Côtes-d'Armor

Côtes-d'Armor
Department
The departmental council and prefectural building in Saint-Brieuc

Flag
Coat of arms

Location of Côtes-d'Armor in France
Coordinates: 48°20′N 02°50′E / 48.333°N 2.833°E / 48.333; 2.833Coordinates: 48°20′N 02°50′E / 48.333°N 2.833°E / 48.333; 2.833
Country France
Region Brittany
Prefecture Saint-Brieuc
Subprefectures Dinan
Guingamp
Lannion
Government
 • President of the departmental council Alain Cadec
(LR)
Area1
 • Total 6,878 km2 (2,656 sq mi)
Population (2015)
 • Total 598,357
 • Rank 43rd
 • Density 87/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number 22
Arrondissements 4
Cantons 27
Communes 355
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Côtes-d'Armor (French pronunciation: ​[kot daʁmɔʁ]; Breton: Aodoù-an-Arvor), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord, is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France.

History

Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790 following the French Revolution. It was made up from the near entirety of the ancient Pays de Saint-Brieuc, most of historical Trégor, the eastern half of Cornouaille, and the north-western part of the former diocese of Saint-Malo.

In 1990 the name was changed to Côtes-d'Armor: the French word côtes means "coasts" and ar mor is "the sea" in Breton. The name also recalls that of the Roman province of Armorica ("the coastal region").

Geography

Côtes-d'Armor is part of the current administrative region of Brittany and is bounded by the departments of Ille-et-Vilaine to the east, Morbihan to the south, and Finistère to the west, and by the English Channel to the north.

Demonym

The inhabitants of the department are known in French as Costarmoricains.

Politics

Côtes-d'Armor's long tradition of anti-clericalism, especially in the interior around Guingamp (a former Communist stronghold), has often led to the department's being seen as an area of left-wing exceptionalism in an otherwise strongly clerical and right-wing Brittany. The current president of the departmental council, Alain Cadec, is nevertheless a member of the centre-right party, Les Républicains.

Party groupingsseats
Centre et droite républicaine32
Socialiste et républicain15
Communiste et républicain5
non-party2

Culture

The western part of the département is part of the traditionally Breton-speaking "Lower Brittany" (Breizh-Izel in Breton). The boundary runs from Plouha to Mûr-de-Bretagne. The Breton language has become an intense issue in many parts of Brittany, and many Breton-speakers advocate for bilingual schools. Gallo is also spoken in the east and is offered as a language in the schools and on the baccalaureat exams.

Notable people

See also

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