Aquitaine Geography
- Aquitaine is France’s largest region.
- Aquitaine is composed of 5 departments: the Gironde, the Landes and the Pyrenees Atlantiques which are situated along the coasts and also the Lot et Garonne and the Dordogne located inland.
- Aquitaine is really appreciated by visitors for its magnificent forests, parks, lakes and for its famous seaside resorts, like Biarritz, Lacanau, Mimizan or Archachon which combine waves for surf-lovers and stretched out sandy beaches for the others.
| Aquitaine Geography and Key Data | |
|---|---|
| Surface Area | Aquitaine consists of 41,308 km² equivalent to 7.6 % of France's total surface area. |
| Departments | Aquitaine consists of 5 departments: Gironde, Lot et Garonne, Pyrénées Altantiques, Dordogne, Landes. Dordogne is divided into "colour" areas: Black Perigord refers to the part of the region famous for its oak woods, Green Perigord for pastureland, White Perigord for rock and Purple Perigord for vineyards. |
| Communes | Aquitaine is composed by more than 2,290 communes. |
| Coast and Water in Aquitaine | |
| Ocean | Aquitaine is bordered along its west coast by Atlantic Ocean. |
| Beaches | Aquitaine includes different beaches types over 270 kilometres from the Pointe de Grave to the Adour with good and average quality water. Flat depths: Hendaye. Ears (built by humans): Anglet. Sandbar (Baïnes): Seignosse, Mimizan and most Aquitaine beaches. Shortbreak and offshore: Hossegor. Quick upturn of ocean bottom: Capbreton. Many natural harbours are also present in the Basque Country. |
| Popular coastal resorts | For family trips: protected bathing and fine sand in Hourtin, Vieux Boucau, Seignosse or Carcans. For surfers: perfect waves in Lacanau, Biarritz, Anglet, Hossegor-Capbreton or Mimizan. |
| Rivers | Garonne and Dordogne forming the Gironde estuary. |
| Freshwater ponds and lakes | The France’s biggest lake is Carcans-Hourtin-Maubuisson. There are also Lacanau Lake, Etang de Cousseau, Etang de Hardy, Marais d’Orx, Cazaux-Sanguinet Lake, Biscarrosse Lake, and natural reserves in Soustons Lake. |
| Mountains range in Aquitaine | |
| Mountains | Aquitaine is bordered to the south by Pyrénées Mountains. |
| Ski Resorts | Aquitaine has ski slopes in La Pierre St Martin, Artouste, Iraty Issarbe, Gourette (altitude: mini 1200, maxi 2200m). |
| Forests and Natural Parks in Aquitaine | |
| Forests | There are one million hectares of forest planted in the 19th century. Les Landes (the largest pine forest in France), Green Périgord (Dordogne), Iraty & Les Arbailles (Basque Country) |
| Protected areas | National Park of The Pyrenees, Regional Nature Parks of the Landes and Périgord-Limousin are components of national Green Tourism schemes in Aquitaine. |
| Fauna and Flora | Wildlife: horses, ewe, deer, wild boar, eagle,vulture, fowl, lynx and also. Sealife: oysters, turbot, sole, skate and dogfish, tuna. Different kind of forests: pine, beech, oak, chesnut and fir trees. Hills covered by: tree fern, moor, broom, vineyards, sweetcorn. |
| Areas of interest in Aquitaine | |
| Côte d'Argent | One of the most popular french coasts. |
| Bassin d'Arcachon | A large famous lagoon where oysters are farmed. |
| Dune du Pilat | The largest sand dune in Europe. |
