Bretagne

:For the town in the Territoire-de-Belfort, see Bretagne, Territoire-de-Belfort.

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Bretagne (; English: Brittany; Breton: Breizh; Gallo: Berta?yn) is one of the 26 r?gions of France. It occupies a large peninsula in the northwest of the country, lying between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its capital city is Rennes.

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The r?gion of Bretagne is made up of 80% of the former duchy and province of Brittany. The remaining 20% of Brittany is the Loire-Atlantique d?partement which lies inside the Pays-de-la-Loire r?gion, with its capital Nantes, which was the historical capital of the duchy of Brittany.

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Part of the reason why Brittany was split between two modern day r?gions was to avoid the rivalry between Rennes and Nantes. Although Nantes had been the capital of the duchy of Brittany until the 16th century, Rennes had been the seat of the parlement (supreme court of justice) of Brittany between 1551 and 1789. Rennes had also been the administrative capital of the intendance of Brittany between 1689 and 1789. Intendances were the most important administrative units of the kingdom of France in the 17th and 18th centuries. As for the provincial states of Brittany, which originally met every two years in a different city of Brittany, they had only met in Rennes from 1728 to 1789 (with only the exceptions of 1730, 1758, and 1760).

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Thus, when French r?gions were created, it was decided in 1941 to create a r?gion of Bretagne with Rennes as its capital, and another r?gion created specifically for Nantes, which was called Pays-de-la-Loire (i.e. "lands of the Loire"). Pays-de-la-Loire is made up of a part of Brittany, but also several other historical provinces (Anjou, Maine, and so on).

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Some people in Brittany complain about the current division of Brittany and would like to see Loire-Atlantique joining the r?gion of Bretagne in order to reunify Brittany. However, this would create several problems: what to do with the rump Pays-de-la-Loire r?gion? and which city to choose as the capital of this reunified Bretagne r?gion?

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English: English in common usage may refer to:...

Breton: Breton can refer to:...

Gallo: Gallo can refer to:...

Bretagne related Images and Photos (experimental)

Bretagne c.1786	La Bretagne	Bretagne-Ses Granits	Chateaude Bretagne
Ajoncs en Bretagne	Bretagne 2011 Wall Calendar	Vacances En Bretagne	Cote Fleurie en Bretagne
Peiti Port de Peche en Bretagne	Jeanne de Montfort Dame de Bretagne an Ally of the English Defends Her Chateau Against the French	Marguerite de Flandre Wife of Jean de Montfort Duc de Bretagne