Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes was an administrative region in western France, comprising Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, and Vienne until its merger into Nouvelle-Aquitaine in 2016.

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Charente: A department in southwestern France, named after the Charente River and part of the former Poitou-Charentes region. The eastern inland department was one of Poitou-Charentes’ four administrative components.
French regions: Territorial subdivisions of France that exercise regional responsibilities through elected councils. Poitou-Charentes was one of metropolitan France’s regions before the 2016 reorganization.
Cognac: A grape brandy produced in the Cognac region of western France under a protected appellation. Cognac production is a defining industry of the Charente department.
Aquitaine: A historical and former administrative region in southwestern France, centered on Bordeaux and the Atlantic coast. The former Aquitaine merged with Poitou-Charentes to form Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Charente-Maritime: A department in western France on the Atlantic coast, formerly part of Poitou-Charentes. Its Atlantic coastline gave the former region its principal maritime frontage.
French regional reform of 2015: A French law that reduced the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13, effective in 2016. The reform mandated the merger that ended Poitou-Charentes as a separate region.
Pineau des Charentes: A French fortified wine made by blending grape must with Cognac eau-de-vie. It is a regional specialty closely tied to Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Limousin: A former administrative region in central-western France, now part of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It was the third former region combined with Poitou-Charentes in 2016.
Deux-Sèvres: A department in western France, formerly part of the Poitou-Charentes region. It formed the region’s northern inland portion.
Regional council of Poitou-Charentes: The elected assembly that governed the Poitou-Charentes region before its 2016 merger. It exercised regional authority until its responsibilities passed to the new regional administration.