental council website