Gironde

For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.

Gironde
—  Department  —
Coat of arms
Location of Gironde in France
Coordinates: 44°50′N 00°40′E / 44.833°N 0.667°E / 44.833; 0.667Coordinates: 44°50′N 00°40′E / 44.833°N 0.667°E / 44.833; 0.667
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine
Prefecture	Bordeaux
Subprefectures	Arcachon Blaye Langon Lesparre-Médoc Libourne
Government
• President of the General Council	Philippe Madrelle
Area1
• Total	10,000 km2 (3,861 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Total	1,409,345
• Rank	8th
• Density	140.9/km2 (365/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
33000
Department number	33
Arrondissements	6
Cantons	63
Communes	542
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Gironde (French pronunciation: [ʒiʁɔ̃d]; in Gascon Gironda) is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.

History

Gironde is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascogne.

From 1793 to 1795, the department's name was changed to Bec-d'Ambès to avoid the association with the revolutionary party, the Girondists.

Geography

Gironde is part of the current region of Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne and Charente-Maritime and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. With an area of 10,000 km², Gironde is the largest department in metropolitan France. If overseas departments are included, however, Gironde's land area is dwarfed by the 83,846 km² of Guyane.

Gironde is well known for the Côte d'Argent beach which is Europe's longest, attracting many surfers to Lacanau each year. It is also the birth place of Jacques-Yves Cousteau who studied the sea and all forms of life in water.

The Great Dune of Pyla in Arcachon Bay near Bordeaux is the tallest sand dune in Europe.^[1]

Politics

The President of the General Council is Philippe Madrelle of the Socialist Party.

See also

• Cantons of the Gironde department
• Communes of the Gironde department
• Arrondissements of the Gironde department
• Bordeaux wine regions

References

External links

• (French) General Council website
• (French) Prefecture website
• (English) Gironde at the Open Directory Project

• (French) Tourism Office website