Morbihan department

This article deals with the French department in Brittany ; on Morbihan's disease, see rosacea .

Morbihan
region	Brittany
prefecture	Vannes
Sub-prefecture (s)	Lorient Pontivy
Residents	750,863 (Jan. 1, 2017)
Population density	110 inhabitants per km²
surface	6,822.24 km²
Arrondissements	3
Community associations	14th
Cantons	21st
Communities	250
President of the Department Council	François Goulard
ISO-3166-2 code	FR-56
Location of the department of Morbihan in the region of Brittany

The department Morbihan [ mɔʀbiˈɑ̃ ] ( Breton Mor-Bihan [ morˈbiˑãn ]) is the French department with the serial number 56. It is located in the north-west of the country in the region of Brittany and is named after the Gulf of Morbihan , Mor-Bihan is the Breton name of the gulf ("small sea").

geography

Morbihan is located in the south of Brittany and borders on the Finistère department in the west, the Côtes-d'Armor department in the north, the Ille-et-Vilaine department in the northeast and the Loire-Atlantique department of the Pays de la region in the southeast Loire .

The Gulf of Morbihan is separated from the Atlantic by the Locmariaquer and Rhuys peninsulas .

history

The department was formed on March 4, 1790 from part of the province of Brittany.

prehistory

The Runsto dolmen near Carnac

Stone setting at Carnac

Entrance to the Table des Marchand

The Morbihan was one of the cultural hotspots in the Neolithic of Western Europe. Along with the other regions of Brittany, it represents the beginning of megalithic construction methods in Europe. Here from the mounds of earth ( tumuli ) the stone mounds developed , which in combination with the skills acquired in erecting huge menhirs as early as the 5th millennium BC. Led to the construction of megalithic systems .

coat of arms

Description : Divided into ermine and blue with a wavy cut.

Cities

Marina in Lorient

Old town of Vannes

Town hall in Pontivy

The most populous municipalities in the Morbihan department are:

city	Population (2017)	Arrondissement
Lorient	57,149	Lorient
Vannes	53,352	Vannes
Lanester	22,728	Lorient
Ploemeur	17,853
Hennebont	15,678
Pontivy	14,606	Pontivy
Auray	13,627	Lorient
Guidel	11,550
Saint-Avé	11,642	Vannes
Ploërmel	9,837

Other well-known places are Carnac , Erdeven , Locmariaquer , Port-Louis , Quiberon and La Trinité-sur-Mer .

Administrative division

The Morbihan department is divided into 3 arrondissements , 21 cantons and 250 communes :

Arrondissement	Cantons	Communities	Residents January 1, 2017	Area km²	Density of population / km²	Code INSEE
Lorient	9	58	313,375	1,461.78	214	561
Pontivy	5	93	155.346	2,944.64	53	562
Vannes	9	99	282.142	2,415.82	117	563
Morbihan department	21st	250	750.863	6,822.24	110	56

See also:

• List of communes in the Morbihan department
• List of cantons in the Morbihan department
• List of associations of municipalities in the Morbihan department

Municipalities and arrondissements in the Morbihan department

traffic

As is customary in Brittany , the Morbihan is not accessed by highways , but by motorway-like and toll-free expressways. The main traffic arteries are the east-west connection N24 Rennes - Ploërmel - Lorient , the coastal route N165 Nantes - Vannes - Lorient - Quimper (- Brest ) and the north-south cross connection N166 Ploërmel - Vannes, which branches off from the N24 .

Vannes train station

Season train to Quiberon

Main railway is the railway line Savenay-Landerneau of Quimper over Lorient and Vannes that are in already in the Ille-et-Vilaine contained Redon to Rennes and Nantes divides. The Morbihan is connected to the French TGV network (Quimper - Rennes - Paris route ) via the Lorient, Auray and Vannes stations . Intercités trains on the Quimper - Nantes - Bordeaux line also run on the main route . The regional rail passenger transport is carried out by TER Bretagne , which condenses the traffic on the main line, serves smaller stops and offers seasonal traffic from Auray to the Quiberon peninsula (see Auray – Quiberon railway ). There is only freight traffic on the Auray – Pontivy railway and a section of the Saint-Brieuc – Pontivy railway .

The Réseau des Transports Interurbains du Morbihan (TIM) takes care of the regional bus transport, larger local bus networks exist in the agglomerations of Lorient (CTRL) and Vannes (TPV).

The only commercial airport in the department is Lorient Bretagne Sud . Other important airports in the department are Rennes and Nantes Atlantique .

In the first half of the 20th century, the area of ​​the department was opened up by a network of mostly meter- gauge narrow - gauge railways, most of which were operated by the Chemins de fer du Morbihan , as well as intercity trams such as the La Trinité-Étel tram and the Lorient tram . Ploërmel was the destination of three standard-gauge branch lines that have since been dismantled.

climate

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Île de Groix and Belle-Île ^ Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 9 9 11 13 16 19th 21st 21st 19th 16 12 10 O 14.7 Min. Temperature (° C) 5 5 6th 7th 10 13 14th 15th 14th 11 8th 6th O 9.5 Temperature (° C) 7th 7th 8.5 10 13 16 17.5 18th 16.5 13.5 10 8th O 12.1 Precipitation ( mm ) 75 65 57 40 45 30th 32 45 62 68 80 80 Σ 679 Rainy days ( d ) 13 11 10 8th 9 6th 5 7th 9 10 13 13 Σ 114 Water temperature (° C) 9 9 10 12 13 16 18th 19th 18th 16 14th 11 O 13.8 T e m p e r a t u r 9 5 9 5 11 6th 13 7th 16 10 19th 13 21st 14th 21st 15th 19th 14th 16 11 12 8th 10 6th Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec N i e d e r s c h l a g 75 65 57 40 45 30th 32 45 62 68 80 80   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Source: Jean-Noël Darde: Plages et côtes de France. Éditions Balland, Paris 1991

Days per year with

• Rainfalls over 1 mm: 115
• Frost: 10
  • First frost: late December
  • Last frost: late February
• Snow: 1
• Thunderstorm: 4
• Hail: 2

(As of 1991)

Attractions

Calvary of Guéhenno

Josselin Castle

• Carnac
• Gavrinis
• Calvary of Guéhenno
• Josselin Castle
• Locmariaquer
• Table des marchands
• Tumulus St. Michel
• Landes de Lanvaux

Partnerships

The Morbihan department has had a partnership with the Rhein-Erft district since 1969 .

literature

• Pierre-Roland Giot: The Carnac alignments. Éditions Ouest-France, Rennes 1990, ISBN 2-7373-0368-0 .
• Pierre-Roland Giot: Prehistory in Brittany. Menhirs and dolmens. Editions d'Art Jos le Doaré, Châteaulin 1991, ISBN 2-85543-076-3 .
• Jacques Briard : The Megaliths of Brittany. Jean-Paul Gisserot, Paris 1991, OCLC 552208211 .

Web links

Commons : Morbihan Department  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Morbihan department (French)
• Prefecture of the Morbihan department (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Le président du Conseil départemental. (French). 

Coordinates: 47 ° 47 ′  N , 2 ° 46 ′  W