For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.
Gironde | |||
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— Department — | |||
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Location of Gironde in France | |||
Coordinates: | |||
Country | France | ||
Region | Aquitaine | ||
Prefecture | Bordeaux | ||
Subprefectures | Arcachon Blaye Langon Lesparre-Médoc Libourne |
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Government | |||
• President of the General Council | Philippe Madrelle | ||
Area1 | |||
• Total | 10,000 km2 (3,861 sq mi) | ||
Population (2007) | |||
• Total | 1,409,345 | ||
• Rank | 8th | ||
• Density | 140.9/km2 (365/sq mi) | ||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
33000 | |||
Department number | 33 | ||
Arrondissements | 6 | ||
Cantons | 63 | ||
Communes | 542 | ||
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 |
Gironde (French pronunciation: [ʒiʁɔ̃d]; in Gascon Gironda) is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.
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Gironde is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascogne.
From 1793 to 1795, the department's name was changed to Bec-d'Ambès to avoid the association with the revolutionary party, the Girondists.
Gironde is part of the current region of Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne and Charente-Maritime and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. With an area of 10,000 km², Gironde is the largest department in metropolitan France. If overseas departments are included, however, Gironde's land area is dwarfed by the 83,846 km² of Guyane.
Gironde is well known for the Côte d'Argent beach which is Europe's longest, attracting many surfers to Lacanau each year. It is also the birth place of Jacques-Yves Cousteau who studied the sea and all forms of life in water.
The Great Dune of Pyla in Arcachon Bay near Bordeaux is the tallest sand dune in Europe.[1]
The President of the General Council is Philippe Madrelle of the Socialist Party.
Party | seats | |
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• | Socialist Party | 45 |
Union for a Popular Movement | 12 | |
• | French Communist Party | 3 |
Miscellaneous Right | 1 | |
MoDem | 1 | |
Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition | 1 |