Cherbourg-Octeville is a city and
commune situated at the northern end of the
Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French
department of
Manche. It is a
subprefecture of its department, and was officially formed when the commune of Cherbourg absorbed Octeville on 28 February 2000. The city is a
Maritime prefecture and sub-prefecture of la Manche. Due to its union, it is the most populated city in its department with 37,121 inhabitants (over 85,000 with its suburbs) making it the first city of the department before the
Saint-Lô prefecture and the second in the region after
Caen.