towns have formed a dense urban web and the population density is particularly high: in the three cantons of Rochefort, in the canton of Aytré, in the combined cantons of La Rochelle. The La Rochelle-Rochefort twin city area alone includes nine towns of the seventeen with more than inhabitants, and twenty communes with more than inhabitants, of the sixty in Charente-Maritime in 2006. The concentration of the population is even greater in the immediate neighbours of La Rochelle, where the canton of La Jarrie had a population density of in 2006. Beyond the La Rochelle-Rochefort twin city area, the population density is lower, and is indeed lower than the departmental average, which was in 2006. The cantons of Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis, Surgères and Marans had respectively , and . Only the Canton of Courçon had a density of less than ( in 2006), even though its population surged between 1999 and 2006 by 28.4%. The Pays d'Aunis, an administrative region comprising four communes (Courçon, Pays Marandais, Plaine d'Aunis and Surgères), returned a census in 2006 of inhabitants in an area of , giving a density of . It is still a mostly rural region, but is rapidly becoming more built-up. Urbanisation has been just as fast on the Île de Ré, especially in the east. In the Canton of Saint-Martin-de-Ré all the communes have over inhabitants, and the population density is one of the highest of the entire department, at in 2006 compared to for the whole department and for the urban area of La Rochelle. In 2006 the population density of the Île de Ré was the highest of the entire French coast, being a record high of . The principal towns of Aunis are: La Rochelle with inhabitants is by far the most populous town in the Charente-Maritime department. Including its suburbs its population is nearly , and in the Poitou-Charentes region it is second only to Poitiers. Rochefort is the third town of Charente-Maritime, after La Rochelle and Saintes, but together with Tonnay-Charente it is the second largest urban area in the department with inhabitants, making it equal fifth in the Poitou-Charentes region. Surgères with inhabitants, is the twelfth largest town in Charente-Maritime. Marans, with inhabitants, is the largest commune in the department by area, at . It is nearly as large as the whole of the Île de Ré at . Fouras regenerated into a vibrant small seaside