Brittany (/ˈbrɪtənɪ/; French: Bretagne [bʁə.taɲ] (listen); Breton: Breizh, pronounced [bʁɛjs] or [bʁɛχ];^[1] Gallo: Bertaèyn, pronounced [bəʁ.taɛɲ]) is a cultural region in the north-west of France. Covering the western part of Armorica, as it was known during the period of Roman occupation, Brittany subsequently became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as if it were a separate nation under the crown. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain (as opposed to Great Britain). It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its land area is 34,023 km² (13,136 sq mi).

Prehistoric origins

Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic. The first settlers were Neanderthals. This population was scarce and very similar to the other Neanderthals found in the whole of Western Europe. Their only original feature was a distinct culture, called "Colombanian".^[12] One of the oldest hearths in the world has been found in Plouhinec, Finistère. It is 450,000 years old.

Neolithic Brittany is characterised by an important megalithic production, and it is sometimes designated as the "core area" of megalithic culture.^[13] The oldest monuments, cairns, were followed by princely tombs and stone rows. The Morbihan département, on the southern coast, comprises a large share of these structures, including the Carnac stones and the Broken Menhir of Er Grah in Locmariaquer, the largest single stone erected by Neolithic man.

Middle Ages

At the beginning of the medieval era, Brittany was divided between three kingdoms, Domnonea, Cornouaille and Broërec. These realms eventually merged into a single state during the 9th century.^[20][21] The unification of Brittany was carried out by Nominoe, king between 845 and 851 and considered as the Breton pater patriae. His son Erispoe secured the independence of the new kingdom of Brittany and won the Battle of Jengland against Charles the Bald. The Bretons won another war in 867, and the kingdom reached then its maximum extent: it received parts of Normandy, Maine and Anjou and the Channel Islands.

Geography and natural history

Brittany is the largest French peninsula. It is around 34,030 km² (13,140 sq mi) and stretches towards the northwest and the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered to the north by the English Channel, to the south by the Bay of Biscay and the waters located between the western coast and Ushant island form the Iroise Sea.

The Breton coast is very indented, with many cliffs, rias and capes. The Gulf of Morbihan is a vast natural harbour with some forty islands that is almost a closed sea. In total, around 800 islands lie off the mainland; the largest being Belle Île, in the south. Brittany has over 2,860 km (1,780 mi) of coastline; it represents a third of the total French coastline.

Regional identity

Breton political parties do not have a wide support and their electoral success is small. However, Bretons have a strong cultural identity. According to a poll made in 2008, 50% of the inhabitants of the Region Brittany consider themselves as much Breton as French, 22.5% feel more Breton than French, and 15.4% more French than Breton. A minority, 1.5%, considers itself Breton but not French, while 9.3% do not consider themselves to be Breton at all.

Breton is a Celtic language derived from the historical Common Brittonic language, and is most closely related to Cornish and Welsh. It was imported in Western Armorica during the 5th century by Britons fleeing the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. Since the 13th century, long before the union of Brittany and France, the main administrative language of the Duchy of Brittany had been French, which had replaced Latin.