Cognac is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France. Administratively, the commune of Cognac is a subprefecture of the Charente department.

Charente is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited. In 2019, it had a population of 352,015.