Concarneau

Concarneau
Konk-Kerne

Concarneau's harbour and centre

Coat of arms

Concarneau

Location within Brittany region

Concarneau

Coordinates: 47°52′34″N 3°55′04″W / 47.8761°N 3.9178°WCoordinates: 47°52′34″N 3°55′04″W / 47.8761°N 3.9178°W

Country

Concarneau

Communes de Concarneau-Cornouaille

Government

• Mayor (2014–2020)

André Fidelin

Area¹

41.08 km² (15.86 sq mi)

Population (2008)²

20,604

• Density

500/km² (1,300/sq mi)

INSEE/Postal code

29039 / 29900

Elevation

0–36 m (0–118 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

² Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Concarneau (Breton: Konk Kerne, meaning Bay of Cornwall) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Concarneau is bordered to the west by the Baie de La Forêt.

The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on a long island in the centre of the harbour. Historically, the old town was a centre of shipbuilding. The Ville Close is now devoted to tourism with many restaurants and shops aimed at tourists. However restraint has been shown in resisting the worst excesses of souvenir shops. Also in the Ville Close is the fishing museum. The Ville Close is connected to the town by a drawbridge and at the other end a ferry to the village of Lanriec on the other side of the harbour.

Events

In August the town holds the annual Fête des Filets Bleus (Festival of the blue nets). The festival, named after the traditional blue nets of Concarneau's fishing fleet, is a celebration of Breton and pan-Celtic culture. Such festivals can occur throughout Brittany but the Filets Bleus is one of the oldest and largest, attracting in excess of a thousand participants in traditional dress with many times that number of observers. In 2005, the 100th festival was celebrated.

Literature

Concarneau was the setting for Belgian mystery writer Georges Simenon's 1931 novel Le Chien jaune (The Yellow Dog), featuring his celebrated sleuth Maigret.

Economy

Fishing, particularly for tuna, has long been the primary economic activity in Concarneau. The Les Mouettes d'Arvor is one of the last traditional canning factories in Concarneau. Concarneau is one of the biggest fishing ports in France. Since the 1980s, other industries have arisen, such as boat construction and summer tourism.

The Ville Close separates the working port from the yacht basin.

Concarneau

Population

Inhabitants of Concarneau are called in French Concarnois.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	3,908	—
1800	3,692	−5.5%
1806	3,818	+3.4%
1821	3,484	−8.7%
1831	4,031	+15.7%
1836	4,137	+2.6%
1841	4,396	+6.3%
1851	4,944	+12.5%
1856	5,021	+1.6%
1861	5,575	+11.0%
1866	6,633	+19.0%
1872	7,884	+18.9%
1876	8,508	+7.9%
1881	9,516	+11.8%
1886	9,659	+1.5%
1891	11,754	+21.7%
1896	12,875	+9.5%
1901	14,757	+14.6%
1906	15,869	+7.5%
1911	14,784	−6.8%
1921	12,943	−12.5%
1926	12,722	−1.7%
1931	12,559	−1.3%
1936	12,704	+1.2%
1946	13,369	+5.2%
1954	13,420	+0.4%
1962	15,907	+18.5%
1968	17,801	+11.9%
1975	18,759	+5.4%
1982	17,984	−4.1%
1990	18,630	+3.6%
1999	19,453	+4.4%
2008	20,096	+3.3%

Breton language

In 2008, 2.16% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools.^[1]

Personalities

Michel Desjoyeaux, navigator
Samantha (Sam) Davies, sailor
Guy Cotten, founder of a clothes factory
Stéphane Guivarc'h, French footballer, won the FIFA World Cup 1998 with the French national side
Théophile Deyrolle and Alfred Guillou, founders of the Concarneau Art Colony.