Gironde

For other uses, see Gironde (disambiguation).

Gironde Gironda (Occitan)
Department of France
Prefecture building in Bordeaux
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Gironde in France
Coordinates: 44°50′N 0°40′W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Prefecture	Bordeaux
Subprefectures	Arcachon Blaye Langon Lesparre-Médoc Libourne
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Jean-Luc Gleyze[1] (PS)
Area ^1
• Total	9,975 km^2 (3,851 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	1,654,970
• Rank	6th
• Density	170/km^2 (430/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-33
Department number	33
Arrondissements	6
Cantons	33
Communes	535
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km^2.

Gironde (/ʒɪˈrɒnd/ zhih-ROND,^[3] US usually /dʒɪˈ-/ jih-,^[4][5] French: [ʒiʁɔ̃d] ^ⓘ; Occitan: Gironda, pronounced [dʒiˈɾundo]) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.^[6] The famous Bordeaux wine region is in Gironde. It has six arrondissements, making it one of the departments with the most arrondissements (Nord also has six, while Pas-de-Calais has the most of any department, with seven).

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 Gascony.

From 1793 to 1795, the department's name was changed to Bec-d'Ambès to avoid the association with the Girondist political party of the French Revolution.

In July 2022, Gironde was affected by large wildfires.^[7]

Geography

Gironde is part of the current region of Nouvelle-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, and the second-largest in entire France. Its size is larger than Lebanon or the province of Banten. If overseas departments are included, however, Gironde's land area is dwarfed by the 83,846 km² of French Guiana.

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 birthplace 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.^[8]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 502,723 —     1806 522,371 +0.77% 1821 522,041 −0.00% 1831 554,225 +0.60% 1841 568,034 +0.25% 1851 614,387 +0.79% 1861 667,193 +0.83% 1872 705,149 +0.50% 1881 748,703 +0.67% 1891 793,528 +0.58% 1901 821,131 +0.34% 1911 829,095 +0.10% 1921 819,128 −0.12%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 852,768 +0.40% 1936 850,567 −0.05% 1946 858,381 +0.09% 1954 896,517 +0.54% 1962 935,448 +0.53% 1968 1,009,390 +1.28% 1975 1,061,480 +0.72% 1982 1,127,546 +0.87% 1990 1,213,499 +0.92% 1999 1,287,532 +0.66% 2006 1,393,758 +1.14% 2011 1,463,662 +0.98% 2016 1,566,679 +1.37%
source:[9][10]

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Bordeaux, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 30,000 inhabitants:^[6]

Commune	Population (2019)
Bordeaux	260,958
Mérignac	72,197
Pessac	65,245
Talence	43,820
Villenave-d'Ornon	36,754
Saint-Médard-en-Jalles	31,808
Bègles	30,642

Politics

The President of the Departmental Council is Jean-Luc Gleyze of the Socialist Party.

Party		seats
•	Socialist Party	45
	The Republicans	12
•	French Communist Party	3
	Miscellaneous Right	1
	MoDem	1
	Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition	1

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member[11]	Party
	Gironde's 1st constituency	Dominique David	La République En Marche!
	Gironde's 2nd constituency	Catherine Fabre	La République En Marche!
	Gironde's 3rd constituency	Loïc Prud'homme	La France Insoumise
	Gironde's 4th constituency	Alain David	Socialist Party
	Gironde's 5th constituency	Benoît Simian	La République En Marche!
	Gironde's 6th constituency	Éric Poulliat	La République En Marche!
	Gironde's 7th constituency	Bérangère Couillard	La République En Marche!
	Gironde's 8th constituency	Sophie Panonacle	La République En Marche!
	Gironde's 9th constituency	Sophie Mette	MoDem
	Gironde's 10th constituency	Florent Boudié	La République En Marche!
	Gironde's 11th constituency	Edwige Diaz	National Rally
	Gironde's 12th constituency	Christelle Dubos	La République En Marche!

Tourism

• 
  Bordeaux
• 
  Bordeaux wine
• 
  The Great Dune of Pyla
• 
  Arcachon Bay
• 
  Bourg-sur-Gironde
• 
  Château de la Brède, birthplace of Montesquieu
• 
  The Gironde estuary seen from the citadel of Blaye
• 
  Grottoes of Ferrand
• 
  Château d'Eck

See also

• Cantons of the Gironde department
• Communes of the Gironde department
• Arrondissements of the Gironde department
• Bordeaux wine regions
• Château du Mirail (Brouqueyran)

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 4 May 2022.
2. "Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
3. "Gironde". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-08-01.
4. "Gironde". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
5. "Gironde". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
6. Populations légales 2019: 33 Gironde, INSEE
7. "Wildfires in Gironde, France, burn through 10,000 hectares". Sky News. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
8. C.G. (14 August 2009). Les Adresses de Mathilde Seigner et Fabien Onteniente. Le Figaro Magazine. (in French)
9. "Historique de la Gironde". Le SPLAF.
10. "Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
11. Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français". Assemblée nationale.

External links

• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in English) Tourism Office website