Côtes-d'Armor

The Côtes-d'Armor (/koʊt dɑːrmər/ koht dar-mər, /-dɑːrmɔːr/ -⁠dar-mor; French pronunciation: [kot daʁmɔʁ] ^ⓘ; Breton: Aodoù-an-Arvor, [ˈoːdu ãn ˈarvor]), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (Breton: Aodoù-an-Hanternoz, [ˈoːdu ãn ˌhãntɛrˈnoːs]), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.^[3]

Côtes-d'Armor Aodoù-an-Arvor (Breton)
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′W
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Prefecture	Saint-Brieuc
Subprefectures	Dinan Guingamp Lannion
Government
• President of the departmental council	Christian Coail[1] (PS)
Area 1
• Total	6,878 km2 (2,656 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	609,598
• Rank	42nd
• Density	89/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	22
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	27
Communes	348
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

French Revolution

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. The area had been part of the Province of Brittany before 1790.

World War II

During the Second World War, Côtes-d'Armor was occupied by the Nazis and was the site of French Resistance operations, such as Operation Samwest, around the time of the Normandy landings.^[4]

Post-War

On 27 February 1990, the name was changed to Côtes-d'Armor; the name is a portmanteau of 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.

The region is an undulating plateau including three well-marked ranges of hills in the south. A granitoid chain, the Monts du Méné, starting in the south-east of the department runs in a north-westerly direction, forming the watershed between the rivers running respectively to the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. Towards its western extremity this chain bifurcates to form the Montagnes Noires in the south-west and the Monts d'Arrée in the west of the department. Off the coast, which is steep, rocky and much indented, are the Jentilez, Bréhat and other small islands. The principal bays are those of Saint-Malo and Saint-Brieuc.^[5]

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Saint-Brieuc, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:^[3]

Commune	Population (2019)
Saint-Brieuc	43,605
Lannion	20,210
Lamballe-Armor	16,688
Dinan	14,407
Plérin	14,309
Ploufragan	11,383

Demographics

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

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 504,303 —     1821 552,424 +0.46% 1831 598,872 +0.81% 1841 607,572 +0.14% 1851 632,613 +0.40% 1861 628,676 −0.06% 1876 630,957 +0.02% 1881 627,585 −0.11% 1891 618,652 −0.14% 1901 609,349 −0.15% 1921 557,824 −0.44% 1936 532,000 −0.32%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1946 526,955 −0.10% 1954 503,178 −0.58% 1962 501,923 −0.03% 1968 506,000 +0.13% 1975 525,556 +0.54% 1982 538,860 +0.36% 1990 538,443 −0.01% 1999 542,398 +0.08% 2006 569,498 +0.70% 2011 594,375 +0.86% 2016 598,953 +0.15%
Sources:[6][7]

Politics

See also: Departmental Council of Côtes-d'Armor

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 a region that historically was otherwise strongly Catholic and right-wing. The current president of the departmental council, Christian Coail, is a member of the Socialist Party.

Party groupings		seats
	Centre et droite républicaine	32
	Socialiste et républicain	15
	Communiste et républicain	5
	non-party	2

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member[8]	Party
	Côtes-d'Armor's 1st constituency	Mickaël Cosson	MoDem
	Côtes-d'Armor's 2nd constituency	Hervé Berville	Renaissance
	Côtes-d'Armor's 3rd constituency	Corentin Le Fur	The Republicans
	Côtes-d'Armor's 4th constituency	Murielle Lepvraud	La France insoumise
	Côtes-d'Armor's 5th constituency	Éric Bothorel	Renaissance

Culture

The western part of the department 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.

Gallery

• 
  Paimpol
• 
  Perros-Guirec
• 
  Fort-la-Latte
• 
  Cap Fréhel
• 
  Castel Meur house in Plougrescant
• 
  Statue of Bertrand du Guesclin in Dinan

Notable people

• Anne Beaumanoir (1923–2022), one of the Righteous Among the Nations, was born in Guildo.
• Bernadette Cattanéo (1899–1963), trade unionist and militant communist
• English-born poet Robert William Service (1874–1958), known as the "Bard of the Yukon", is buried in Lancieux.

See also

• Cantons of the Côtes-d'Armor department
• Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department
• Arrondissements of the Côtes-d'Armor department
• Chemin de fer des Côtes-du-Nord, former railway in this region