Cherbourg in the context of "Utah Beach"

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (French pronunciation: [ʃɛʁbuʁ ɑ̃ kɔtɑ̃tɛ̃], lit. 'Cherbourg in Cotentin'; Norman: Tchidbouo) is a major port city in the department of Manche, Normandy, northwestern France, established on 1 January 2016. The commune takes its name from Cherbourg, the main town of the commune, and from the Cotentin Peninsula. Cherbourg is an important commercial, ferry and military port on the English Channel.

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is a maritime prefecture and a sub-prefecture of Manche. The merger makes it the most populous commune in the department, with 79,144 inhabitants as of 2018 (of which 35,545 in Cherbourg-Octeville) and the largest city of the department, ahead of the Saint-Lô prefecture, and the second-largest city in the region, after Caen. Its urban unit is composed of three communes (Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Martinvast and Tollevast) and has 81,963 inhabitants (2018). Its larger functional area covers 77 communes and had 152,630 inhabitants as of 2018.

Cap de la Hague (French pronunciation: [kap də la aɡ]) is a cape at the tip of the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, France.

The La Hague area has precambrian granite and gneiss cliffs, several coves and small fields surrounded by hedges. France's oldest rocks are to be found on its coast in Jobourg. Other rocky outcroppings on the coast include Cadomian granite in Auderville and Variscan granite in Flamanville.

Rosslare Europort (Irish: Europort Ros Láir) is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeasternmost point of the island of Ireland. It is the primary Irish port serving the European Continent with 36 direct services to the Continent weekly. It handles passenger and freight ferries to and from Cherbourg, Dunkirk, St Malo and Roscoff, in France, Bilbao in Spain and Fishguard and Pembroke Dock in the United Kingdom. Since July 2022, a new freight route between Rosslare and Zeebrugge, Belgium was introduced by Finnlines (Grimaldi Group) for a twice weekly ro-ro service between the two ports.

As a result of Brexit, the port is expanding rapidly, providing new or increased direct sailings with extra capacity from Ireland to mainland Europe. The direct routes between Ireland and the continent allow freight transport firms to bypass the UK land bridge, in case there is severe congestion at British ports.

The Douve (French pronunciation: [duv]) or Ouve is a river, 78.6 km (48.8 mi) in length, which rises in the commune of Tollevast, near Cherbourg in the department of Manche. Ouve is considered its old name (Unva in ancient texts): Ouve appears to have been misspelled over the course of time as "Douve river" and then as "River of the Douve" (Douve literally means Ditch). The French name for this watercourse is la Douve.

After passing Tollevast, the river proceeds through the hills of the Cotentin Peninsula (Cherbourg peninsula) and goes by Sottevast, l'Étang-Bertrand and Magneville. It borders Néhou and crosses Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte. Once it reaches Bauptois, it alters its direction towards the Bay of the Seine in the south-eastern English Channel, passing through Carentan. The Douve is a navigable river owing to its flat bottom and adequate depth of flow.

Cherbourg-Octeville (French: [ʃɛʁbuʁ ɔkt(ə)vil] ) is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. It was formed when Cherbourg and Octeville merged on 28 February 2000. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, of which it became a delegated commune.

Cherbourg-Octeville is represented by a delegate mayor (Sébastien Fagnen, elected in 2017) and a delegate municipal council.