Aquitaine
Aquitaine (or "Guyenne" or "Guienne") is now a region in south-western France along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range at the border with Spain. The region is made up of five départements: Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
In Roman times, the province of Aquitainia was originally the region of Gaul between the Pyrenees Mountains and the Garonne River, but Augustus Caesar added to it the land between the Garonne and the Loire River.
In the Middle Ages it was a duchy, and as the title "Duke of Aquitaine" passed to various counts, their domains became part of it (or so the later dukes claimed): Poitiers, Auvergne, and Toulouse. One of the most famous of the nobility is Eleanor of Aquitaine.
In 1052 the duchy of Gascony (French: Gascogne) became part of "Aquitainia."
History
Area: 41,400 km2 (7.6 % of France's total area)
Major cities in Aquitaine include Bordeaux, Mont-de-Marsan, Pau, and Perigueux.
Population: 2,908,300 (4.97% of the total French population) (1999)
See also: BasquesGeography
Demographics
