Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France Region, France

🇫🇷 Seine-et-Marne is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square km (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its eastern half. Its prefecture is Melun, although both Meaux and Chelles have larger populations.

History Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of 22 December 1789. It had previously belonged to the former province of Île-de-France.

Situation Seine-et-Marne forms a part of the Île-de-France region; the department covers 49% of the region's land area. It is bordered by Val-d'Oise, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Essonne to the west; Loiret and Yonne to the south; Aube and Marne to the east; and Aisne and Oise to the north. It is served by RER A, RER B, RER D and RER E amongst other services.

Melun is Seine-et-Marne's prefecture. Fontainebleau, Meaux, Provins and Torcy are its subprefectures. The department comprises part of Paris's outer eastern suburbs; much of Charles de Gaulle Airport sits within its far north-western boundaries, including a majority of the terminals. The department has many natural reserves, notably Brie and Gâtinais. The department's highest point is butte Saint-George (215 m).

Principal towns The most populous commune is Meaux; the prefecture Melun is the third-most populous. As of 2019, there are 17 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants. The 10 most populous communes are:

Meaux; Chelles; Melun; Pontault-Combault; Savigny-le-Temple; Bussy-Saint-Georges; Villeparisis; Champs-sur-Marne; Roissy-en-Brie; Dammarie-lès-Lys.

Economy With 60 percent of the region used as farmland, Seine-et-Marne is where most agricultural activity occurs within Île-de-France. Cereals and sugar beet are the principal exports from Seine-et-Marne.

The other key industrial structures are the refinery at Grandpuits and the Safran Aircraft Engines research plant at Villaroche. The new town of Marne-la-Vallée is the centre of tourism in Seine-et-Marne in terms of number of visitors, mainly due to the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park theme parks at Disneyland Paris.