Aquitaine

I

Introduction

Aquitaine (Latin Aquitania, “land of waters”), administrative region, south-western France, bounded on the west by the Bay of Biscay, on the north by the French regions of Poitou-Charentes and Limousin, on the east by the Midi-Pyrénées region, and on the south by Spain. The region comprises the departments of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, Gironde, Dordogne, and Lot-et-Garonne. It covers 41,309 sq km (15,949 sq mi).

II

Physical Geography

The geological basin of Aquitaine extends eastward to beyond Toulouse. The region includes limestone terrain in the Périgord (the fertile valley of the Garonne, which reaches the sea through the estuary of the Gironde); the vast expanse of sandy country covered by the pine forests of the Landes; the hills and valleys of the Pays de l’Adour; and the mountains on the western Pyrenees, which contain the Pyrenees National Park. The River Dordogne flows westwards across the region to Bec d'Ambès, where it meets the Garonne and empties into the Gironde estuary. Other significant waterways in the region include the Adour, Gave de Pau, and Midou rivers. The region’s coastline, known as the Côte d’Argent, stretches for 270 km (168 mi), from the Gironde estuary to the popular resort town of Biarritz. The Dune du Pyla, near Arcachon, is the highest sand dune in Europe, reaching a height of 117 m (384 ft); it was classified as a national heritage monument in 1978.

III

Population

Around 3,099,000 people live in Aquitaine (2005 estimate); the region has an average population density of 74 people per sq km (192 per sq mi). Bordeaux (population, 2005 estimate, 230,600) is the regional capital; the city is the leading administrative, shopping, and university centre in Aquitaine. Other notable centres of population include Pau (2005 estimate, 82,500); Bayonne (2005 estimate, 44,300); Périgueux (2005 estimate, 28,800); Biarritz (1999, 30,055); Mont-de-Marsan (2005 estimate, 31,700); and Bergerac (2005 estimate, 28,000).

The famous caves at Lascaux, near the town of Montignac, are decorated with prehistoric paintings that date from around 13,000 bc and were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Aquitaine is famed for its gastronomy, scenery, and historic towns and villages. The district of Saint-Emilion was granted World Heritage status in 1999 as a noteworthy example of historic vineyard landscape, while the historic centre of Bordeaux was added to the List in 2007. Bordeaux and nearby Talence are the sites of the universities of Bordeaux I, II, and III, established in the early 1970s to replace the University of Bordeaux (1441).

IV

Economy

The region’s traditional activities include exporting the famous wines of the Médoc, Graves, and Saint-Emilion districts, processing imported tropical goods, and shipbuilding. More recent industries include engineering and the manufacture of aircraft and cars. Bordeaux is the leading administrative, shopping, and university centre in Aquitaine. The Blayais nuclear power station, north of Bordeaux, is the region’s main source of electrical energy. Natural gas has been exploited near Pau since 1950 and has stimulated local industrialization, but supplies are now running out. The coastal port of Bayonne combines fishing with commercial and manufacturing activities. Tourism is important at Biarritz and in smaller resorts along the Atlantic coast, in the Pyrenees, and in the countryside of the Périgord, which is popular with British visitors, who know it as “the Dordogne”.

Rural areas have experienced much depopulation, but farming and food processing remain important aspects of the regional economy. Traditional mixed farming embraced cereals, vines, poultry, pigs, and cattle. Local specialities include fruit in the Garonne valley, fine wine (especially in the Bordelais area around Bordeaux), tobacco, wool, and pâté de foie gras. Cultivation of hybrid maize was pioneered in the Pays de l’Adour, and revitalized agriculture in Aquitaine after World War II, spreading to other parts of France in recent decades.