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Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pirenèus Atlantics (Occitan) Pirinio Atlantikoak (Basque)
Department
Lake of Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle
FlagCoat of arms
Nickname: 64, P-A
Location of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in France
Coordinates: 43°15′N 0°50′E / 43.250°N 0.833°E / 43.250; 0.833
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Prefecture	Pau
Subprefectures	Bayonne Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Jean-Jacques Lasserre (MoDem)
Area
• Total	7,645 km (2,952 sq mi)
Population
• Total	693,027
• Rank	36th
• Density	91/km (230/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
Department number	64
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	27
Communes	546
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km

Pyrénées-Atlantiques (French pronunciation: [pi.ʁe.nez‿at.lɑ̃.tik] ; Gascon Occitan: Pirenèus Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio Atlantikoak) is a department located in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the southwest corner of metropolitan France. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlantic Ocean, it covers the French Basque Country and the Béarn. It is divided in three arrondissements and its prefecture is Pau. In 2019, it had a population of 682,621.

History

Originally named Basses-Pyrénées, it was one of the 83 departments of France created during the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790. It comprised the territories of Labourd and Soule (in the provinces of Guyenne and Gascony), as well as Lower Navarre (still, at least nominally, part of the Kingdom of Navarre) and the Béarn. It was initially divided in six districts, with the prefecture at Navarrenx, before being moved to Pau on 14 October 1790.

The 1790 administrative reform 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.

In 1800, during the Consulate, the six initial districts were replaced by five arrondissements: Pau, Orthez, Bayonne, Mauléon and Oloron.

In 1926, as part of a vast reform launched by the government of Raymond Poincaré, the arrondissements of Orthez and Mauléon were abolished, resulting in the three current arrondissements.

In the 1950s, the Basses-Pyrénées were one of the departments composing the newly created region of Aquitaine.

In 1969, the name of the department was changed to "Pyrénées-Atlantiques", because the inhabitants of the department found the name of the Basses-Pyrénées pejorative compared to that of the Hautes-Pyrénées.

On January 1, 2016, the regions of Aquitaine, Poitou-Charentes and Limousin merged to form the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

Geography

The southernmost department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, it is bordered by the departments of Landes, Hautes-Pyrénées and Gers (to the north, east and northeast, respectively), by the Bay of Biscay to the west and by the Spanish provinces of Huesca, Navarre and Gipuzkoa to the south. Lac Gentau is located in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, as are the Lacs de Carnau.d

The Pyrenees mountain range crosses the department from east to west from the Col d'Aubisque to the mouth of the Bidasoa at Hendaye. The border with Spain follows the Pyrenean chain.

The highest point is at the Pic Palas (commune of Laruns), in the Balaïtous massif, on the Franco-Spanish border, at 2,974 meters.

The summit of La Rhune (900 m) is particularly well-known because of its proximity to the coast (about ten kilometers) and its ancient tourist tradition.

Principal towns

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

Demographics

There does not seem to be a particular name to designate the inhabitants of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The western part is mainly inhabited by the Basques and the eastern part by the Béarnais, who since the Revolution and the creation of the department have shared the same department. However, from 1790 to 1969, the inhabitants were called Bas-Pyrénéens. The Pyrénées-Atlantiques have a fertility rate below the French average with 1.7 children per woman.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 355,573 —     1811 383,502 +0.76% 1821 399,474 +0.41% 1831 428,401 +0.70% 1841 451,683 +0.53% 1851 446,997 −0.10% 1861 436,628 −0.23% 1872 426,700 −0.21% 1881 434,366 +0.20% 1891 425,033 −0.22% 1901 426,347 +0.03% 1911 433,318 +0.16% 1921 402,981 −0.72% 1931 422,719 +0.48%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1936 413,411 −0.44% 1946 415,797 +0.06% 1954 420,019 +0.13% 1962 466,038 +1.31% 1968 508,734 +1.47% 1975 534,748 +0.71% 1982 555,696 +0.55% 1990 578,516 +0.50% 1999 600,018 +0.41% 2006 636,845 +0.85% 2011 656,608 +0.61% 2016 673,986 +0.52% 2020 687,240 +0.49%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Sources:

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:

• Château de Pau
• Villa Belza in Biarritz
• Lac Gentau
• Oloron-Sainte-Marie
• 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 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 rugby union football clubs Aviron Bayonnais, Biarritz Olympique and Section Paloise; basketball club Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez; and association football club Pau FC.

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.

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.

Departmental politics

The Departmental Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques has 54 seats. Its president has been Jean-Jacques Lasserre of the Democratic Movement since 2015.

National representation

In the 2022 legislative election, Pyrénées-Atlantiques elected the following members of the National Assembly:

In the Senate, the department is represented by three members: Frédérique Espagnac (since 2011), Max Brisson (since 2017) and Denise Saint-Pé (since 2017).

Heraldry

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

1. Lower Navarre
2. Béarn
3. Labourd
4. Soule

Twinning and cooperation

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is twinned with:

• Misiones Province, Argentina (since 2012)

See also

• Arrondissements of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
• Cantons of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 4 May 2022.
2. "Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
3. ^ Populations légales 2019: 64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques, INSEE
4. "Décret général sur la division de la France en 83 départements". Collection générale des décrets rendus par l'Assemblée nationale (in French). Vol. 11. Paris: Baudouin. 1790. p. 151.
5. The history of the region, under the Ancien Régime, can be found in the articles about those individual regions.
6. Bolinaga, Iñigo (2012). La alternativa Garat (in Spanish). Txertoa. p. 44. ISBN 978-84-7148-530-4.
7. Décret du 10 octobre 1969 AUTORISANT LE DEPARTEMENT DES BASSES-PYRENEES A PORTER LE NOM DE PYRENEES-ATLANTIQUES, retrieved 2024-12-02
8. This process occurred in almost all departments whose name included the word "bas" or "inférieur", for example Loire-Inférieure, which became Loire-Atlantique in 1957. Exception: Bas-Rhin.
9. "Historique des Pyrénées-Atlantiques". Le SPLAF.
10. "Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
11. Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français". Assemblée nationale.

External links

• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in French) Prefecture official website
• (in French) Archives of the Pyrenees-Atlantiques department website
• (in French) Photography Panoramics 360° website
• (in English) Pyrenees-Atlantiques Monuments, Villages, Walks and Attractions
• (in English) Information on living, working and visiting Pyrenees Atlantiques

v t e Departments of France
Metropolitan	01 Ain 02 Aisne 03 Allier 04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 05 Hautes-Alpes 06 Alpes-Maritimes 07 Ardèche 08 Ardennes 09 Ariège 10 Aube 11 Aude 12 Aveyron 13 Bouches-du-Rhône 14 Calvados 15 Cantal 16 Charente 17 Charente-Maritime 18 Cher 19 Corrèze 2A Corse-du-Sud 2B Haute-Corse 21 Côte-d'Or 22 Côtes-d'Armor 23 Creuse 24 Dordogne 25 Doubs 26 Drôme 27 Eure 28 Eure-et-Loir 29 Finistère 30 Gard 31 Haute-Garonne 32 Gers 33 Gironde 34 Hérault 35 Ille-et-Vilaine 36 Indre 37 Indre-et-Loire 38 Isère 39 Jura 40 Landes 41 Loir-et-Cher 42 Loire 43 Haute-Loire 44 Loire-Atlantique 45 Loiret 46 Lot 47 Lot-et-Garonne 48 Lozère 49 Maine-et-Loire 50 Manche 51 Marne 52 Haute-Marne 53 Mayenne 54 Meurthe-et-Moselle 55 Meuse 56 Morbihan 57 Moselle 58 Nièvre 59 Nord 60 Oise 61 Orne 62 Pas-de-Calais 63 Puy-de-Dôme 64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques 65 Hautes-Pyrénées 66 Pyrénées-Orientales 67 Bas-Rhin 68 Haut-Rhin 69D Rhône 70 Haute-Saône 71 Saône-et-Loire 72 Sarthe 73 Savoie 74 Haute-Savoie 76 Seine-Maritime 77 Seine-et-Marne 78 Yvelines 79 Deux-Sèvres 80 Somme 81 Tarn 82 Tarn-et-Garonne 83 Var 84 Vaucluse 85 Vendée 86 Vienne 87 Haute-Vienne 88 Vosges 89 Yonne 90 Territoire de Belfort 91 Essonne 92 Hauts-de-Seine 93 Seine-Saint-Denis 94 Val-de-Marne 95 Val-d'Oise
Overseas	971 Guadeloupe 972 Martinique (territorial collectivity) 973 French Guiana (territorial collectivity) 974 Réunion 976 Mayotte
Special	69M Lyon (collectivity with special status) 75 Paris (collectivity with special status)
Former	975 Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Overseas collectivity)

• Pyrénées-Atlantiques
• 1790 establishments in France
• France–Spain border
• Departments of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
• States and territories established in 1790