Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of

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 ...

and of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

. Named after the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

mountain range and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, it covers the French Basque Country and the Béarn. Its prefecture is Pau. In 2019, it had a population of 682,621.Populations légales 2019: 64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques
INSEE

History

Originally named Basses-Pyrénées, it is one of the first 83

departments of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

created during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, on 4 March 1790. It was created out of parts belonging to the former greater province of Guyenne and Gascony, as well as the Béarn- Navarre (still, at least nominally, Kingdom of Navarre), meaning the Basques provinces of Basse-Navarre, Labourd, Bayonne (detached a few years before from Labourd) and

Soule Soule (Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; Occitan: ''Sola'') is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département''. It is divided into two cantons of the arron ...

, as well as Béarn.The history of the region, under the ''

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

'', can be found in the articles about those individual regions. Pays basque nord-Béarn

The 1790 administrative design brought about the end of native institutions and laws. All Basque estates representatives from Labourd overtly opposed the new administrative layout since it suppressed their institutions and laws. The representatives of Lower Navarre refused to vote in Paris arguing that they were not part of the Kingdom of France; those of Soule voted against. The brothers Garat, representing Labourd, eventually voted yes, thinking that it would give them a say in upcoming political decisions. On 10 October 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Geography

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is part of the

of Southwestern France. It is bordered by the

Landes ''Landes'', or ''Lanas'' in Gascon, means moorland or heath. ''Landes'' and ''Lanas'' come from the Latin ''plānus'' meaning “‘flat, even, level, plain’”. They are therefore cognate with the English plain (and plane), the Spanish word ''l ...

, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers departments and the Bay of Biscay. Lac Gentau is located in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, as are the Lacs de Carnau.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Pau, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 11 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Economy

Urban areas

Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a border department, has cultivated a number of economic and cultural links with Spain. Two urban concentrations exist in the east and west of the department: 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.

Tourism

The department is known for its tourism industry: File:Château de Pau 01.JPG, Château de Pau File:Villa belza.jpg, Villa Belza in Biarritz File:Ossau sur Lac.jpg, Lac Gentau File:Gave Aspe Oloron-Sainte-Marie.jpg, Oloron-Sainte-Marie File:Ainhoa, Pyrénées-Atlantiques.jpg, Ainhoa

Culture

The parts of the department that were part of Guyenne and Gascony, as well as Béarn, have a culture heavily influenced by the Basques, but clearly different identities. Both the Gascon Bearnese variant and Basque language are indigenous to the region in their respective districts. Gascon in turn is a dialect of Occitan, formerly the main language of southern France. It is more closely related to

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

than it is to

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. Basque is a language isolate, not related to any known language. Today,

, 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 rugby union football clubs Aviron Bayonnais, Biarritz Olympique and

Section Paloise Section Paloise (, Bearnese: ), commonly referred to as ''Section'' or as ''Pau'' , is a professional rugby union club based in Pau, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the EPCR Challenge Cup. Their home ...

;

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club

Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN. ...

; and

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club Pau FC. The Pau Grand Prix, an auto race first held in 1901, has hosted the World Touring Car Championship,

British Formula Three The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single se ...

, Formula 3 Euro Series and

FIA European Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three(F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived t ...

Politics

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is a stronghold of the centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem). Its founder and president, François Bayrou, has served as Mayor of Pau since

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

Departmental politics

The

Departmental Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques The Departmental Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (, ) is the deliberative assembly of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It consists of 54 members (''general councilors'') from 27 cantons. Until the 2015 Fr ...

has 54 seats. Its president has been Jean-Jacques Lasserre of the Democratic Movement since 2015.

National representation

In the 2017 legislative election, Pyrénées-Atlantiques elected the following members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

: In the Senate, the department is represented by

three members 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

: Frédérique Espagnac (since 2011), Max Brisson (since 2017) and Denise Saint-Pé (since 2017).

Heraldry

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of Pyrénées-Atlantiques combines those of four traditional provinces: # Lower Navarre # Béarn # Labourd #

Twinning and cooperation

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is twinned with: * Misiones Province,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

(since 2012)

References

External links

*
Departmental Council website
*
Prefecture official website
*
Archives of the Pyrenees-Atlantiques department website
*
Photography Panoramics 360° website
* *
Pyrenees-Atlantiques Monuments, Villages, Walks and Attractions
*
Information on living, working and visiting Pyrenees Atlantiques
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyrenees-Atlantiques 1790 establishments in France Nouvelle-Aquitaine region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Departments of Nouvelle-Aquitaine States and territories established in 1790