Geography

The french name ''ponant'' is the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

cardinal point The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are a ...

. It is an archaic French naval term for West, the opposite of ''

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

''. By extension : # the ''Ponant Sea'' could refer to 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 ...

(western sea area in relation to France) as opposed to the Levant Sea, which referred to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

(more to the east). # the ''Ponant Sea'' could refer to the western part of the Mediterranean Sea between the Spanish coast, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and the North African coastline, as opposed to the

Levantine Sea The Levantine Sea (Arabic: بحر الشام, tr, Levanten Denizi, el, Θάλασσα του Λεβάντε) is the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea. Geography The Levantine Sea is bordered by Turkey in the north and north-east co ...

. The meaning 1. gave its name or a nickname : * to the Ponant Islands, a grouping of French island communities on the Atlantic Ocean coastline (including the English Channel); * to

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

, sometimes called the ''port of Ponant''.

Maritime area

* Compagnie du Ponant, a French cruise line * '' Le Ponant'', a French luxury sailing yacht that has been the subject of piracy *

Ponant fleet The ''Flotte du Ponant'' was the designation under the Ancien Regime for the naval vessels of the Royal French Navy in the English Channel, Atlantic Ocean and Americas, the latter principally in the French West Indies and New France. The fleet ca ...

, the former Atlantic Fleet of the Royal French Navy

Architecture

* Ponant Tower (Tour Ponant), one of

Les Mercuriales Les Mercuriales are twin towers in Bagnolet, along the Boulevard Peripherique, in Paris, France. They were built in 1975, and are named ''Levant'' (Eastern) and ''Ponant'' (Western). Description These towers were part of a larger project in the b ...

twin towers in Paris, France

Maritime area

Architecture

See also