France - Brittany

BRITTANY
Exceptional heritage.

Sent by Aline from France.

This is from Wikipedia : Brittany (French: Bretagne [bʁətaɲ]; Breton: Breizh, pronounced [brɛjs]; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously as a kingdom and then as a duchy, Brittany was a fief of the Kingdom of France. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain (as opposed to Great Britain). It is characterized as one of the six Celtic nations.

Brittany occupies a large peninsula in the north west of France, lying between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its land area is 34,023 km² (13,136 sq mi). The historical province of Brittany is divided into five departments: Finistère in the west, Côtes-d'Armor in the north, Ille-et-Vilaine in the north east, the Loire-Atlantique in the south east and Morbihan in the south on the Bay of Biscay.

In 1956, French Regions were created by gathering Departements between them. The Region of Brittany comprises, since then, four of the five Breton départements (80% of historical Brittany), while the remaining area of the old Brittany, the Loire-Atlantique département around Nantes forms part of the Pays de la Loire region. This territorial organisation is sometimes contested.

In January 2007 the population of historic Brittany was estimated to be 4,365,500. Of these, 71% lived in the région of Brittany, while 29% lived in the région of Pays-de-la-Loire. At the 1999 census, the largest metropolitan areas were Nantes (711,120 inhabitants), Rennes (521,188 inhabitants), and Brest (303,484 inhabitants).