Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Pyrénées-Atlantiques (French pronunciation: [pi.ʁe.ne.a.tlɑ̃.tik]; Gascon: Pirenèus-Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio-Atlantiarrak or Pirinio-Atlantikoak) is a department in Aquitaine, southwest of France. It takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. It covers the French Basque Country and the Béarn.

History

Basses-Pyrénées is one of the original 83 departments of France created during the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Béarn (Basse-Navarre and Béarn proper) as well as parts of the province of Guyenne and Gascony (Labourd, Soule, and Bayonne).

Labourd, Basse-Navarre and Soule are the three provinces of the French Basque Country. The history of the region, under the Ancien Régime, can be found at those individual regions.

On 10 October 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Geography

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

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

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.

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is also home to a number of professional sports teams, including Aviron Bayonnais, Biarritz Olympique, Section Paloise (rugby), Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez (basketball) and Pau FC (association football). The Pau Grand Prix, an auto race first held in 1901, has hosted the World Touring Car Championship, British Formula Three, Formula 3 Euro Series and FIA European Formula 3 Championship.

Tourism

Heraldry

The coat of arms of Pyrénées-Atlantiques combines those of four traditional provinces: