Aisne - Geography

Geography

Aisne borders the Ardennes Forest and Belgium to the northeast. The Aisne River crosses the area from east to west, where it joins the Oise River. The Marne forms part of the southern boundary of the department with the department of Seine-et-Marne. The southern part of the department is the geographical region known as la Brie poilleuse, a drier plateau known for its dairy products and Brie cheese.

The landscape is dominated by masses of rock which often have steep flanks. These rocks appear all over the region, but the most impressive examples are at Laon and the Chemin des Dames ridge.

The principal cities in Aisne are :

  • Laon, pop. 26,000 (capital)
  • Saint-Quentin, pop. 60,000
  • Soissons, pop. 30,000
  • Château-Thierry, pop. 15,000
  • Tergnier, pop. 15,000

See also: List of the communes of the Aisne department and Brie.

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