Labord
Labourd ( French ), Lapurdi ( Basque ) or Labord ( Gaskognisch ) is one of the three historic provinces in the French Basque Country - one of seven in the entire Basque Country .
The name of the province goes back to the old Latin name Lapurdum of their largest city, Bayonne . Today it is part of the Bayonne arrondissement in the French Pyrénées-Atlantiques department . The old capital of the province, which today has no official character, is Ustaritz .
geography
Labourd is bordered by Gascony to the north, the Spanish provinces of Gipuzkoa and Navarra to the south, Lower Navarre to the east and the Bay of Biscay to the west . The area of Labourd is 858 km², the population is 205,000. More than half of the population lives in the urban area BAB Bayonne - Anglet - Biarritz .
Climate and relief
Labourd has a distinct maritime climate with average temperatures of 4–12 ° C in winter and 16–20 ° C in summer. The landscape is hilly, the largest elevations are in the south (western end of the Pyrenees ). The highest mountain is the Larrun (French La Rhune ) with 905 m.
The province is crossed by the Adour , Nive , Nivelle and Bidasoa rivers.
languages
In addition to the official language French , Basque and Gascon is spoken in Labourd . Around 26% of the population are Basque speakers. However, in the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz (BAB) agglomeration only 17.1% speak Basque, compared to 44% in the rural area of the historic province. Gascon dialects are spoken in Bayonne and north of it, along the Adour River.
history
Labourd was one of the historic provinces in France that became part of the Domaine royal ( crown domain ) in 1453 .
