La Flotte (French pronunciation: [la flɔt]; sometimes locally La Flotte-en-Re), is a commune on the isle of Ré off the western coast of France, administratively part of the department of Charente-Maritime within the larger Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.^[3]

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (December 2008) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:La Flotte]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|La Flotte}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Quick Facts Country, Region ...

La Flotte
Commune
The harbour in La Flotte
Coat of arms
Location of La Flotte
La Flotte Show map of France La Flotte Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 46°11′16″N 1°19′28″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	La Rochelle
Canton	Île de Ré
Intercommunality	Île de Ré
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jean-Paul Heraudeau[1]
Area 1	12.32 km2 (4.76 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	3,017
• Density	240/km2 (630/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Flottais, Flottaises
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	17161 /17630
Elevation	0–17 m (0–56 ft) (avg. 8 m or 26 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

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It is the largest municipality on the Île de Ré by area, and the second largest by population, second to Sainte-Marie-de-Ré on the southern tip of the island.

La Flotte was declared one of the most beautiful villages in France by the eponymous independent tourism organization Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, and since 2011, the town has been a part of the departmental government's "Stone and Water Villages" tourism initiative to promote notable coastal and waterfront locales (i.e., where the stone (city) meets the water (sea, river etc.).

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2023)

• Agriculture, asparagus, potatoes, vine.
• Oyster farming, boating, fishing.
• Tourism. Accommodation: six hotels, five campsites, guest houses, seasonal rentals.

In 1627, an English invasion force under the command of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, attacked the island in order to relieve the Siege of La Rochelle. After three months of siege, the Marquis de Toiras and a relief force of French ships and troops managed to repel the Duke, who was forced to withdraw in defeat.^[8] The English lost more than 4,000 out of 7,000 troops during the campaign. After repelling the English assault, the French Guards retreated through the town of La Flotte, and burned three English vessels there in the port and returned to Fort La Prée.

La Flotte was the home of Gustave Dechézeaux (1760-1794), a member of the National Convention. A victim of the Reign of Terror, he was guillotined at Rochefort on 17 January 1794 for his vote against the execution of Louis XVI.^[9] He was later given a posthumous pardon by the Convention on 3 May 1795.^[10]

In 2018, the town had 2,759 inhabitants, down 4.8% compared to 2013 (Charente-Maritime: + 2.13%, France excluding Mayotte: +1.78%).

More information Year, Pop. ...

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 4,400 —     1800 3,322 −3.94% 1806 2,847 −2.54% 1821 2,556 −0.72% 1831 2,557 +0.00% 1836 2,411 −1.17% 1841 2,429 +0.15% 1846 2,462 +0.27% 1851 2,422 −0.33% 1856 2,352 −0.58% 1861 2,386 +0.29% 1866 2,450 +0.53% 1872 2,315 −0.94% 1876 2,395 +0.85% 1881 2,389 −0.05% 1886 2,381 −0.07% 1891 2,447 +0.55% 1896 2,373 −0.61%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 2,267 −0.91% 1906 2,096 −1.56% 1911 2,118 +0.21% 1921 1,813 −1.54% 1926 1,629 −2.12% 1931 1,475 −1.97% 1936 1,396 −1.09% 1946 1,260 −1.02% 1954 1,393 +1.26% 1962 1,578 +1.57% 1968 1,681 +1.06% 1975 1,737 +0.47% 1982 1,878 +1.12% 1990 2,452 +3.39% 1999 2,737 +1.23% 2007 2,923 +0.83% 2012 2,863 −0.41% 2017 2,762 −0.72%
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Source: EHESS[11] and INSEE (1968-2017)[12]

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• Nicolas Martiau (1591-1657), Huguenot settler, ancestor of George Washington and Robert E. Lee.
• Denis Goguet (1704-1778), merchant and shipowner
• Gustave Dechézeaux (1760-1794), French politician. Member of the National Convention, guillotined in 1794 during the Reign of Terror "for having conspired against the Republic", then posthumously pardoned in 1795.
• Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet (1767-1794), General
• Léon Gendre, general councilor of the canton of Saint-Martin-de-Ré (reelected in 2011), president of the Community of communes of the island of Ré from 1993 to 2008, mayor of La Flotte since 1977, ex-restaurateur (creator of the restaurant Le Richelieu).
• Roger Barberot (1915-2002) - Companion of the Liberation by decree of 7 March 1941, the most decorated sailor in France.

• Communes of the Charente-Maritime department
• Île de Ré