Oléron

Oléron, French island in the Bay of Biscay, separated from mainland France by the Strait of Maumusson and from the island of Île de Ré, to the north, by the Strait of Antioche. Oléron covers an area of 176 sq km (68 sq mi), and is connected to mainland France near the town of Marennes by a 3-km (1•-mi) bridge. The rugged west coast has no shipping anchorages, but the east coast has sandy beaches and bays where ships anchor. The cultivation of oysters is a major industry on the island and in the nearby coastal waters around Marennes on the mainland. Other economic activities on the island include farming, fishing, growing grapes and early fruits, and there is some tourism.

Megalithic monuments on the island are evidence of occupation by prehistoric man, and Oléron was known to the Roman scholar Pliny (as Uliarus Insula). For a time the island belonged to the duchy of Aquitaine, and until 1625 it was a Huguenot stronghold. The chief towns of Oléron are St Pierre, St Trojan-les-Bains, and Le Château-d'Oléron. Population (1990) 18,452.