Landes

**Landes** (Gascon: _Lanas_) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France. Landes is the plural of the French word _lande_ (in English:_heathland_); it was named so because it was the most common habitat in the region.

It is well known for the _Côte d'Argent_ beach that attracts many surfers to Mimizan and Hossegor each year.

## History

The department was formed during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with parts of the old provinces of Guyenne and Gascony. It was divided into four districts: Dax, Mont-de-Marsan, Saint-Sever and Tartas. The capital was Mont-de-Marsan.

The _arrondissement_ of Dax, Mont-de-Marsan and Saint-Sever were established on 17 February 1800. The _arrondissement_ of Saint-Sever was dissolved on 10 September 1926 and integrated into the _arrondissements_ of Dax and Mont-de-Marsan.

## Geography

Landes is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, southwestern France, and is, after Gironde, the second largest department of Metropolitan France with an area of .

The department is bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by the Gironde, to the northeast by Lot-et-Garonne and the south by the Pyrénées-Atlantiques; these three departments are, like Landes, of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. To the east, it borders with the Gers department of the Occitanie region.

The most important river is the Adour, which crosses the southern part of the department in an east-west direction; in Dax, the river turns to the southwest and is joined by the Gaves réunis before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

The forest of Landes is the largest forest in France. It covers about 67% of the department in its northern part, and also covers a large part of the Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne (arrondissement of Nérac). The main species of tree is the maritime pine (_Pinus pinaster_).

### Climate

The climate in Mont-de-Marsan is Marine West Coast Climate (Köppen climate classification ***Cfb***), with mild winters and warm summers.

The average temperature for the year in Mont-de-Marsan is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Mont-de-Marsan is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is August with an average of .

## Administration

The department is managed by the _Departmental Council of the Landes_ in Mont-de-Marsan.

### Administrative divisions

There are 2 _arrondissements_ (districts), 15 _cantons_ and 330 _communes_ (municipalities) in Landes.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width=70px |Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|401|Dax|Dax|220,656|3,194.2||152|
|402|Mont-de-Marsan|Mont-de-Marsan|179,821|6,048.4||178|

The following is a list of the 15 cantons of the **Landes** department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Adour Armagnac <small>(4001)</small>
1. Chalosse Tursan <small>(4002)</small>
1. Côte d'Argent <small>(4003)</small>
1. Coteau de Chalosse <small>(4004)</small>
1. Dax-1 <small>(4005)</small>
1. Dax-2 <small>(4006)</small>
1. Grands Lacs <small>(4007)</small>
1. Haute Lande Armagnac <small>(4008)</small>
1. Marensin Sud <small>(4009)</small>
1. Mont-de-Marsan-1 <small>(4010)</small>
1. Mont-de-Marsan-2 <small>(4011)</small>
1. Orthe et Arrigans <small>(4012)</small>
1. Pays morcenais tarusate <small>(4013)</small>
1. Pays Tyrossais <small>(4014)</small>
1. Seignanx <small>(4015)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of Landes are known, in French, as _Landais_ (women: _Landaises_).

The department of Landes has a population, in 2014, of 400,477, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Dax has 220,656 inhabitants and the _arrondissement_ of Mont-de-Marsan, where is the prefecture of the departement, has only 179,821 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Landes**

The 10 main cities in the department are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Mont-de-Marsan|31,009|Mont-de-Marsan|
|Dax|20,485|Dax|
|Biscarrosse|14,174|Mont-de-Marsan|
|Saint-Paul-lès-Dax|13,189|Dax|
|Tarnos|12,354|Dax|
|Saint-Pierre-du-Mont|9,449|Mont-de-Marsan|
|Capbreton|8,586|Dax|
|Saint-Vincent-de-Tyrosse|7,717|Dax|
|Soustons|7,611|Dax|
|Mimizan|6,923|Mont-de-Marsan|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Landes department
- Communes of the Landes department

## Other websites

- Departmental Council of Landes
- Prefecture official website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Landes
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Pref Landes MDM.JPG
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Landes department, in Mont-de-Marsan
- **image caption**: Prefecture building of the Landes department, in Mont-de-Marsan
- **image flag**: Drapeau fr département Landes.svg
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Landes.svg
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Landes-Position.svg
- **map alt**: Location of Landes in France
- **map caption**: Location of Landes in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Mont-de-Marsan
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Dax, Landes, Dax
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Henri Emmanuelli
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 9242.6
- **population total**: 400477
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Landais
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 2
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 15
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 330
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-40
- **website**: [http://www.landes.fr// www.landes.fr]