What is "charente"

Charente (, Saintongeais: Chérente, Occitan: Charanta) is a department in southwestern France, in the Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes region, named after the Charente River, the most important river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited.

The Charente is a long river in southwestern France. Its source is in the Haute-Vienne département at Chéronnac, a small village near Rochechouart. It flows through the departments of Haute-Vienne, Charente, Vienne and Charente-Maritime. The river flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Rochefort.