Located in northwest Europe, Normandy is a geographical and cultural region that closely corresponds to the former Duchy of Normandy. Insular Normandy (primarily the British Channel Islands) and mainland Normandy (a portion of France) make up Normandy. It is 30,627 square kilometers (11,825 square miles) in size.The population was 3,499,280 in 2017. Normandy is the ancient home of the Norman language, and its residents are referred to as Normans. Rouen, Caen, Le Havre, and Cherbourg are all large settlements. The historical Duchy of Normandy, which included small areas that are now part of the departments of Mayenne and Sarthe, is comparable to the cultural region of Normandy. The Channel Islands, which are 194 square kilometers (75 square miles) in size and are made up of the British Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey, were formerly a part of Normandy. The Vikings first settled the area in the ninth century, and the Viking jarl Rollo and King Charles III of France signed a contract in the tenth century, which is how Normandy got its name. Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were connected for over 150 years since the same individual served as both the Duke of Normandy and the King of England. Cave paintings and other archeological discoveries demonstrate that people lived in the area during the prehistoric era. There are numerous megalithic monuments in Normandy as well. Since at least the Bronze Age, Normandy has been inhabited by Celtic period Celts, also referred to as Belgae and Gauls. This region of Gaul was home to nine distinct Celtic tribes when Julius Caesar invaded it in 58–50 BC. Germanic raids decimated Lugdunensis Secunda, as the present-day region of Normandy was known at the time, in the late third century AD. On both sides of the English Channel, the Romans constructed the Saxon Shore, a system of coastal defenses. Saxon pirates settled mostly in the Bessin region after raiding coastal villages.[8] They have been found in various Merovingian cemeteries dug up east of Caen, according to modern archeology.During this time, Christianity also spread throughout the region, and by the fourth century, Rouen had a metropolitan bishop. The Roman Lugdunensis Secunda, whose borders nearly matched those of the future duchy of Normandy, served as the model for the ecclesiastical province of Rouen. The lower Seine region, the Pays de Caux, and the area westward through the Pays d'Auge as far as the Cotentin Peninsula and Channel Islands were all part of the erstwhile independent Duchy of Normandy. The majority of the area is in the Paris Basin, but Western Normandy is part of the Armorican Massif. On the Cotentin peninsula, Jobourg is home to some of France's oldest exposed rocks.The English Channel forms the region's western and northern borders. In the east are limestone cliffs, while in the west are granite cliffs. Long stretches of beach are also found in the region's center.

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