 Like all Chantereyne and the area of the Mielles, the Cherbourg territory was reclaimed from the sea.Built at the level of the sea, the town developed at the foot of the Roule mountain (highest point of the old town) and la Fauconnière.Octeville is a former rural municipality, composed of hamlets, whose settlement extended from the 19th century and whose territory is highly urbanised since 1950, especially around the of the Provinces and the University campus.