The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a department in the administrative region of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

(''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline. It had a population of 759,684 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 56 Morbihan
INSEE It is noted for its Carnac stones, which predate and are more extensive than the

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

monument in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England. Three major military educational facilities are located in Guer, including École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, the national military academy for officers.

History

The Morbihan is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from a part of the Province of Brittany. In 1945, cadets from École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, France's foremost military academy for officers, were relocated to Camp Coëtquidan (Camp de Coëtquidan) in Guer. This has been developed to include also the École militaire interarmes (inter-services military school), for non-commissioned officers; and École Militaire du Corps Technique et Administratif (military school of the technical and administrative corps).

Geography

The Morbihan, part of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

, is surrounded by the departments of

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor ( , ; ; , ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (, ), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Ill-e-Vilaenn'', ) is a departments of France, department of France, located in the regions of France, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named a ...

, and

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...

, and the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest. The Gulf of Morbihan has many islands: 365 according to legend. There are actually between 30 and 40, depending on how they are counted. There are also many islets that are too small for any development. Of these islands, all but two are privately owned: l' Île-aux-Moines and l' Île-d'Arz. Owners of the others include movie stars, fashion designers, and other wealthy "glitterati". In the department of the Morbihan, but outside the Gulf, there are four inhabited islands: * Belle Île * Groix * Houat * Hoëdic Meaban, an island just outside the Port du Crouesty, is an ornithological reserve. Visitors are forbidden there.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

; the prefecture

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Art and culture

Many residents support maintenance and use of the

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

, and there are numerous advocates of bilingual education. The painter Raymond Wintz (1884–1956) depicted locations around the Gulf of Morbihan.

Politics

As of 2014, the préfet of the Morbihan is Jean-François Savy, previously head of the Prefectures of

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

and of

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

. The president of the Departmental Council is David Lappartient, elected in July 2021.

Current National Assembly Representatives

Tourism

* The Carnac stones,

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic alignments of Carnac, are situated in the Morbihan. File:Vieux-quartier-port-vannes.jpg,

File:Entre Golfe Morbihan.JPG, The Gulf of Morbihan is a popular

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

destination. File:Château de Rochefort-en-Terre (cour 1).jpg, Rochefort-en-Terre File:Bagad.JPG, The

bagad A bagad (, ) is a Music of Brittany, Breton band, composed of bagpipes (, ), bombard (music), bombards and drums (including Snare drum, snare, tenor and bass drums). The pipe band tradition in Brittany was inspired by the Pipe Band, Scottish exa ...

of Lann-Bihoué File:Kerlescan.JPG, Carnac stones