Gironde ( , US usually ; ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2023, it had a population of 1,690,493. The famous Bordeaux wine region is in Gironde. It has six arrondissements, making it one of the departments with the most arrondissements (Nord also has six, while Pas-de-Calais has the most of any department, with seven).
History Gironde is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.
From 1793 to 1795, the department's name was changed to Bec-d'Ambès to avoid the association with the Girondist political party of the French Revolution.
In July 2022 and July 2026, Gironde was affected by large wildfires.
Geography Gironde is part of the current region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne and Charente-Maritime and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. With an area of 10,000 km2, Gironde is the largest department in metropolitan France, and the second-largest in entire France. Its size is larger than Lebanon or the province of Banten. If overseas departments are included, however, Gironde's land area is dwarfed by the 83,846 km2 of French Guiana.
Gironde is well known for the Côte d'Argent beach which is Europe's longest, attracting many surfers to Lacanau each year. It is also the birthplace of Jacques-Yves Cousteau who studied the sea and all forms of life in water.
The Great Dune of Pyla in Arcachon Bay near Bordeaux is the tallest sand dune in Europe.C.G. (14 August 2009). Les Adresses de Mathilde Seigner et Fabien Onteniente. Le Figaro Magazine.
Demographics
Principal towns
The most populous commune is Bordeaux, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 7 communes with more than 30,000 inhabitants,Populations de référence 2023: 33 Gironde, INSEE all of which are part of the Bordeaux agglomeration:
Commune Population (2023) Bordeaux 267,991 Mérignac 78,090 Pessac 67,339 Talence 46,338 Villenave-d'Ornon 42,545 Saint-Médard-en-Jalles 32,910 Bègles 31,831
Politics The President of the Departmental Council is Jean-Luc Gleyze of the Socialist Party.
Party seats•Socialist Party 45The Republicans 12•French Communist Party 3Miscellaneous Right 1MoDem 1Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition 1
Current National Assembly Representatives ConstituencyMemberParty Gironde's 1st constituency Alexandra Martin Renaissance Gironde's 2nd constituency Nicolas Thierry The Ecologists Gironde's 3rd constituency Loïc Prud'homme La France Insoumise Gironde's 4th constituency Alain David Socialist Party Gironde's 5th constituency Pascale Got Socialist Party Gironde's 6th constituency Marie Recalde Socialist Party Gironde's 7th constituency Sébastien Saint-Pasteur Socialist Party Gironde's 8th constituency Sophie Panonacle Renaissance Gironde's 9th constituency Sophie Mette MoDem Gironde's 10th constituency Florent Boudié Renaissance Gironde's 11th constituency Edwige Diaz National Rally Gironde's 12th constituency Mathilde Feld La France Insoumise
Tourism
The Medieval Construction Site of Guyenne (Chantier Médiéval de Guyenne), is an experimental archaeology project aiming at erecting an 11th century chapel, a romanesque cloister and a gothic building.
See also Cantons of the Gironde department Communes of the Gironde department Arrondissements of the Gironde department Bordeaux wine regions
References
External links
Departmental Council website Prefecture website Tourism Office website