Brittany
Brittany is a cultural region in the northwest of France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period of Roman occupation. It became an independent kingdom and a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as if it were a separate nation under the crown. Brittany has been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain, it is bordered by the English Channel to the north, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its land area is 34,023 km². Brittany is the site of some of the world's oldest standing architecture, home to the Barnenez, the Tumulus Saint-Michel and others, which date to the early 5th millennium BC. Today, the historical province of Brittany is split among five French departments: Finistère in the west, Côtes-d'Armor in the north, Ille-et-Vilaine in the north east, Loire-Atlantique in the south east and Morbihan in the south on the Bay of Biscay. Since reorganisation in 1956, the modern administrative region of Brittany comprises only four of the five Breton departments, or 80% of historical Brittany.
The remaining area of old Brittany, the Loire-Atlantique department around Nantes, now forms part of the Pays de la Loire region. At the 2010 census, the population of historic Brittany was estimated to be 4,475,295. Of these, 71 % lived in the region of Brittany. In 2012, the largest metropolitan areas were Nantes and Brest. Brittany is the traditional homeland of the Breton people and is recognised by the Celtic League as one of the six Celtic nations, retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history. A nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the French Republic; the word Brittany, along with its French and Gallo equivalents Bretagne and Bertaèyn, derive from the Latin Britannia, which means "Britons' land". This word had been used by the Romans since the 1st century to refer to Great Britain, more the Roman province of Britain; this word derives from a Greek word, Πρεττανικη or Βρεττανίαι, used by Pytheas, an explorer from Massalia who visited the British Islands around 320 BC.
The Greek word itself comes from the common Brythonic ethnonym reconstructed as *Pritanī, itself from Proto-Celtic *kʷritanoi. The Romans called Brittany Armorica, together with a quite indefinite region that extended along the English Channel coast from the Seine estuary to the Loire estuary, according to several sources, maybe along the Atlantic coast to the Garonne estuary; this term comes from a Gallic word, which means "close to the sea". Another name, was used until the 12th century, it means "wide and flat" or "to expand" and it gave the Welsh name for Brittany: Llydaw. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, many Britons settled in western Armorica, the region started to be called Britannia, although this name only replaced Armorica in the sixth century or by the end of the fifth. Authors like Geoffrey of Monmouth used the terms Britannia minor and Britannia major to distinguish Brittany from Britain. Breton-speaking people may pronounce the word Breizh in two different ways, according to their region of origin.
Breton can be divided into the dialect of Vannes. KLT speakers pronounce it and would write it Breiz, while the Vannetais speakers pronounce it and would write it Breih; the official spelling is a compromise with a z and an h together. In 1941, efforts to unify the dialects led to the creation of the so-called Breton zh, a standard which has never been accepted. On its side, Gallo language has never had a accepted writing system and several ones coexist. For instance, the name of the region in that language can be written Bertaèyn in ELG script, or Bertègn in MOGA, a couple of other scripts exist. Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic; the first settlers were Neanderthals. This population was scarce and similar to the other Neanderthals found in the whole of Western Europe, their only original feature was a distinct culture, called "Colombanian". One of the oldest hearths in the world has been found in Finistère, it is 450,000 years old. Homo sapiens settled in Brittany around 35,000 years ago.
They replaced or absorbed the Neanderthals and developed local industries, similar to the Châtelperronian or to the Magdalenian. After the last glacial period, the warmer climate allowed the area to become wooded. At that time, Brittany was populated by large communities who started to change their lifestyles from a life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers. Agriculture was introduced during the 5th millennium BC by migrants from the east. However, the Neolithic Revolution in Brittany did not happen due to a radical change of population, but by slow immigration and exchange of skills. Neolithic Brittany is characterised by important megalithic production, it is sometimes designated as the "core area" of megalithic culture; the oldest monuments, were followed by princely tombs and stone rows. The Morbihan département, on the southern coast, comprises a large share of these structures, including the Carnac stones and the Broken Menhir of Er Grah in the Locmariaquer megaliths, the largest single stone erected by Neoli
Land's End
Land's End is a headland and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England. It is the most westerly point of mainland Cornwall and England, situated within the Penwith peninsula about eight miles west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road; the actual Land’s End or Peal Point, is a modest headland compared with nearby headlands such as Pedn-men-dhu overlooking Sennen Cove and Pordenack, to the south. The present hotel and tourist complex is at 200 m south of the actual Land's End. Land's End has a particular resonance because it is used to suggest distance. Land's End to John o' Groats in Scotland is a distance of 838 miles by road and this Land's End to John o' Groats distance is used to define charitable events such as end-to-end walks and races in the UK. Land's End to the northernmost point of England is a distance of 556 miles by road. Land's End is a popular venue for rock climbers; the Longships, a group of rocky islets are just over 1 mile offshore, together with the Seven Stones Reef and the Isles of Scilly which lie about 28 miles southwest — are part of the mythical lost land of Lyonesse, referred to in Arthurian literature.
The area around Land's End has been designated part of an Important Plant Area, by the organisation Plantlife, for rare species of flora. The cliffs are made of granite, an igneous rock, which means that the cliffs will be more resistant to weathering, will have steeper cliff faces. There are two varieties of granite represented at Land's End. Adjacent to the hotel the granite is coarse-grained with large phenocrysts of orthoclase, sometimes more than 5 in in length. To the north, at the First and Last House, there is a finer grained granite with fewer and smaller phenocrysts, the different granites can be seen from a distance by the smoother weathering of the finer variety; the granite dates to 268–275 million years ago of the Permian period. The contact zone between the Land's End granite pluton and the altered ″country rocks″ is nearby and the Longships Lighthouse, offshore, is built on the country rock. In 1769, the antiquarian William Borlase wrote: Of this time we are to understand what Edward I. says that Britain and Cornwall, were the portion of Belinus, elder son of Dunwallo, that that part of the Island, afterwards called England, was divided in three shares, viz. Britain, which reached from the Tweed, Westward, as far as the river Ex.
Tourists have been visiting Land’s End for over three hundred years. In 1649, an early visitor was the poet John Taylor, hoping to find subscribers for his new book Wanderings to see the Wonders of the West. In 1878 people left Penzance by horse-drawn vehicles from outside the Queens and Union hotels and travelled via St Buryan and Treen, to see the Logan Rock. There was a short stop to look at Porthcurno and the Eastern Telegraph Company followed by refreshments at the First and Last Inn in Sennen, they headed for Land’s End on foot or horse, because of the uneven and muddy lanes. Over one hundred people could be at Land's End at any one time. At Carn Kez, the First and Last Inn owned a small house which looked after the horses while visitors roamed the cliffs; the house at Carn Kez developed into the present hotel. The earliest part of the house was damaged by the Luftwaffe when a plane returning from a raid on Cardiff jettisoned its remaining bombs. 53 fisherman were killed. In the build-up to D-Day American troops were billeted in the hotel leaving the building in a bad state.
Land's End was owned by a Cornish family until 1982. In 1987, Peter de Savary outbid the National Trust to purchase Land’s End for £7 million from David Goldstone, he had two new buildings erected and much of the present theme park development was instigated by him. He sold both Land's End and John o' Groats to businessman Graham Ferguson Lacey in 1991; the current owners purchased Land's End in 1996 and formed a company named Heritage Great Britain PLC. Attractions at the theme park recorded music. Twice a week in August, Land's End hosts'Magic in the Skies', a night-time firework spectacular with music by British composer Christopher Bond and narrated by actress Miriam Margolyes. Within the complex is the Land's End Hotel. In May 2012, Land's End received worldwide publicity as the starting point of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay. Land's End is either the start or finishing point of end to end journeys with John o'Groats in Scotland. One of the earliest was by Carlisle who left Land's End on 23 September 1879, went to John O'Groats House and arrived back at Land's End on 15 December.
To prove his journey, he kept a log book, stamped at any Post Office he passed. An early end to end on bicycle was completed by Messrs Blackwell and Harman of Canonbury Bicycle Club. Starting at Land's End they covered 900 miles in thirteen days in July/August 1880. Nearly two years the Hon I Keith-Falconer travelled 994 miles. From Land's End, in twelve days, 23¼ hours, on a bicycle. On the south side of Carn Kez the land slopes away to a shallow valley containing a small stream and the former Greeb Farm. In 1879 a derrick was used for hauling seaweed from the beach 40 feet below. "Land's End". Encyclopædia Britannica. 16. 1911.'
Trégor
Trégor is one of the nine provinces of Brittany, in its northwestern area. It comprises the western part of the département of Côtes-d'Armor and a small part of the northeast of Finistère, as far as the river Morlaix, its capital is the French translation of the Breton word Landreger. Since the Morlaix was the boundary between the Bishopric of Léon and the Bishopric of Tréguier, the town was divided between the two. On 27 January 1790, after the French Revolution, the Breton deputies rejected the request by the residents of Morlaix to be integrated in the department of Saint-Brieuc, they instead established the northern boundary of the department at the Douron
Central European Time
Central European Time, used in most parts of Europe and a few North African countries, is a standard time, 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00; the same standard time, UTC+01:00, is known as Middle European Time and under other names like Berlin Time, Warsaw Time and Romance Standard Time, Paris Time or Rome Time. The 15th meridian east is the central axis for UTC+01:00 in the world system of time zones; as of 2011, all member states of the European Union observe summer time. A number of African countries use UTC+01:00 all year long, where it is called West Africa Time, although Algeria and Tunisia use the term Central European Time. Central European Time is used in Albania, Austria, Belgium and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Kosovo, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. 1884 Serbia starts using CET. 1890 The areas of current Croatia and Hungary start using CET. 1891 The areas of current Czech Republic start using CET. 1 April 1893 The German Empire unified its time zones to use CET.
Italy, Malta use CET. The areas of current Austria start using CET. 1894 Switzerland switches from UTC+00:30 to CET Liechtenstein introduces CET. Denmark adopts CET. 1895 Norway adopts CET. 1900 Sweden adopts CET. 1904 Luxembourg introduces CET, but leaves 1918. 1914 Albania adopts CET. 1914–1918 During World War I CET was implemented in all German-occupied territories. 1920 Lithuania adopts CET. 1922 Poland adopts CET. 1940 Under German occupation:The Netherlands was switched from UTC+00:20 to CET. Belgium was switched from UTC+00:00. Luxembourg was switched from UTC+00:00. France, which had adopted Paris time on 14 March 1891 and Greenwich Mean Time on 9 March 1911, was switched to CET. Spain switched to CET. After World War II Monaco and Gibraltar implemented CET. Portugal used CET in the years 1966–1976 and 1992–1996. United KingdomThe time around the world is based on Universal Coordinated Time, synonymous with Greenwich Mean Time. From late March to late October, clocks in the United Kingdom are put forward by one hour for British Summer Time.
Since 1997, most of the European Union aligned with the British standards for BST. In 1968 there was a three-year experiment called British Standard Time, when the UK and Ireland experimentally employed British Summer Time all year round. Central European Time is sometimes referred to as continental time in the UK. Several African countries use UTC+01:00 all year long, where it called West Africa Time, although Algeria and Tunisia use the term Central European Time, despite being located in North Africa. Between 2005 and 2008, Tunisia observed daylight saving time. Libya used CET during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997 and 2012–2013. For other countries see West Africa Time. Legal and economic, as well as physical or geographical criteria are used in the drawing of time zones so official time zones adhere to meridian lines; the CET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, would consist of the area between meridians 7°30′ E and 22°30′ E. As a result, there are European locales that despite lying in an area with a "physical" UTC+01:00 time use another time zone.
Conversely, there are European areas that have gone for UTC+01:00 though their "physical" time zone is UTC, UTC−01:00, or UTC+02:00. On the other hand, the people in Spain still have all work and meal hours one hour than France and Germany if they have the same time zone. Following is a list of such "incongruences": Historically Gibraltar maintained UTC+01:00 all year until the opening of the land frontier with Spain in 1982 when it followed its neighbour and introduced CEST; these areas are located between 7°30′ E and 22°30′ E The westernmost part of Greece, including the cities of Patras and the island of Corfu The westernmost parts of the Bulgarian provinces of Vidin and Kyustendil The westernmost part of Romania, including most of the area of the counties of Caraș-Severin, Timiș, Bihor, as well as the westernmost tips of the counties of Mehedinți and Satu Mare The westernmost tip of Ukraine, near the border with Hungary and Slovakia, at the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Oblast comprising the city of Uzhhorod and its environs..
Western Lithuania, including the cities of Klaipėda, Tauragė, Telšiai Western Latvia, including the cities of Liepāja and Ventspils The westernmost parts of the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, including the capital of the Saare County, Kuressaare The southwestern coast of Finland, including the city of Turku. The Russian exclave of Kaliningr
Communes of the Finistère department
The following is a list of the 277 communes of the Finistère department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities: Brest Métropole CA Concarneau Cornouaille Agglomération CA Morlaix Communauté Communauté d'agglomération Quimper Bretagne Occidentale CA Quimperlé Communauté Communauté de communes Cap Sizun - Pointe du Raz CC Douarnenez Communauté Communauté de communes de Haute Cornouaille CC Haut-Léon Communauté Communauté de communes du Haut Pays Bigouden CC Communauté Lesneven Côte des Légendes CC Monts d'Arrée Communauté Communauté de communes du Pays Bigouden Sud Communauté de communes du Pays de Landerneau-Daoulas Communauté de communes du Pays de Landivisiau Communauté de communes du Pays des Abers Communauté de communes du Pays Fouesnantais Communauté de communes du Pays d'Iroise Communauté de communes Pleyben-Châteaulin-Porzay CC Poher communauté Communauté de communes Presqu'île de Crozon-Aulne maritime
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