Aube

Département in the Champagne-Ardenne region of northeast France; area 6,002 sq km/2,318 sq mi; population (2001 est) 292,800. The eastern part of Aube is drained by the River Aube, and its western part by the Seine. It is at the centre of the Champagne wine-producing region. Other important agricultural activities include livestock farming in the northeast, and the cultivation of wheat, oats, and vegetables in the southwest. The principal towns are the capital, Troyes, Bar-sur-Aube, and Nogent-sur-Seine. Industry is based on the quarrying of chalk, potter's clay, building stone, and limestone, and on cotton-spinning and weaving.

Aube is bounded on the north by Marne, on the northwest by Seine-et-Marne, on the southwest by Yonne, on the south by Côte-d'Or, and on the east by Haute-Marne. The climate is moist and mild.

Aube comprises the southern part of the old province of Champagne and part of Burgundy.