Gironde

Gironde

*Gironda* (Occitan)
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 / 44.833°N 0.667°W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Prefecture	Bordeaux
Subprefectures	Arcachon; Blaye; Langon; Lesparre-Médoc; Libourne
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Jean-Luc Gleyze (PS)
Area 1
• Total	9,975 km2 (3,851 sq mi)
Population (2021)
• Total	1,654,970
• Rank	6th
• Density	170/km2 (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 km2.

Gironde (/ʒɪˈrɒnd/ zhi-ROND,^[3] US usually /dʒɪˈ-/ ji-,^[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

	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!