Côtes-d'Armor

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Côtes-d'Armor
Department
Prefecture building of the Côtes-d'Armor department, in Saint-Brieuc

Coat of arms
Location of Côtes-d'Armor in France
Coordinates: 48°20′N 02°50′E / 48.333°N 2.833°E / 48.333; 2.833Coordinates: 48°20′N 02°50′E / 48.333°N 2.833°E / 48.333; 2.833
Country France
Region Brittany
Prefecture Saint-Brieuc
Subprefectures Dinan
Guingamp
Lannion
Government
 • President of the General Council Claudy Lebreton (PS)
Area1
 • Total 6,878 km2 (2,656 sq mi)
Population (2009)
 • Total 576,049
 • Rank 43rd
 • Density 84/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Department number 22
Arrondissements 4
Cantons 52
Communes 373
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Côtes-d'Armor (French pronunciation: ​[kot.daʁ.mɔʁ]; Breton: Aodoù-an-Arvor), formerly named Côtes-du-Nord, is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France.

History

Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Brittany. Its name was changed in 1990 to Côtes-d'Armor (ar mor meaning the sea in Breton and Côtes meaning coast in French). The name also has a historical connotation recalling the Roman province of Armorica.

The present department corresponds to most of historical Trégor, part of Cornouaille, and most of Saint-Brieuc.

Geography

Côtes-d'Armor is part of the current administrative region of Brittany and is surrounded by the departments of Finistère, Morbihan, and Ille-et-Vilaine, with the English Channel to the north.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Costarmoricains.

Politics

The Côtes-d'Armor has usually been a left-wing holdout in a historically strongly clerical and right-wing Brittany, due to the department's more anti-clerical nature, especially in the inland area around Guingamp, a former Communist stronghold.

The President of the General Council is Claudy Lebreton of the Socialist Party.

Party seats
• Socialist Party 33
Union for a Popular Movement 8
• Miscellaneous Left 4
• French Communist Party 4
Miscellaneous Right 1
MoDem 1

Culture

The western part of the département is part of the traditionally Breton-speaking "Lower Brittany" (Breizh-Izel in Breton). The boundary runs from Plouha to Mûr-de-Bretagne. The Breton language has become an intense issue in many parts of Brittany, and many Breton-speakers advocate for bilingual schools. Gallo is also spoken in the east and is offered as a language in the schools and on the baccalaureat exams.

Tourism

See also

External links

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