Demography
In 2006 the region had 286,872 inhabitants, nearly half the total population of Charente-Maritime (47.9%).
In 2010, the northwest of the department had ten of the seventeen towns of over 5,000 inhabitants, and 31 of the department's 60 communes of over 2,000 inhabitants.
The region covers 1,497.16 km2 (578.06 sq mi), 21.8% of the whole department.
The population density of the region is more than twice that of the departmental average:192 /km2 (500 /sq mi), compared to 87 /km2 (230 /sq mi) for Charente-Maritime as a whole. It is nearly thrice that of the Poitou-Charentes region at 67 /km2 (170 /sq mi) and is higher than the national average, which in 2006 was 113 /km2 (290 /sq mi).
The ratio of urban to rural population is comparable to the national average, which is 3:4. This is considerably different from Charente-Maritime as a whole, where the ratio is nearer 3:5.
The region became considerably more urban after World War II, though the population is unevenly distributed. Above all, the Aunis coastal towns have expanded to provide the larger part of employment and leisure.
La Rochelle and Rochefort are the most populous urban areas not just in Aunis but in all Charente-Maritime. The two towns are becoming twin cities with many suburbs, connected by regular railway trains. This heavily built-up area is now home to over 200,000 inhabitants (201,509 inhabitants in 2006). This urban area is second in the region after the "Clain corridor", which runs between Poitiers and Châtellerault. Near the coast the towns have formed a dense urban web and the population density is particularly high: 288 /km2 (750 /sq mi) in the three cantons of Rochefort, 686 /km2 (1,780 /sq mi) in the canton of Aytré, 919 /km2 (2,380 /sq mi) in the combined cantons of La Rochelle. The La Rochelle-Rochefort twin city area alone includes nine towns of the seventeen with more than 5,000 inhabitants, and twenty communes with more than 2,000 inhabitants, of the sixty in Charente-Maritime in 2006.
The concentration of the population is even greater in the immediate neighbours of La Rochelle, where the canton of La Jarrie had a population density of 149 /km2 (390 /sq mi) in 2006.
Beyond the La Rochelle-Rochefort twin city area, the population density is lower, and is indeed lower than the departmental average, which was 87 /km2 (230 /sq mi) in 2006. The cantons of Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis, Surgères and Marans had respectively 70 /km2 (180 /sq mi), 62 /km2 (160 /sq mi) and 62 /km2 (160 /sq mi). Only the Canton of Courçon had a density of less than 50 /km2 (130 /sq mi) (46 /km2 (120 /sq mi) in 2006), even though its population surged between 1999 and 2006 by 28.4%. The Pays d'Aunis, an administrative region comprising four communes (Courçon, Pays Marandais, Plaine d'Aunis and Surgères), returned a census in 2006 of 61,058 inhabitants in an area of 939 square kilometres (363 sq mi), giving a density of 65 /km2 (170 /sq mi). It is still a mostly rural region, but is rapidly becoming more built-up.
Urbanisation has been just as fast on the Île de Ré, especially in the east. In the Canton of Saint-Martin-de-Ré all the communes have over 2,000 inhabitants, and the population density is one of the highest of the entire department, at 299 /km2 (770 /sq mi) in 2006 compared to 87 /km2 (230 /sq mi) for the whole department and 242 /km2 (630 /sq mi) for the urban area of La Rochelle. In 2006 the population density of the Île de Ré was the highest of the entire French coast, being a record high of 207 /km2 (540 /sq mi).
The principal towns of Aunis are:
- La Rochelle with 77,196 inhabitants is by far the most populous town in the Charente-Maritime department. Including its suburbs its population is nearly 120,000, and in the Poitou-Charentes region it is second only to Poitiers.
- Rochefort is the third town of Charente-Maritime, after La Rochelle and Saintes, but together with Tonnay-Charente it is the second largest urban area in the department with 37,095 inhabitants, making it equal fifth in the Poitou-Charentes region.
- Surgères with 5,982 inhabitants, is the twelfth largest town in Charente-Maritime.
- Marans, with 4,654 inhabitants, is the largest commune in the department by area, at 82.49 km2 (31.85 sq mi). It is nearly as large as the whole of the Île de Ré at 85.32 km2 (32.94 sq mi).
- Fouras regenerated into a vibrant small seaside resort in the 1990s. The town now has about 4,000 inhabitants.
- Aigrefeuille d'Aunis, with 3,523 inhabitants, leads the Communauté de communes Plaine d'Aunis whici, with 20,987 inhabitants, is the most populated of the Pays d'Aunis.
- On the Île de Ré, Saint-Martin-de-Ré and La Flotte make up a small urban area with 5,504 inhabitants, but Sainte-Marie-de-Ré is the most populous single commune, with 3,027 inhabitants.
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