The Côte de Beauté is a part of the south-western coastline of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, situated south of the

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

Arvert Arvert () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Alvertons'' or ''Alvertonnes''. Geography Arvert is located some 14 km north-wes ...

, in the department of

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...

(region

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...

). Its capital is the town of

Royan Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; oc, Roian) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Its inhabitants are known as ''Royannais'' and ''Royannaises''. Capi ...

. The limits are, approximately, Coubre Point on the edge of the

Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, in the commune of

Les Mathes Les Mathes () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. The commune includes the beach resort La Palmyre, and the Palmyre Zoo. Population Gallery Image:Les mathes Eglise.jp ...

, and the cliffs of Meschers-sur-Gironde, on the estuary of

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

. Nevertheless, the National Counsel of Geographic Information considers that the Côte de Beauté extends from Coubre Point, in

up to Négade Point in

. Six seaside resorts constitute the backbone of tourism in the Côte de Beauté: * La Palmyre (commune of Les Mathes) *

Saint-Palais-sur-Mer Saint-Palais-sur-Mer (, literally ''Saint-Palais on Sea'') is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. Population Gallery Image:Ancienne église Saint Pallais.jpg Image:St Palais7.jpg Image:Sentier à Saint-Pala ...

Vaux-sur-Mer Vaux-sur-Mer () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Charente-Maritime department The following is a list of the 463 communes of the Charente-Maritime department of ...

Saint-Georges-de-Didonne Saint-Georges-de-Didonne () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France.

* Meschers-sur-Gironde Following the definition of the National Council of Geographic Information two more can be included,

Le Verdon-sur-Mer Le Verdon-sur-Mer (, literally ''Le Verdon on Sea'') is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gironde department The following is a list of the 535 Communes of ...

and

Soulac-sur-Mer Soulac-sur-Mer (; oc, Solac de Mar, , ), commonly known as Soulac (''Solac''), is a commune in the department of Gironde, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (formerly Aquitaine), France. It's a seaside resort on Côte d'Argent, in the pe ...

(on the opposite bank of the estuary, in Gironde). The name Côte de Beauté was invented by the

Miss Europe Miss Europe is a beauty pageant for European women from all over Europe. It was established in February 1927 by Fanamet, the European distributor of Paramount, as a one-off event where the winner was to star in a film directed by Friedrich W ...

committee in 1931, replacing the former name of

Côte d'Argent Côte d’Argent (; ) is a name given to part of the Atlantic coast of the Aquitaine region in France. Etymology The term was first coined to describe the Aquitaine coast in 1905 by the journalist and poet Maurice Martin. The Congrès national d ...

Guy Binot, ''Histoire de Royan et de la presqu'île d'Arvert'', Le Croît Vif, p 309 that still refers to the part of the

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...

coast that is between Medoc and the Basque country.

Notes and references

Beaute Geography of Charente-Maritime Seaside resorts in France {{CharenteMaritime-geo-stub