Geography

In French, ''ponant'' is the

west West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

ern

cardinal point The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths (clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. The four o ...

. It is an archaic French naval term for West, the opposite of ''

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

''. By extension : # the ''Ponant Sea'' could refer to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

(western sea area in relation to France) as opposed to the Levant Sea, which referred to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

(more to the east). # the ''Ponant Sea'' could refer to the western part of the Mediterranean Sea between the Spanish coast, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and the North African coastline, as opposed to the

Levantine Sea The Levantine Sea () is the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea. Geography The Levantine Sea is bordered by Turkey in the north and north-east corner, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine in the east, Egypt in the south, and the Aegean ...

. The meaning 1. gave its name or a nickname : * to the

Ponant Islands Geography In French, ''ponant'' is the western cardinal point. It is an archaic French naval term for West, the opposite of ''Levant''. By extension : # the ''Ponant Sea'' could refer to the Atlantic Ocean (western sea area in relation to France ...

, a grouping of French island communities on the Atlantic Ocean coastline (including the English Channel); * to Brest, sometimes called the ''port of Ponant''.

Maritime area

Compagnie du Ponant Ponant (officially, ''Compagnie du Ponant'' ''(CDP)''; "Ponant Company") is a French cruise ship operator. It was founded in April 1988 by Philippe Videau, Jean-Emmanuel Sauvé, and other officers of the French Merchant Navy and launched the fi ...

, a French cruise line * ''

Le Ponant ''Le Ponant'' is a three-masted, commercially operated French luxury yacht operated by Compagnie du Ponant. The ship has capacity for up to 32 passengers in 16 cabins. It was built 1991 by the Societe Francaise de Construction Navales (SFCN) ...

'', a French luxury sailing yacht that has been the subject of piracy *

Ponant fleet The Ponant Fleet () was the designation under the Ancien Regime for the naval vessels of the History of the French Navy, Royal French Navy in the English Channel, Atlantic Ocean and Americas, the latter principally in the French West Indies and Ne ...

, the former Atlantic Fleet of the Royal French Navy

Architecture

* Ponant Tower (Tour Ponant), one of

Les Mercuriales Les Mercuriales are twin towers in Bagnolet, along the Boulevard Peripherique, in Paris, France. They were built in 1975, and are named ''Levant'' (Eastern) and ''Ponant'' (Western). They are the tallest twin towers in the EU and Europe’s seco ...

twin towers in Paris, France

Maritime area

Architecture

See also