Cherbourg-en-Cotentin Population and Area (Manche)

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin: Population and Area

With 80,317 inhabitants (INSEE total population in force on January 1, 2026), Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is the 63^rd most populous town in France in 2026 and the most populous in the Manche department, out of 445 communes. It covers 69 km² (566^th largest area in France, 6^th largest in the department), with a population density of 1,172 inhabitants per km², or 11 times the national average (110 inhabitants/km²), which ranks it 816^th in France for density.

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is located in the Manche department (50), in the Normandy region (formerly Lower Normandy), where it ranks 4^th by population out of 2,644 communes. It is the most populous town in the Manche department, which is home to 512,167 people over 5,951 km².

See the full ranking of communes in the Manche department and the regional ranking: largest city in Normandy.

Towns of similar size in the Manche department: Saint-Lô (pop. 20,213), Granville (pop. 13,143), La Hague (pop. 11,761).

Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); areas: IGN / Observatoire des territoires; INSEE code 50129. Rankings are calculated across the 34,858 communes of metropolitan and overseas France in our database.

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the largest city in the Manche

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is a "new commune" created on January 1, 2016 through the merger of Cherbourg-Octeville, Équeurdreville-Hainneville, Tourlaville, La Glacerie and Querqueville. This merger instantly made it the most populous town in the Manche, far ahead of Saint-Lô, which is nonetheless the department's prefecture.

A city of the sea and the arsenal

A subprefecture, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin owes its development to its roadstead, one of the largest artificial harbors in the world, built from the late 18^th century onward, and to its arsenal, where the French Navy's submarines are built. A cross-Channel port and a former port of call for transatlantic liners, as the Cité de la Mer, housed in the old maritime station, bears witness, the city remains focused on shipbuilding, energy and water sports, at the tip of the Cotentin peninsula.