Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers. Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original eighty-three departments created on March 4, 1790, as a result of the French Revolution, it was created from part of the province of Gascony. Several of the original southeastern cantons in the arrondissements of Agen and Villeneuve-sur-Lot were separated from it in 1808 to become a part of the newly created department of Tarn-et-Garonne. Lot-et-Garonne is part of the current region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne, Landes and Dordogne; the north of the department is composed of limestone hills. Between Lot and Garonne, there is a plateau carved by many valleys. In the west of the department, the Landes forest is planted in sand. It's composed of maritime pines. Between the forest and Agen, there is the Albret, a hilly country. Food-processing and pharmaceuticals are all major industries of the department; the inhabitants of the department are called Lot-et-Garonnais.
Cantons of the Lot-et-Garonne department Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department Arrondissements of the Lot-et-Garonne department Roman Catholic Diocese of Agen Prefecture website General Council website Lot-et-Garonne at Curlie Chamber of Commerce and Industry website
Lesparre-Médoc
Lesparre-Médoc is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Lesparre is on the Médoc peninsula about 80 km north of Bordeaux. In the High Middle Ages it was the site of castle; the troubadour Aimeric de Belenoi was born here. Lesparre is twinned with Drayton in the Vale of White Horse, England. Communes of the Gironde department INSEE
Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime is a department on the southwestern coast of France named after the Charente River. A part of Saintonge and Aunis, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. On 4 September 1941, it was renamed Charente-Maritime; when first created, the commune of Saintes was assigned as the prefecture of the department. This changed in 1810 when Napoleon passed an imperial decree which moved the prefecture to La Rochelle. During World War II, the department was invaded by the German army and became part of occupied France. To provide defence against a possible beach landing, the Organisation Todt constructed a number of sea defences in the area. Defences such as pillboxes are noticeable on the beaches of the presqu'île d'Arvert and the island of Oléron. At the end of the war there were only two pockets of German resistance: La Rochelle, in the north and Royan in the south. Despite being completely destroyed during an RAF bombing raid on 5 January 1945, the town of Royan wasn't liberated by the French resistance until April of the same year.
La Rochelle was captured on 9 May 1945. Charente-Maritime is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine administrative region, it has a land area of 6864 km² and 628,733 inhabitants as of 2012. The important rivers are the Charente and its tributaries, the Boutonne and the Seugne, along with the Sèvre Niortaise, the Seudre, the Garonne, in its downstream part, the estuary of the Gironde; the department includes the islands of Île de Ré, Île d'Aix, Ile d'Oléron, Île Madame. The department forms the northern part of the Aquitaine Basin, it is separated from the Massif Armoricain by the Marais Poitevin to the north-west and from the Parisian basin by the Seuil du Poitou to the north-east. The highest point in the department is in the woods of Chantemerlière, near the commune of Contré in the north-east, rises to 173 m. Charente-Maritime is surrounded by the departments of Gironde, Deux-Sèvres and Vendée; the climate is mild and sunny, with less than 900 mm of precipitation per year and with insolation being remarkably high, in fact, the highest in Western France including southernmost sea resorts such as Biarritz.
Average extreme temperatures vary from 38 °C in summer to−5 °C in winter. The economy of Charente-Maritime is based on three major sectors: tourism, maritime industry, manufacturing. Cognac and pineau are two of the major agricultural products with maize and sunflowers being the others. During the summer months, families flock from all over Europe to bask in the sun and enjoy the local seafood. Royan, popular for its extensive beaches and attractions, is one of the most famous seaside resort of atlantic coast. Charente-Maritime is the headquarters of the major oyster producer Marennes-Oléron. Oysters cultivated here are shipped across Europe. Rochefort is a shipbuilding site and has been a major French naval base since 1665. La Rochelle is a seat of major French industry. Just outside the city is a factory for the French engineering giant Alstom, where the TGV, the cars for the Paris and other metros are manufactured, it is a popular venue for tourism, with its picturesque medieval city walls. The inhabitants of the department are called Charentais-Maritimes.
The President of the General Council is Dominique Bussereau of the Union for a Popular Movement. Popular destinations include, La Rochelle, Saintes, St Jean d'Angely, Rochefort, Île d'Aix, Île de Ré and Île d'Oléron; the department is served by the TGV at La Rochelle. It can be reached by motorway by the A10 and A837. Cantons of the Charente-Maritime department Communes of the Charente-Maritime department Arrondissements of the Charente-Maritime department Éclade des Moules "Charente-Inférieure". Encyclopædia Britannica. 5. 1911. Charente Maritime website News Charente Maritime Official Tourism Guide of Charente-Maritime Official Tourism Guide of Charente-Maritime Charente Maritime News Zoo de la Palmyre Ile d'Oléron Ile de ré Tourisme Ile de re
Landes (department)
The Landes is a department in southwestern France. Landes is one of the original 83 departments that were created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, it was created from parts of the provinces of Gascony. During the first part of the nineteenth century large parts of the department were covered with poorly drained heathland, the origin of its name; the vegetation covered rich soil and was periodically burned off, leaving excellent pasturage for sheep, which around 1850 are thought to have numbered between 900,000 and 1,000,000 in this area. The sheep were managed by shepherds who moved around on stilts and became proficient at covering long distances thus supported. Most of the sheep departed during the second half of the nineteenth century when systematic development of large pine plantations transformed the landscape and the local economy. One of the most famous citizens of the Landes was the nineteenth-century French economist Frederic Bastiat; the Nobel Prize–winning novelist François Mauriac set his novels in the Landes.
The Landes is part of the current region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques, as well as the Atlantic Ocean on the west. With an area stretching over more than 9000 km², Landes is, after Gironde, the second largest department of the metropolitan French territory, it is well known for the Côte d'Argent beach, Europe's longest, attracts many surfers to Mimizan and Hossegor each year. It is home to a château called Château de Gaujacq, built in 1686; the President of the General Council is Xavier Fortinon. In terms of agriculture, the Landes is known for its large pine forest, the raw material for a timber and resin industries in the region; the forest was planted in the early nineteenth century to prevent erosion of the region's sandy soil by the sea. Cantons of the Landes department Communes of the Landes department Arrondissements of the Landes department Prefecture website Conseil Général website Landes at Curlie
Libourne
Libourne is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department, it lies near Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. Libourne is located at the confluence of the Dordogne rivers. In 1270, Leybornia was founded as a bastide by Roger de Leybourne, an English seneschal of Gascony, under the authority of King Edward I of England, it suffered in the struggles of the French and English for the possession of Gironde in the 14th century, joined France in the 15th century. In December 1854 John Stuart Mill passed through Libourne, remarking "I stopped at Libourne as I intended & had a walk about it this morning quite the best thing there is the bridge of the Dordogne, the view from, fine"; the Gothic church, restored in the 19th century, has a stone spire 232 ft high. On the quay there is a machicolated clock-tower, a survival of the defensive walls of the 14th century; the town-house, containing a small museum and a library, is a quaint relic of the 16th century.
It is located by the main square, the Place Abel Surchamp, which hosts every weekend one of the largest fresh food market in the region. There is a statue of Élie, duc Decazes, born in the region. Eugène Atget, French photographer, "Creator and Purveyor of a Collection of Photographic Views of Old France Louis Le Provost de Launay, French deputy and senator Jean-Marie Londeix, French saxophonist Jean Marcadé, French Hellenist and historian Hull town walls, the town of Hull established under Edward I, is said to have been similar in design to the Bastides, in particular Libourne Communes of the Gironde department Keynsham, twinned with Libourne INSEE "Libourne". Encyclopædia Britannica. 16. 1911. Official website Unofficial website
Lacanau
Lacanau is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Lacanau is a surfing area. Lacanau is a member of the Community of Municipalities Médoc's Lakes which includes the municipalities of Lacanau and Hourtin: the territory Médoc Océan: http://www.medococean.co.uk/ The United States Navy established a naval air station at NAS 001 Le Moutchic on 31 August 1917 to operate seaplanes during World War I. The base closed shortly after the First Armistice at Compiègne. Communes of the Gironde department INSEE Official website of the tourist office Médoc Océan Official Facebook of the tourist office Médoc Océan Official Twitter of the tourist office Médoc Océan Official Youtube of the tourist office Médoc Océan Official Flicker of the tourist office Médoc Océan Lacanauocean.com
Departments of France
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. Ninety-six departments are in metropolitan France, five are overseas departments, which are classified as regions. Departments are further subdivided into 334 arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons; each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, these were called general councils; each council has a president. Their main areas of responsibility include the management of a number of social and welfare allowances, of junior high school buildings and technical staff, local roads and school and rural buses, a contribution to municipal infrastructures. Local services of the state administration are traditionally organised at departmental level, where the prefect represents the government; the departments were created in 1790 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity.
All of them were named after physical geographical features, rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The division of France into departments was a project identified with the French revolutionary leader the Abbé Sieyès, although it had been discussed and written about by many politicians and thinkers; the earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of d'Argenson. They have inspired similar divisions in some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a two-digit number, the "Official Geographical Code", allocated by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. Overseas departments have a three-digit number; the number is used, for example, in the postal code, was until used for all vehicle registration plates. While residents use the numbers to refer to their own department or a neighbouring one, more distant departments are referred to by their names, as few people know the numbers of all the departments.
For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as "the 45". In 2014, President François Hollande proposed to abolish departmental councils by 2020, which would have maintained the departments as administrative divisions, to transfer their powers to other levels of governance; this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René d'Argenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration. Before the French Revolution, France gained territory through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces. During the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved in order to weaken old loyalties; the modern departments, as all-purpose units of the government, were created on 4 March 1790 by the National Constituent Assembly to replace the provinces with what the Assembly deemed a more rational structure.
Their boundaries served two purposes: Boundaries were chosen to break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation. Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a day's ride of the capital of a department; this was a security measure, intended to keep the entire national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of many rural areas far from any centre of government; the old nomenclature was avoided in naming the new departments. Most were named after other physical features. Paris was in the department of Seine. Savoy became the department of Mont-Blanc; the number of departments 83, had been increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleon's defeats in 1814–1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size and the number of departments was reduced to 86.
In 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice and a portion of the Var department; the 89 departments were given numbers based on the alphabetical order of their names. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. A small part of Haut-Rhin became known as the Territoire de Belfort; when France regained the ceded departments after World War I, the Territoire de Belfort was not re-integrated into Haut-Rhin. In 1922, it became France's 90th department; the Lorraine departments were not changed back to their original boundaries, a new Moselle department was created in the regaine
listen); Occitan: Gironda) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwest France. It is named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway; the Bordeaux wine region is in the Gironde.
