Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Gascon: Pirenèus-Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio-Atlantiarrak or Pirinio-Atlantikoak) is a département in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
History
Basses-Pyrénées was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former provinces of Guyenne, Béarn, and Gascony and included the three traditional provinces of the northern Basque Country: Labourd, Soule and Basse-Navarre.
On October 10, 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Geography
Pyrénées-Atlantiques is part of the Aquitaine région of Southwest France.
It is bordered by the Landes, Hautes-Pyrénées and Gers département.
Principal settlements include Pau, Biarritz, Bayonne, Lourdes, Anglet and St-Jean-de-Luz.
See Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département.
Economy
Demographics
Culture
The parts of the department that were part of Guyenne and Béarn have a culture heavily influenced by the Basques.
Both the Gascon language and the Basque language are indigenous languages.
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