Aquitaine

Aquitaine (Occitan: Aquitània; ; ) is a part of southwestern France. It was once an administrative region but is now part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. With over 41,000 square kilometers, it is one of the largest regions of mainland France (the largest of all French regions is French Guiana, in South America).

Its capital was Bordeaux, the largest city. The French name of the people living in the region is Aquitain.

The five departments in the region were Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Geography
The Aquitaine region was the third largest region of Metropolitan France, after Midi-Pyrénées and Rhône-Alpes. Its area was . It bordered with three French regions: Poitou-Charentes to the north, Limousin to the northeast and Midi-Pyrénées to the east. To the south is Spain (Aragon and Navarre) and to the west the Atlantic Ocean. The coast along the Atlantic Ocean, part of the Bay of Biscay, is called the Côte d'Argent (Silver Coast).

The Greenwich Meridian passes through Aquitaine.

Most of Aquitaine is in the Aquitanian basin,A basin, or sedimentary basin, is a low place in the Earth that gets filled with dirt and rocks. a relatively flat and geologically young landscape. High mountains are found only in the south of Aquitaine, in the Pyrenees mountain range. The Pic Palas (), at , is the highest point of Aquitaine; it is on the border with Spain.

The main rivers of the region are the Garonne, that flows through the Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne departments; the Dordogne, that flows through the Dordogne and Gironde departments; the Lot, that flows through the Lot-et-Garonne department; the Dropt, that flows through the Dordogne, Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne departments; and the Adour, that flows through the Landes department.

The climate is mild - except in the high mountains - all year round. On the Atlantic coast, the annual average temperature is above 15 °C, in Bordeaux is about 14 °C and on the border of Limousin is still 11 °C. Rainfall is relatively high and is higher in the south of the region.

History
In the Middle Ages Aquitaine was at times a kingdom and a duchy. Various wars made it larger and smaller. Aquitane came into the control of England when Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry II of England in 1152. It remained in English control until 1453 at the end of the Hundred Years' War.

Departments
The Aquitaine region is formed by five departments:

DépartementPréfectureISO3166-2Population(2012)Area(km²)Density(Inh./km²)DordognePérigueux FR-24 416,384  9,060 GirondeBordeauxFR-331,483,7129,975 LandesMont-de-MarsanFR-40392,8849,243 Lot-et-GaronneAgenFR-47332,1195,361 Pyrénées-AtlantiquesPauFR-64660,8717,645 

Demographics
The Aquitaine region had a population, in 2012, of 3,285,970, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

The 10 most important cities in the department are:
 City  Population  (2012) Départment Bordeaux  241,287  Gironde Pau  78,506  Pyrénées-Atlantiques Mérignac  66,660  Gironde Pessac  59,223  Gironde Bayonne  45,855  Pyrénées-Atlantiques Talence  41,358  Gironde Anglet  39,223  Pyrénées-Atlantiques Agen  33,730  Lot-et-Garonne Mont-de-Marsan  31,018  Landes Périgueux  29,906  Dordogne

Gallery

Notes

References

 Other websites 

 Regional Council of Aquitain official website  
 Visit Aquitaine 
 Regional information and tourist attractions
 Aquitaine: the cradle of humanity