Caen Population and Area (Calvados)
Largest city in France 2026: up-to-date figures for Caen (Calvados)
Caen: Population and Area
With 111,546 inhabitants (INSEE total population in force on January 1, 2026), Caen is the 38th most populous town in France in 2026 and the most populous in the Calvados department, out of 526 communes. It covers 26 km² (5,269th largest area in France, 26th largest in the department), with a population density of 4,340 inhabitants per km², or 40 times the national average (110 inhabitants/km²), which ranks it 176th in France for density.
Caen is located in the Calvados department (14), in the Normandy region (formerly Lower Normandy), where it ranks 3rd by population out of 2,644 communes. It is the most populous town in the Calvados department, which is home to 722,979 people over 5,534 km².
See the full ranking of communes in the Calvados department and the regional ranking: largest city in Normandy.
Towns of similar size in the Calvados department: Hérouville-Saint-Clair (pop. 23,672), Lisieux (pop. 20,196), Vire Normandie (pop. 18,238).
Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); areas: IGN / Observatoire des territoires; INSEE code 14118. Rankings are calculated across the 34,858 communes of metropolitan and overseas France in our database.
Caen, the political capital of Normandy
Prefecture of the Calvados and seat of the regional council of Normandy, Caen shares regional power with Rouen, which is home to the regional prefecture. The city of William the Conqueror grew up on the banks of the Orne, some fifteen kilometers from the English Channel and the D-Day beaches, and remains the largest town in the Calvados.
A rebuilt city of students and culture
Three-quarters destroyed during the Battle of Caen in 1944, the city was rebuilt in Caen stone around its abbeys and its castle. Its present size owes much to its university, founded in 1432 and one of the oldest in France, to research, with the GANIL, and to its role as Normandy's cultural capital, symbolized by the Mémorial pour la Paix. The commune is compact and dense; since the 1970s, the growth of the urban area has taken place mainly in the towns of Caen la Mer, toward the sea and the ring road.