Plabennec (; ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

department of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

in north-western France.

History

The area around Plabennec has been occupied since

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

times and into the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

. The commune of Plabennec was formed around the 6th century by a

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

, Saint Abennec. Its name comes from a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsBreton language words, ''Plou'' and ''Abennec'', which translates as "Parish of Saint Abennec". The land in the area is especially good for growing crops. Since the 19th century, things such as linen, hemp and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

have been grown locally. In more recent times, with the advancement of agriculture, the land has started to be used for

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

growing.

Population

Inhabitants of Plabennec are called in French ''Plabennecois''.

Breton language

In 2008, 13.88% of primary-school children in Plabennec attended

bilingual schools Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

, where Breton language is taught alongside French. ''Ofis ar Brezhoneg''
''Enseignement bilingue''
/ref>

Economy

Since the 1960s a lot has changed in the economy of the area. The popularity of new vehicles and mechanicalisation of farming has led to certain professions, such as

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

s and

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not k ...

rs, disappearing. However, many people are now moving to the area to live in the revamped barns and lodges. Most money in the area comes from tourism (due to the fact it is only 10 km from

Brest Bretagne Airport Brest Bretagne Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Brest Bretagne) , formerly known as Brest Guipavas Airport, is an international airport serving Brest, France. It is located in the '' commune'' of Guipavas and 10.2 km (6.4 miles) nort ...

), industry, hand-crafted goods and agriculture.

Sport

Plabennec is home to the

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...

team Stade Plabennécois, who play at the Stade de Kervéguen in the commune. The club also deals with other sports such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, handball and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

International relations

Plabennec has been twinned with

Waltenhofen Waltenhofen is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia ...

in since 1976.