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Molène or Molene (; , "Bald Island") is an
island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
in the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
off the west coast of
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
in northwestern
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. It is the largest of Molène or Molene Archipelago (), a group of about 20 islands in the Ponant Isles. an
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
of twenty islands. It is the seat of Île-Molène, a commune in
Saint-Renan Saint-Renan (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. History The city is named after the Irish Saint Rónán who came in the 5th or 6th century to evangelize the area. While Brest was still a v ...
Canton, Brest
Arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...
,
Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Department.


Geography

The island is small, less than 1 by , and covers under of non-foreshore land. The community and port are on the east side, opposite a tiny
tidal island A tidal island is a raised area of land within a waterbody, which is connected to the larger mainland by a natural isthmus or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide, causing the land to switch between being ...
, the Lédénes of Molène. The area is proverbially dangerous for sailors to navigate, with one Breton rhyme being "" ("He who sees Molène sees his pain. He who sees Ushant sees his blood. He who sees Sein sees his end. He who sees Groix sees his cross"). The archipelago includes
Ushant Ushant (; , ; , ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and in medieval times, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in t ...
,
Quémènès __NOTOC__ Quémènès or Quemenes (; ) is an island in the Molène Archipelago in the Atlantic off Brittany, France. As of 2023, it has a population of 3. It is administered as part of the commune of Le Conquet, St-Renan Canton, Brest Arrond ...
, ÃŽle Verte, and
Île de Sein The Île de Sein is a Breton island in the Atlantic Ocean, off Finistère, eight kilometres from the Pointe du Raz (''raz'' meaning "water current"), from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is ''Enez-Sun''. The islan ...
.


Population

The number of permanent residents has fallen in recent decades, but Molène remains inhabited, with a permanent population of 162 as of 2020. In French, an inhabitants of Île-Molène is called a .


Amenities

The island's electricity is produced by a small
diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of an engine generator. A diesel compress ...
. Potable water supplies are from rainwater catchment, with each household additionally maintaining its own
cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...
. A local delicacy is Molène sausage, which has the distinction of being smoked with
seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...
.


See also

*
Communes of the Finistère department The following is a list of the 277 Communes of France, communes of the Finistère Departments of France, department of France. The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities (as of 2025):
*
Parc naturel régional d'Armorique The Parc naturel régional d'Armorique (; ), or Armorica Regional Natural Park, is a rural protected area located in Brittany. The park land reaches from the Atlantic Ocean to hilly inland countryside. There are sandy beaches, swamps, rock format ...


References


External links


Island official website

Commune official website
* Islands of Brittany Communes of Finistère Populated coastal places in France {{Finistère-geo-stub Car-free islands of Europe