Pyrénées-Atlantiques
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the French Wikipedia. (December 2008)
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| Pyrénées-Atlantiques | ||
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| — Department — | ||
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| Coordinates: 43°15′N 00°50′E / 43.250°N 0.833°ECoordinates: 43°15′N 00°50′E / 43.250°N 0.833°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Aquitaine | |
| Prefecture | Pau | |
| Subprefectures | Bayonne Oloron-Sainte-Marie |
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| Government | ||
| • President of the General Council | Georges Labazée | |
| Area1 | ||
| • Total | 7,645 km2 (2,952 sq mi) | |
| Population (2008) | ||
| • Total | 647,420 | |
| • Rank | 37th | |
| • Density | 85/km2 (220/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Department number | 64 | |
| Arrondissements | 3 | |
| Cantons | 52 | |
| Communes | 547 | |
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | ||
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (French pronunciation: [pi.ʁe.ne.a.tlɑ̃.tik]; Gascon: Pirenèus-Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio-Atlantiarrak or Pirinio-Atlantikoak) is a department in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
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History[edit]
Basses-Pyrénées is one of the original 83 departments of France created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne, Béarn, and Gascony and included the three traditional provinces of the northern Basque Country: Labourd, Soule, and Basse-Navarre.
The previous history of the region, under the Ancien Régime, can be found at those individual regions.
On October 10, 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Geography[edit]
Pyrénées-Atlantiques is part of the Aquitaine region of Southwest France. It is bordered by the Landes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers departments and the Bay of Biscay.
Principal settlements include Pau, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Orthez, Biarritz, Bayonne, Anglet, Urrugne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye.
Lac Gentau is located here, as are the Lacs de Carnau.
Economy[edit]
Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a border province, has cultivated a number of economic and cultural links with Spain.
Two urban concentrations exist in the east and west of the département: Pau, which has 145,000 inhabitants, and 344,000 workers in the local area; and Bayonne - Anglet - Biarritz which has 166,400 inhabitants and 235 000 workers in the local area
Culture[edit]
The parts of the department that were part of Guyenne and Béarn have a culture heavily influenced by the Basque people.
Both the Gascon and Basque languages are indigenous to the region. Gascon is a dialect of Occitan, formerly the main language of southern France. It is more closely related to Catalan than it is to French. Basque is a language isolate, not related to any known language. Today, French, the sole official language of the French Republic, is the predominant native language and is spoken by virtually all inhabitants.
Tourism[edit]
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Villa Belza in Biarritz
Heraldry[edit]
The coat of arms of Pyrénées-Atlantiques combines those of four traditional provinces:
See also[edit]
- Cantons of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
- Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
- Arrondissements of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
External links[edit]
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Basses-Pyrénées. |
- (French) Prefecture website
- (French) General Council website
- (English) Pyrenees-Atlantiques at the Open Directory Project
- (English) Pyrenees-Atlantiques Monuments, Villages, Walks and Attractions
