Morbihan | |
---|---|
Prefecture building of the Morbihan department, in Vannes | |
![]() Location of Morbihan in France | |
Coordinates: 47°50′N02°50′W / 47.833°N 2.833°W Coordinates: 47°50′N02°50′W / 47.833°N 2.833°W | |
Country | France |
Region | Brittany |
Prefecture | Vannes |
Subprefectures | Lorient Pontivy |
Government | |
• President of the General Council | François Goulard |
Area | |
• Total | 6,823 km2 (2,634 sq mi) |
Population (2016) | |
• Total | 747,548 |
• Rank | 31st |
• Density | 110/km2 (280/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Department number | 56 |
Arrondissements | 3 |
Cantons | 21 |
Communes | 250 |
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 |
Morbihan ( /ˈmɔːrbiən/ ; French pronunciation: [mɔʁbiɑ̃] ; Breton : Mor-Bihan, [morˈbiˑãn] ) is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (small sea in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline. It is noted for its Carnac stones, which predate and are more extensive than the Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire, England.
Three major military educational facilities are located in Guer, including École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, the national military academy for officers.
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1801 | 401,215 | — |
1821 | 416,224 | +0.18% |
1831 | 433,522 | +0.41% |
1841 | 447,898 | +0.33% |
1851 | 478,172 | +0.66% |
1861 | 486,504 | +0.17% |
1876 | 506,573 | +0.27% |
1881 | 521,614 | +0.59% |
1891 | 544,470 | +0.43% |
1901 | 564,000 | +0.35% |
1921 | 556,047 | −0.07% |
1936 | 542,000 | −0.17% |
1946 | 506,884 | −0.67% |
1954 | 520,966 | +0.34% |
1962 | 530,833 | +0.23% |
1968 | 541,000 | +0.32% |
1975 | 563,588 | +0.59% |
1982 | 590,889 | +0.68% |
1990 | 619,723 | +0.60% |
1999 | 643,293 | +0.42% |
2006 | 693,498 | +1.08% |
2016 | 747,548 | +0.75% |
source: [1] |
Morbihan is one of the original 83 departments created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from a part of the Duchy of Brittany.
In 1945 cadets from École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, France's foremost military academy for officers, were relocated to Camp Coëtquidan (Camp de Coëtquidan) in Guer. This has been developed to include also the École militaire interarmes (inter-services military school), for non-commissioned officers; and École Militaire du Corps Technique et Administratif (military school of the technical and administrative corps).
Morbihan, part of the region of Brittany, is surrounded by the departments of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Loire-Atlantique, and the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest.
The Gulf of Morbihan has many islands: 365 according to legend. There are actually between 30 and 40, depending on how they are counted. There are also many islets that are too small for any development. Of these islands, all but two are privately owned: l'Île-aux-Moines and l'Île-d'Arz. Owners of the others include movie stars, fashion designers, and other wealthy "glitterati".
In the department of Morbihan, but outside the Gulf, there are four inhabited islands:
Meaban, an island just outside the Port du Crouesty, is an ornithological reserve. Visitors are forbidden there.
Many residents support maintenance and use of the Breton language, and there are numerous advocates of bilingual education.
The painter Raymond Wintz (1884–1956) depicted locations around the Gulf of Morbihan.
As of 2014, the préfet of Morbihan is Jean-François Savy, previously head of the Prefectures of Ardennes and of Hautes-Alpes. [2]
Brittany is a cultural region in the west of France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period of Roman occupation. It became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as a separate nation under the crown.
Finistère is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany.
Côtes-d'Armor, formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord, are a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France.
The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy – often referred to as Saint-Cyr – located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany, along with the École militaire interarmes. Its motto is Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre, literally meaning "They study to vanquish" or, more freely put, "Training for victory". French cadet officers are called saint-cyriens or cyrards.
Carnac is a commune beside the Gulf of Morbihan on the south coast of Brittany in the Morbihan department in north-western France.
The Gulf of Morbihan is a natural harbour on the coast of the Département of Morbihan in the south of Brittany, France. This English name is taken from the French version: le golfe du Morbihan. It is more accurately called 'the Morbihan' directly from its Breton name which is Ar Mor Bihan, meaning 'the little sea', as opposed to the Atlantic Ocean outside,. Legend says that there are as many islands in the Gulf as there are days of the year. However, this is untrue and the gulf has about 40, depending on the tide. Many islands are private property, except the largest two, l'Île-aux-Moines and l'Île-d'Arz.
Camp Coëtquidan is a French military educational facility located in the Morbihan department of Brittany in France. It forms a part of the commune of Guer and covers an area of approximately 64 km².
Auray is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in northwestern France.
Guer is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.
Île d'Arz is an archipelago of nine islands and is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France, only 6 kilometres to the south-west of Vannes.
The arrondissement of Vannes is an arrondissement of France in the Morbihan department in the Brittany region. It has 99 communes. Its population is 279,964 (2016), and its area is 2,416.2 km2 (932.9 sq mi).
Île-aux-Moines is a commune in the Morbihan department in the region of Brittany in north-western France.
The structure of the French Army is fixed by Chapter 2 of Title II of Book II of the Third Part of the Code of Defense, notably resulting in the codification of Decree 2000-559 of 21 June 2000.
Locminé is a commune in the Morbihan department and Brittany region of north-western France.
Baden is a commune in the Morbihan département in Brittany in northwestern France.
Larmor-Baden is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Gavrinis is a small island in the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany, France. It contains the Gavrinis tomb, a megalithic monument notable for its abundance of megalithic art in the European Neolithic. Administratively, it is part of the commune of Larmor-Baden.
Nicolas Le Nen is a French Army officer. Since 2007, he has commanded the 27ème bataillon de chasseurs alpins, and heads the Groupement tactique interarmes de Kapisa.
The Combined Arms School or Joint military school, known as École Militaire Interarmes or EMIA, is a military school of the French Army intended to train officers who have risen from the ranks. It was founded in 1942 and based in a rural location, Coëtquidan (Morbihan) along with Saint-Cyr military school.
François Gérard Marie Lecointre is a French army general serving as Chief of the Defence Staff since 20 July 2017. As a captain, with Lieutenant Bruno Heluin, he was one of the two section chiefs heroes of the Battle of Vrbanja Bridge in 1995, the last Fixed Bayonet Charge combat of the French Armed Forces.
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