02 October 2008

FRANCE - Pyrénées-Atlantiques

French Pyrenees

Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Gascon: Pirenèus-Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio-Atlantiarrak or Pirinio-Atlantikoak) is a department in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. Basses-Pyrénées was one of the original 83 Departments of France created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne, Béarn, and Gascony and included the three traditional provinces of the northern Basque Country: Labourd, Soule and Basse-Navarre. The previous history of the region, under the Ancien Régime, can be found at those individual articles. On October 10, 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

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