Ouistreham

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Ouistreham
Ouistreham locks
Ouistreham locks
Coat of arms of Ouistreham
Coat of arms
Ouistreham is located in France
Ouistreham
Ouistreham
<templatestyles src="Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"/>
Location within Lower Normandy region
Ouistreham is located in Lower Normandy
Ouistreham
Ouistreham
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country France
Region Normandy
Department Calvados
Arrondissement Caen
Canton Ouistreham
Intercommunality Caen la Mer
Government
 • Mayor (2014-) Romain Bail
Area1 9.95 km2 (3.84 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 9,322
 • Density 940/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 14488 / 14150
Website http://ouistreham-rivabella.fr/
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Ouistreham (French pronunciation: ​[wistʁe.am]) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.

Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la Mer.

History

The name Ouistreham derives from ouistre - 'oyster' and Saxon ham= 'village'. It has been a trading port since the Middle Ages. The harbour is now a part of "Port de Caen-Ouistreham". Since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been a bathing beach on the "Riva Bella".

On 6 June 1944, No. 4 Commando landed at Ouistreham (Sword Beach) and fought their way to Pegasus Bridge, with the 177 Free French of the No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando given the honour of spearheading the advance.[1] The assault on Ouistreham was featured in the movie The Longest Day, although the film location for Ouistreham was actually at Port-en-Bessin.

German battery in Ouistreham, fitted with the turret of a Renault FT tank.

Population

Historical population
Year Pop. ±%
1793 854 —    
1800 796 −6.8%
1806 1,050 +31.9%
1821 1,104 +5.1%
1831 1,162 +5.3%
1836 1,149 −1.1%
1841 1,359 +18.3%
1846 1,194 −12.1%
1851 1,133 −5.1%
1856 1,221 +7.8%
1861 1,259 +3.1%
1866 1,243 −1.3%
1872 1,249 +0.5%
1876 1,196 −4.2%
1881 1,222 +2.2%
1886 1,206 −1.3%
1891 1,194 −1.0%
1896 1,354 +13.4%
1901 1,688 +24.7%
1906 1,523 −9.8%
1911 1,574 +3.3%
1921 2,013 +27.9%
1926 2,220 +10.3%
1931 2,584 +16.4%
1936 2,790 +8.0%
1946 3,527 +26.4%
1954 4,342 +23.1%
1962 4,780 +10.1%
1968 5,223 +9.3%
1975 6,140 +17.6%
1982 6,310 +2.8%
1990 6,709 +6.3%
1999 8,674 +29.3%
2008 9,322 +7.5%

Sights

The town is crossed by the EuroVelo 4 track.

Transportation

The port of Ouistreham has a scheduled cross-Channel ferry service to Portsmouth, operated by Brittany Ferries.

International relations

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Twin towns – Sister cities

Ouistreham is twinned with:[2]

See also

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.