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Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Pirinio Atlantikoak)
Department
Catalan sheep dog in Sara, Basque Country, France
FlagCoat of arms
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 General Council	Jean-Jacques Lasserre
Area
• Total	7,645 km (2,952 sq mi)
Population
• Total	677,309
• Rank	36th
• Density	89/km (230/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
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: [piʁene atlɑ̃tik]; Gascon: Pirenèus-Atlantics; Template:Lang-eu or Pirinio Atlantikoak) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. It covers the French Basque Country and the Béarn.

History

Originally named Basses-Pyrénées, it is one of the first 83 departments of France created during the French Revolution, 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), i.e. the Basques provinces of Basse-Navarre, Labourd, Bayonne (detached a few years before from Labourd), and Soule, and 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 Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwest France. It is bordered by the Landes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers departments and the Bay of Biscay. Principal settlements include Pau, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Orthez, Biarritz, Bayonne, Anglet, Urrugne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye. Lac Gentau is located here, as are the Lacs de Carnau.

Economy

Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a border province, has cultivated a number of economic and cultural links with Spain.

Two urban concentrations exist in the east and west of the département: 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

Culture

These parts of the department that were part of Guyenne and Gascony, and 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

Current National Assembly Representatives

Tourism

• Château de Pau
• Villa Belza in Biarritz
• Lac Gentau
• Oloron-Sainte-Marie
• Ainhoa

Heraldry

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

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

See also

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

• (in French) General Council website
• (in French) Archives of the Pyrenees-Atlantiques department website
• (in French) Photography Panoramics 360° website
• (in French) Prefecture official website
• (in English) Template:ODP
• (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)

References

1. Site sur la Population et les Limites Administratives de la France
2. The history of the region, under the Ancien Régime, can be found in the articles about those individual regions.
3. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/

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