town, a southeastern suburb of Paris, in Val-de-Marne département, Île-de-France région, north-central France, at the confluence of the Seine and Marne rivers immediately southwest of the Bois (forest) de Vincennes and its pont (“bridge”). An old inner, industrial area, Charenton-le-Pont has lost much of its former manufacturing activity. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the town was the headquarters of the Huguenot churches in France. Nearby is the Charenton asylum, where the Marquis de Sade was confined (1803–14). Pop. (1999) 26,582; (2005 est.) 27,800.