Région Bretagne
Région flag	Region logo
Location
Administration
Capital	Rennes
Regional President	Jean-Yves Le Drian (PS) (since 2004)
Departments	Côtes-d'Armor Ille-et-Vilaine Morbihan Finistère
Arrondissements	15
Cantons	201
Communes	1,268
Statistics
Land area1	27,209 km²
Population	(Ranked 7th)
- January 1, 2007 est. Rennes ( Gallo: Resnn, Roazhon Condate Condate Riedonum is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern In France, the president of the regional council (French Président du conseil régional) is the elected official who heads the Conseil régional Jean-Yves Le Drian (born June 30, 1947) is a Socialist French politician born in Lorient, Morbihan. The Socialist Party ( Parti Socialiste, PS is the largest left-wing political party in France. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Côtes-d'Armor ( Breton: Aodoù-an-Arvor) is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. Ille-et-Vilaine (Il-ha-Gwilen is a department of France, located in the region of Bretagne in the northwest of France. Morbihan (Mor-Bihan is a department in the northwest of France named after the Morbihan ( small sea in Breton) the enclosed sea that is the Finistère (Penn-ar-Bed is a département of France, located in Brittany ( Breizh in Breton and Bretagne The 100 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 341 arrondissements and 100 departments. The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The following are ranked lists of French regions. Population figures are from the 1999 census To help compare Orders of magnitude of different geographical regions  Areas between 10000 km² and 100000 km² are listed here The following are ranked lists of French regions. Population figures are from the 1999 census New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.	3,103,000
- March 8, 1999 census	2,906,197
- Density (2007)	114/km²
1 French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0. Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) The following are ranked lists of French regions. Population figures are from the 1999 census 386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers

Le Diben harbor - Plougasnou (Bretagne)

House in Brittany at the Atlantic Coast (north of Morlaix)

Bilingual road signs in Quimper (French on top)

Bretagne (French pronunciation (help·info); English: Brittany; Breton: Breizh; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is one of the 26 regions of France. An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open Quimper ( Breton: Kemper, Latin: Corspotium) is a commune and capital of the Finistère department in English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany Gallo is a regional language of France. Gallo is a Romance language, one of the oïl languages. France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. It occupies a large peninsula in the northwest of the country, lying between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south. A peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by Water but connected to Mainland via an Isthmus. Cantabrian Sea redirects here Not to be confused with Biscay Bay Newfoundland and Labrador or Biscayne Bay. Its capital city is Rennes. Rennes ( Gallo: Resnn, Roazhon Condate Condate Riedonum is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern

Territory

The region of Bretagne is made up of 80% of the former duchy and province of Brittany. The Kingdom of France was organised into Provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into The remaining 20% of Brittany is the Loire-Atlantique department which lies inside the Pays-de-la-Loire region, with its capital Nantes, which was the historical capital of the duchy of Brittany. Loire-Atlantique (formerly Loire-Inférieure) is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Pays de la Loire is one of the 26 Regions of France. It is one of the regions created in the late 20th century to serve as a zone of influence for its capital Nantes Nantes (Naoned Gallo: Naunnt) is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast

Part of the reason that Brittany was split between two modern day regions was to avoid the rivalry between Rennes and Nantes. Although Nantes had been the main capital of the duchy of Brittany until the 16th century, Rennes had been the seat of the supreme court of justice of Brittany between 1560 and 1789. Rennes had also been the administrative capital of the Intendant of Brittany between 1689 and 1789. The title of intendant (intendant Spanish intendente) has been used in a number of countries through history Intendances were the most important administrative units of the kingdom of France in the 17th and 18th centuries. As for the provincial states of Brittany, which originally met every two years in a different city of Brittany, they had only met in Rennes from 1728 to 1789 (with only the exceptions of 1730, 1758, and 1760). Despite that, the "Chambre des comptes" stayed in Nantes until 1789. In Ancien Régime France, the chambres des comptes were sovereign courts specialising in financial affairs Note that Vannes (Gwened in Breton) used to be the first administrative capital of the duchy from 1381 till the end of the 15th century, keeping the seat of the "Chambre des comptes" till 1491/99, and the one of the "Parlement" till 1553, and between 1675 and 1689. Vannes (Gwened is a town and commune located in the Morbihan département, in Brittany, in the west of France.

Thus, when French regions were created, it was decided in 1941 (when the majority of France was under Nazi German occupation, and the remainder under the puppet Vichy regime) to create a region of Bretagne with Rennes as its capital, and another region created specifically for Nantes, which was called Pays-de-la-Loire (i. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944 e. "lands of the Loire"). The Loire River (lwaʁ in French) is the longest River in France. Pays-de-la-Loire is made up of a part of Brittany, but also several other historical provinces (Anjou, Maine, and so on). Anjou is a former County (c 880) Duchy ( 1360) and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Maine is one of the traditional provinces of France. It corresponds to the old county of Maine centered around the city of Le Mans.

Some people in Brittany complain about the current division of Brittany and would like to see Loire-Atlantique joining the region of Bretagne in order to reunify Brittany. Loire-Atlantique (formerly Loire-Inférieure) is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic However, reunification raises a couple of questions: first, what to do with the rump Pays-de-la-Loire region, and second, which city should be chosen as the capital of this reunified Bretagne region.

Language

Two regional languages are recognized by the region. A regional language is a Language spoken in an area of a Nation state, whether it be a small area a federal State or Province, or

Breton, a Celtic language (akin to Cornish and Welsh), is spoken in the western part of Brittany (roughly, west of a boundary from St Brieuc to Vannes). The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. For the Cornish-English dialect see West Country dialects and List of Cornish dialect words. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic

In the part of Brittany which never spoke Breton, Gallo, an Oïl language, is also in the process of being revived, as a cultural trait of that part of Brittany. Gallo is a regional language of France. Gallo is a Romance language, one of the oïl languages. Langues d'oïl is the linguistic and historical designation of the Gallo-Romance languages originating from the northern territories of Roman Gaul,

Modern French administration now allows for some Breton or Gallo to be used by the region and its communes, in road signs and names of towns and cities, along with the French version. The languages are also taught at school, and many folklore associations and clubs are trying to re-invigorate them.

Politics

The region is administered by the Regional Council. The Bretagne regional council is the regional legislature of the region Bretagne in France

Brittany was traditionally a conservative region, with the notable exception of Cotes-d'Armor, a longtime stronghold of the left. Côtes-d'Armor ( Breton: Aodoù-an-Arvor) is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. However, Brittany is slowly trending to the left, electing the first socialist in its history to the regional presidency, and voted for Ségolène Royal in the French presidential election, 2007 (except in Morbihan). Marie-Ségolène Royal (born 22 September 1953 in Dakar, Senegal, then a French colony known as, (seɡɔlɛn ʁwajal is a The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France Morbihan (Mor-Bihan is a department in the northwest of France named after the Morbihan ( small sea in Breton) the enclosed sea that is the Centrist candidate François Bayrou also polled relatively high in the region and Fougères elected a Mouvement Democrate deputy to the National Assembly. François Bayrou (fʁɑ̃swa·bajʁu Francés Vairon in Occitan) is a French centerist Politician, president of Union for French Democracy Fougères (Felger in Breton, Foujerr in Gallo) is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine department The Democratic Movement ( Mouvement démocrate, MoDem is a centrist and Pro-European French political party that was founded The region was one of the few regions to vote yes to the European constitution in the 2005 referendums.

Transportation

There are several airports in Brittany serving destinations in France and England. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland TGV train services link the region with cities such as Paris, Lyon, Marseilles, and Lille in other regions of France. The TGV ( t rain à g rande v itesse, French for "high-speed train" is France 's High-speed rail service Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city ||-||} Lyon, also known as Lyons in English is a city in east-central France. Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ Lille (lil Rijsel is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest Metropolitan area in the country In addition there are ferry services that take passengers, vehicles and freight to Ireland, England and the Channel Islands. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Channel Islands ( Norman: Îles d'la Manche, French: Îles Anglo-Normandes or Îles de la Manche) are a group of Islands

Major communities

• Brest
• Concarneau
• Fougères
• Lanester
• Lannion
• Lorient
• Ploemeur
• Quimper
• Rennes
• Saint-Brieuc
• Saint-Malo
• Vannes

External links

• (French) Regional Council of Bretagne
• (English) Bretagne at the Open Directory Project
• (English) Photos of Bretagne
• (French) Photos of Bretagne (professionnal)
• (French) Cultural Heritage
• (English) 3,500 images from Bretagne: coast, calvary and megalith
• (English) Regional information for the English speaking community