Lannion ( ; ) is a commune in the

Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor (, ; ; br, Aodoù-an-Arvor, ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord ( br, Aodoù-an-Hanternoz, link=no, ), are a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.

department in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

in northwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is a subprefecture of Côtes-d'Armor, the capital of Trégor and the center of an urban area of almost 60,000 inhabitants.

Climate

Lannion has a

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Lannion is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Lannion was on 19 July 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 28 February 2018.

Population

Inhabitants of Lannion are called ''lannionnais'' in French.

History

Lannion takes its name from "Lann Huon" in Breton or "Parish of Huon" in English. The old quarter of Lannion attracts many tourists to the city. The old quarter contains old squares, a church called Brélévenez, half-timbered houses, chapels and frescoes. File:Lanniondessus.jpg, View from the church of Brélévénez File:Church of Lannion Église de la Trinité de Brélévenez.jpg, Church of Lannion Église de la Trinité de Brélévenez

Breton language

On 23 October 2006, the municipality launched a plan to promote the

Breton language Breton (, ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of ...

through the Ya d'ar brezhoneg ("Yes to Breton") charter. In 2008, 11.96% of the children attended bilingual schools in primary education.

Economy

Lannion is a large

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

s research center in France with several firms such as

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

, Orange and SAGEMCOM operating there. The presence of a large telecommunications industry in the area has led to two institutes of technology in the area, IUT Lannion and a college of engineering, ENSSAT.

Culture

Regular concerts known as "Les Tardives" are held in the town square during the summer months. Lannion is also home to the "Carré Magique", a well known theatre company in the area.

Transport

Lannion is served by extensive transport links. The nearby

Lannion – Côte de Granit Airport Lannion – Côte de Granit Airport or ''Aéroport de Lannion - Côte de Granit'' is an airport located in Lannion, near the former municipality of Servel, a '' commune'' of the Côtes-d'Armor ''département'' in the Brittany ''région'' of Fran ...

was recently expanded to accommodate larger flights arriving from Paris and other French destinations. It is a one-hour flight from Lannion to Paris. Lannion station provides

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

services to Brest, St. Brieuc, Rennes and Paris as well as

TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno o ...

links to local stations. There is a bus service connecting the town centre to surrounding areas, TILT (Transports Intercommunaux de Lannion-Trégor), with six lines. ;Line A : Hospital/Airport via Quai d'Aiguillon (in the centre of the town) ;Line B : Kerbabu/Coppens via Quai d'Aiguillon ;Line C : Alcatel/Kérilis ;Line Navéo : small bus around the centre of the town ;Line F : market day line (Thursday morning).

International relations

Lannion is twinned with: * Günzburg,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Viveiro Viveiro () is a town and municipality in the province of Lugo, in the northwestern Galician autonomous community of Spain. It borders on the Cantabric Sea, to the west of Xove and to the east of O Vicedo. It has a residential population of o ...

Galicia (Spain) Galicia (; gl, Galicia or ; es, Galicia}; pt, Galiza) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, ...

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wi ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Notable people

The following were born in Lannion: * François-Jean-Marie Laouënan (1868), Archbishop * Pierre-Yves André (1974), footballer * Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (1962), pianist * Charles Le Goffic (1863), novelist and historian *

Johan Le Bon Johan Le Bon (born 3 October 1990) is a French road bicycle racer, who currently rides for French amateur team Dinan Sport Cycling. Career Riding as a junior in 2008, Johan Le Bon became European Champion and World Champion within the space of ...

(1990), cyclist *

Christophe Le Mével Christophe Le Mével (born 11 September 1980 in Lannion) is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2002 and 2014 for the , , and teams. Le Mével left at the end of the 2012 season, and joined on a two-year c ...

(1980), cyclist *

Denis-Will Poha Denis-Will Poha (born 28 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as midfielder for Swiss club Sion. Club career Early career Born in Lannion in 1997, Poha started his football career with local team, Lannion FC, in October 2 ...

(1997), footballer *

Pierre Sabbagh Pierre Sabbagh (18 July 1918 – 30 September 1994) was a major personality in French television, as a journalist, producer and director. Pierre Alain Sabbagh was born in Lannion (Côtes-d'Armor) and died in Paris. He was the younger son of ...

(1918), television personality