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 the territorial reform of French regions in 2014 through the merger of three regions: Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes. It covers – or of the country – and has 5,956,978 inhabitants (municipal population on 1 January 2017). The new region was established on 1 January 2016, following the regional elections in December 2015.

It is the largest region in France by area (including overseas regions such as French Guiana), with a territory slightly larger than that of Austria. Its prefecture and largest city, Bordeaux, together with its suburbs and satellite cities, forms the seventh-largest metropolitan area of France, with 850,000 inhabitants. The region has 25 major urban areas, among which the most important after Bordeaux are Bayonne (288,000 inhabitants), Limoges (283,000), Poitiers (255,000), Pau (241,000) and La Rochelle (206,000), as well as eleven major clusters.

New Aquitaine has five universities (Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Limoges, Poitiers and Pau) and several Grandes Écoles. It has three of the four historic resorts on the French Atlantic coast: Arcachon, Biarritz and Royan, as well as several ski resorts (most notably Gourette).

Its economy is based on agriculture and viticulture ( vineyards of Bordeaux and Cognac), tourism, a powerful aerospace industry, digital economy and design, parachemical and pharmaceutical industries, financial sector (Niort) and industrial ceramics (Limoges). The new region includes major parts of Southern France ("''Midi de la France''"), marked by Basque, Occitan, Poitevin and Saintongeais cultures. Historically, it is the "indirect successor" to medieval Aquitaine; it extends over a large part of the former Duchy of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Toponymy

The region's interim name ''Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes'' was a hyphenated placename, known as ALPC, created by hyphenating the merged regions' names – ''Aquitaine'', ''Limousin'' and ''Poitou-Charentes'' – in alphabetical order.

In June 2016, a working group headed by historian , a former vice-president of Aquitaine, proposed the name "Nouvelle Aquitaine". The decision came after the popular favourite, "Aquitaine", faced resistance by regional politicians from Limousin and Poitou-Charentes. The other popular favourite, "Grande Aquitaine", was rejected for its connotation with a feeling of superiority. Alain Rousset, president of the region, concurred with the working group's conclusion, reaffirming that he considered the acronym "ALPC" no choice at all. For those deploring the loss of "Limousin" and "Poitou-Charentes", he noted that the predecessor region of Aquitaine subsumed the identities of the Périgord or the Pays Basque, which did not disappear during its 40 years of operation.

On 27 June 2016, just a few days ahead of 1 July deadline, the Regional Council almost unanimously adopted ''Nouvelle-Aquitaine'' as the region's permanent name. France's Conseil d'État approved ''Nouvelle-Aquitaine'' as the new name of the region on 28 September 2016, effective two days later.

History

* For the recent history of each former administrative regions and departments before 2016,

* For the history of past entities covering much of the area of the region before the French revolution,

Geography

At 84,061 square kilometres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine is larger than French Guiana, which makes it the largest region of metropolitan and overseas France.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine is delimited by four other French regions (Pays de la Loire to the north-west, Centre-Val de Loire to the northeast, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the east, and Occitania to the south-east), three autonomous communities in Spain to the south (from east to west, Aragon, Navarre, and Basque Country), and the North Atlantic Ocean (the eastern part of Bay of Biscay, ''Golfe de Gascogne'' in French) to the west.

Departments

Nouvelle-Aquitaine comprises twelve departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Corrèze, Creuse, Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne.

Urban centers

Its largest city and only metropolis is Bordeaux, in the heart of an urban agglomeration of over one million inhabitants. Taking into consideration the urban area, the new region is home to six of the fifty largest metropolitan areas of French territory (population 2011):

* Bordeaux (1,140,668 inhabitants)
* Bayonne (283,571)
* Limoges (282,876)
* Poitiers (254 051)
* Pau (240,898)
* La Rochelle (205,822).

In addition, the region has a network of medium-sized towns scattered throughout its territory, including:

* Angoulême (108,304)
* Agen (79,764)
* Brive-la-Gaillarde (75,925)
* Niort (71,046)
* Périgueux (66,423)
* Bergerac (64,427)
* Villeneuve-sur-Lot (49,354)
* Dax (48,820)
* Mont-de-Marsan (40,269)

Geographical features

The region covers a large part of the Aquitaine Basin and a small portion of the Paris Basin (the border between the two being located at the "Seuil du Poitou") and the Limousin plate (part of the Massif Central) and the western part of the Pyrenees. It is part of five watersheds facing the Atlantic Ocean: Loire, Charente, Garonne and Dordogne (and their extension, the Gironde estuary) and Adour, giving rivers bordering land dedicated mostly to viticulture and to agriculture.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine also relies on the presence of a large open coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, from the National Nature Reserve Aiguillon Bay and the estuary of the Sèvre (north Charron) than Bidasoa (south of Hendaye) and including the islands of the Charentais Archipelago (islands of Ré, Oléron, Aix and Madame) and the wide notch from Arcachon. This diverse area is the area of the oyster (Marennes-Oléron and the Bassin d’Arcachon), mussel (mussels from Baie de l’Aiguillon), and Tourism, evidenced by the presence of famous resorts such Arcachon (Côte d’Argent), Biarritz (Côte Basque) and Royan (Côte de Beauté).

From the to the coast of Labourd, the coastline, almost straight, is lined with high dunes, rising to the Dune du Pilat, large lakes (Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans, Étang de Lacanau, Étang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet , Lac de Biscarrosse et de Parentis) and wetlands (réserve naturelle nationale des dunes et marais d'Hourtin) above vast pine forests planted in the nineteenth century. The Landes forest, by far the most extensive, covering almost one million hectares (nearly 950,000 of maritimes pins), making it the largest artificial forest of Western Europe. Forming a vast triangle starting from the Pointe de Grave, north of Soulac-sur-Mer to Hossegor in the south and east Nérac, it replaced the thankless, sandy and marshy moorland that characterised the region for centuries. The Landes forest is partially included in the Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park, which begins south of Bordeaux.

Further north, in the wake of the Landes forest, on the right bank of the Gironde estuary, the forest of la Coubre presents the same characteristics, forming the main "green lung" of Royan on nearly 8000 hectares. Other important forests cover the region: in the Basque Country, the Irati Forest covers over 17,000 hectares; at the borders of the Charente, Charente-Maritime an
Dordogne
the forest of the Double, punctuated by nearly 500 lakes, spans about 50,000 hectares; further north, near Poitiers, stretches nearly 6,800 hectares. Further east, close to Guéret, the reaches 2000 hectares.

The extreme southern region has a mountainous character with the presence of the Pyrenees. If its western part (mountains of Labourd) is made more high green hills generally struggling to reach 1000 meters (La Rhune, near Bayonne, is 905 meters high, but further east, the culmination of French Basque Country, the pic d'Orhy, nevertheless amounts to 2017 m), the Pau region is marked by more mineral landscapes, and is surrounded by high peaks often exceeding 2000 meters. The highlight of the region, the (2974 m) is located not far away. Other Pyrenean peaks located in the region are also spectacular Pic du Midi d'Ossau (2884 meters), the (2824 m), the Pic de Ger (2613 m) near the Winter resort Gourette, Pic d'Anie (2504 m), the (2472 m), the (2377 m), the (2147 m) or the (2044 m).

This hilly region is traversed many mountain streams, called gaves: among these include the Gave de Pau, the the Gave d'Ossau or the Gaves réunis, on the border of Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Ossau Valley, one of the three valleys of Béarn, extends from the suburbs of Pau to Col du Pourtalet to the Spanish border. Glacial lakes, its fauna and flora exceptional explain its integration into the Pyrénées National Park.

Belonging to the Massif Central, Limousin also has a marked relief, with its high plateaux and some hedgerow eroded peaks that dominate green valleys and forests of oak and chestnut trees. Limousin plateau, cut by the valleys of the Vienne) Isle, Vézère or the picturesque Corrèze, with its cashed reliefs, hardly exceeds 500 meters. It marks the watershed line between the Loire basin to the north (the sources of the Briance, the , the or the Gorre), the basin south of the Dordogne (sources of Dronne, of Isle and of Auvézère) and maritime watershed of the Charente, in the west.

The mountains of Limousin, which include a series of small mountains (Mont Fayat, Monedières Hills, Mont de Châlus) peak at Mont Bessou (976 m), in Corrèze. Further north, the mountains of Marche, which are divided into mountains of monts de Guéret, mont d'Ambazac and monts de Blond, are more like high wooded hills dotted with pastures, as real peaks. They culminate in Signal de Sauvagnac (701 m), in Haute-Vienne. Southwest of Limousin and Périgord northwest since 1998 are integrated to the Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin.

The northern part of the region, which corresponds to the Haut-Poitou history, is organised around a tray agricultural and viticultural (vineyard of Haut-Poitou) irrigated by the Vienne or the Gartempe, which form so little valleys, often lined with oak forests. Further south, the Niortais this open landscapes (openfields) in grain dominant, but also rich wetland areas such as the Marais Poitevin, a legacy of an old marine gulf filled with alluvium, which is divided into wet marshes (we speaks more readily of "Green Venice") and marshes dried up, converted into mixed farming. Niort, on the Sèvre Niortaise, main town of the Haut-Poitou outside Poitiers, is like a door of this "Green Venice" much of which belongs to the parc naturel régional du Marais poitevin, established in 1979, classified "Grand site de France".

Further south lie the Charentes, which correspond to the former provinces of Aunis, Angoumois and Saintonge. Aunis is not unlike the landscape of Niortais, with large marshes that extend from either side of La Rochelle and Rochefort (Baie d'Yves, marais de Rochefort, Broue and Brouage) but also the islands of Ré and Aix, with varied landscapes where pine forests mingle, sandy beaches or the curious lagoon of Fier d'Ars, the sands in constant motion, which houses a bird sanctuary. The interior of the territory is marked by the presence of a rich plain cereal evoking the Beauce by its open relief on the horizon. At the center of this space, the city of Surgères remained a pastureland where dairy farming has retained its importance: the small city is thus a production centers butter, Beurre de Charentes-Poitou.

The Angoumois forms a transitional space between the coastal plains of Aunis, large "champagne" of Saintonge and Limousin plateau. Dotted with small hills, he seems to live to the rhythm of the Charente, real artery watering its major cities, Angoulême, Cognac and Jarnac, and a water spirits called Pineau des Charentes. The western quarter of Charentes consists of Saintonge, organised territory around the towns of Saintes, the first capital of Aquitaine in Roman times, and Royan.

In continuation of the Angoumois, the Dordogne approximately corresponds to the former province of Périgord. Taking its name from the river of the same name, which flows Bergerac but not its prefecture, Périgueux (the edge of the Isle), the area with varied landscapes has a large afforestation rate (45%) making it the third most wooded department France. The great forests of oak and chestnut trees of green Périgord, organised around Nontron, meet the great grain fields of the White Périgord, nicknamed "the breadbasket of the Périgord", the oak, walnut and black Périgord truffle, around Sarlat-la-Caneda and vineyards of Bergerac or purple Périgord, which produces Bergerac, monbazillac or pécharmant.

The Gironde estuary, which acts as a link between Saintonge, , Médoc and western Guyenne, is in itself a world apart. Wild largest estuary in Europe, being classified in the marine park with the "Pertuis charentais", it is lined with large marshes ("Petite Camargue" and hillsides which produces most of the great Bordeaux wines from the Côtes-de-Bordeaux and Côtes-de-Bourg on the right bank to the great wines of the left bank Médoc (Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien. The vineyards of Bordeaux, with international reputation, has done for centuries the reputation of the region. His productions are exported worldwide.

Farther south lies the vast plain Landes (south of Gironde and Landes), which begins near Bordeaux and go to the Pyrénées. Largely occupied by the Landes forest, it is also a major agricultural area (maize farming) and hosts a spa of international reputation, Dax, also the capital of Chalosse, important breeding ground.

The coastline subject to severe erosion, remained very wild. Some resorts have been built in the dunes from Soulac-sur-Mer in the north of the Gironde, via Lacanau, Hourtin, Biscarrosse, Mimizan and Capbreton, without forgetting those bordering the Bay of Arcachon: Arcachon, Andernos-les-Bains, Lège-Cap-Ferret, . This vast lagoon, wide open ocean, houses since 2014 the marine natural park of Arcachon basin.

Eastern Guyenne corresponds in part to the department of Lot-et-Garonne and the Garonne, it is famous for its "pruneaux", who took the name of its capital, Agen (nearly 8000 hectares of land are dedicated to Ente plum orchards) while Marmande is famous for its tomatoes. The mild climate explains that also cultivated tobacco, as well as strawberries ("gariguettes") and vines, used to produce the Côtes du marmandais the buzet or Côte de Brulhois, that relate to the broad vineyard of the Southwest. But the real glory of this land is Armagnac, a famous brandy, exported around the world. Its vineyards cover some of the departments of Lot-et-Garonne, Landes but also the Gers (in the neighbouring region of Occitania). It also produces the floc de Gascogne, with delicate floral accents.

The extreme south of the region consists of two territories in strong identity, the Basque Country (Northern Basque Country or "Iparralde") and Béarn. The first, which is organised around Bayonne, Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Labourd) Mauléon-Licharre (Soule) and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Lower Navarre) has its warm and humid climate its green side, the Atlantic rains from butter against the Pyrenean barrier. The coast, with both high-end and family resorts, is a popular holiday resort. The interior is more rural and retains a strong agricultural tradition, and is a solid wine region, symbolised by the vineyard Irouléguy but also by traditional liquors such as izarra and patxaran, eau-de-vie characteristic of Navarre .

Anchored in the heart of the Pyrenees, the Béarn opposes its Gascon traditions. It has a succession of gently accented hills and valleys (that of Pau river, where the capital is located, Pau, and others named Orthez and Navarrenx, being the most populated), it comprises the Aspe, the and Ossau valleys along with the Col du Soulor. Agriculture will always be prominent, as viticulture (jurançon, Madiran) even if the aeronautical and petrochemical sectors are also represented. The main ski resorts in the area, such as , Gourette, , and are concentrated in the Béarn area.

File:Dune à Boyardville.JPG, Sand dune on the Île d'Oléron in Charente-Maritime
File:Baretous piemont Pyreneen.jpg, The in Pyrénées-Atlantiques
File:Castelnaud-la-Chapelle 2 Stevage.jpg, Medieval city of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, Dordogne
File:BordLac.jpg, The main lake of Biscarrosse, Landes
File:2009 Aubusson Creuse France 3820681551.jpg, Old town of Aubusson in Creuse

Languages

In 2008, the region Aquitaine made a survey on the languages in the region, and gave the following results.

Climate

The region Nouvelle-Aquitaine essentially has a more or less altered oceanic climate. We distinguish the Aquitaine oceanic climate, which concerns most of the territory (Charentes to Landes), the Paris oceanic climate (Poitou), Limousin oceanic climate, tinged with semi-continental influences (Limousin) and basque microclimate, wetter (western half of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and southern Landes). The Pyrenees has a specific climate that varies with altitude: the Pyrenean climate, which is a variation of mountain climate.

In the north of the region, the Paris oceanic climate is marked by moderate rainfall, warm summers and cool winters, but moderately so. The Seuil du Poitou acts as a relative climatic barrier and regions further south belong to the Aquitaine oceanic climate area. Coastal areas are wetter overall, with moderate rainfall spread throughout the year, except for the summer months, where droughts are not uncommon. Summer, which is relatively warm, is tempered by sea breezes, and winters are cool-mild. Frosts and snow are unusual. Sunshine is quite high, with around 2,000 to 2,200 hours per year, which is comparable to some Mediterranean regions (Perpignan). Summer precipitation often take the form of thunderstorms, possibly violent, while winter is sometimes marked by storms, some of which have marked the area with their exceptional: Martin in 1999 (record of 198 km / h in Saint-Denis-d'Oléron), Klaus in 2009 (172 km / h to Biscarrosse) and Xynthia in 2010 (160 km / h on the Île de Ré).

The climate in Angoumois and Limousin is wetter and cooler, remains temperate with warm spring and has relatively warm summers, with variations due to altitude. The annual sunshine averages at 1850 hours. The climate of the Basque country and southern Landes is marked by its warm summers, mild winters but especially by its high rainfall, with Atlantic depressions that hit the Pyrenean foothills. This Microclimate explains the presence of lush vegetation and the green aspect of the region. Fogs are not rare, but usually dissipate very quickly.

As for the Pyrenean climate, suboceanic trend Béarn, it is subject to frequent "cap effect" when the north-west of disturbances abut against the Pyrenean mountains. Valley bottoms, true "funnels clouds" are particularly watered. The winter snow is important above 1200 meters. Pau valley has a microclimate, however, marked by strong sunlight (about 1900 hours a year) but high rainfall (1100 mm per year) and a near absence of frost in winter. Rainfall is usually brief there, but regular, and spread throughout the year.

Transport

Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a region of transit between the Paris Basin (including Île-de-France) and the Iberian Peninsula, but also between the Rhône Valley and the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions (noon Toulouse). This situation implies several years developing roads and major highways, especially in the context of the road Estuaries, but also the high-speed Paris-Bordeaux-Toulouse-Spain, which should help significantly shorten rail journeys.

Roads and highways

Many roads and highways in the region radiate from Bordeaux and just attach to its peripheral belt (Bordeaux ring road or A630). The main lines used for reinforcing roads and highways are in addition some terminal bonds designed to streamline access to two major resorts in the area, Arcachon (via Highway A660) and Royan (by via the N150, partly making 2X2 routes).

The A10 autoroute (the "Aquitaine") is the major artery between Bordeaux and Paris, commissioned in 1981. It is part of to the network of "autoroutes du Sud de la France" and provides access to several cities: Saintes, Niort or Poitiers. From Saintes, highway A837 allows drivers to reach the town of Rochefort. Further north, in Niort, an interchange provides access to the A83 motorway, the Vendée and Nantes (Pays de la Loire). The N10 is the main road of the Charente and an important road for connecting between Bordeaux and Poitiers including Angoulême.

Connecting the east of Bordeaux (Libourne) to Greater Lyon, the A89 motorway (called "La transversale") irrigates the eastern part of the region, facilitating travel between the cities of Bordeaux and Périgueux, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Tulle and Ussel. A little further south, the D936, which roughly follows the course of the Dordogne, is grafted on the Bordeaux ring road via an interchange at the municipalities of Cenon and Floirac. It gives access to the towns of Branne, Castillon-la-Bataille and Sainte-Foy-la-Grande (Gironde) and Bergerac (Dordogne).

Southwest of Bordeaux, the A63 is a major focus of the regional motorway network. Forming a large artery almost straight through the vast expanses of flat Landes de Gascogne, it crosses the south of Gironde and Landes (passes near Dax but avoids the prefecture, Mont-de-Marsan) before joining Bayonne and the Basque Country, to Irun, on the Spanish border, the main border crossing. The other border crossings, less frequented but less direct, are the Somport tunnel and Col du Pourtalet.

The Basque Country and Béarn are also served by a road parallel to the Pyrenees, which facilitates access to Toulouse and the Mediterranean regions: the A64, called "La Pyrénéenne". It starts from Briscous (in the outskirts of Bayonne), continues to Pau before reaching Tarbes in the neighbouring region of Occitania) and the Toulouse ring road.

The eastern region is well served by the A20 north–south axis between Paris and Toulouse and opens up Limousin. It thus goes through La Souterraine, Limoges and Brive-la-Gaillarde. Another important way, the European route E603 connects Limoges to Angoulême and Saintes. It represents one of the key elements of the road Central Europe Atlantic important channel of communication between the Rhône Valley and the Atlantic coast, which is divided into multiple plots at Angoulême and Saintes (Bordeaux, Royan and La Rochelle).

Rail network

The regional rail network is organised around the main towns: Bordeaux, Limoges, Poitiers, La Rochelle and Bayonne. The main line is the one between Paris and Madrid via Poitiers, Bordeaux and Hendaye; then comes the line Lille-Brive-la-Gaillarde, which serves Limoges, both served by TGV trains. Other lines are served mostly by the TER network of TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

The largest station in the region is Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, which accommodates 10 million passengers per year; then comes Limoges-Bénédictins station and its 2.5 million passengers. Poitiers has two stations: Poitiers station and Futuroscope station which serves the technology park Futuroscope. Angoulême station sees around 1.45 million passengers per year; Agen station links the Occitania region; Pau station, Dax station.

The implementation of the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique, which is part of a priority program initiated by the state.

Another important project for the region, the LGV Bordeaux–Spain extends of the South Europe Atlantic TGV line to connect with the Basque Y (high-speed line linking the Spanish cities of Bilbao, Vitoria, San Sebastian and Irun). It is part of the great South West Rail project and should facilitate regional connections between Bordeaux, Mont-de-Marsan, Dax, Bayonne, long-distance connections between the south of the region and Île-de-France, as well as international links to Spain (including Madrid).

The LGV Bar project between Poitiers and Limoges is part of this context, and should significantly shorten travel between the two cities (from just over an hour and a half to 45 minutes), facilitate interregional connections and access to Île-de-France. This project is one of the links of "Transline project" (Transversal Auvergne Atlantic Alpes), still under study.

Airports

The region benefits from the presence of several airport infrastructure. The main airport is Bordeaux-Merignac, world class, which hosts nearly four and a half million passengers per year and offers flights to many destinations; It is the seventh metropolitan France Airport (fifth if we except the Paris airports).

The second airport is Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne, third is Pau Pyrénées Airport, then Limoges-Bellegarde, and Bergerac Dordogne Périgord Airport.

The airport of La Rochelle - Île de Ré offers flights to several French and European cities. Smaller, airports Poitiers-Biard, Brive Dordogne, Agen-La Garenne and Périgueux-Bassillac offer mainly domestic flights. Airports Angoulême-Cognac and Rochefort-Charente-Maritime are only turned to business flights in the absence of regular commercial lines.

Harbours

Cruise ships mostly dock in the ports of La Rochelle (terminal La Pallice), Verdon-sur-Mer (shuttles for Royan), Pauillac, Bordeaux and Bayonne.

Many marinas are open to smaller boats. The main ones are those of La Rochelle (4800 rings), Arcachon (2600 rings), Port-Médoc (1200 rings), Royan (1000 rings), of Capbreton (950 rings), Hendaye (800 rings), Saint-Denis-d'Oléron (750 rings) and Anglet

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