BRETAGNE. – A historic region of France, corresponding to the homonymous peninsula (170 km at its widest, 250 km long), which juts out from the continental mainland between the English Channel and the Atlantic.
The territory (c. 30,000 sq km) consists of a peneplain formed by the erosion of an ancient massif (the Armorican Massif), in which two anticlinal belts can be discerned; their axes run parallel to the northern and southern coastlines, enclosing a synclinal trough partly occupied by lowlands (the basins of Châteaulin and Rennes). This tectonic structure still shapes the life of the country, dividing it into a maritime zone, or Armor, and an inland zone, or Argoat; the former enjoys a relatively prosperous economy and dense population, while the latter has modest farming and sparser settlement. The interior is largely covered by heaths of heather and gorse, peat bogs and poor woodlands; the better cultivated areas yield coarse cereals (rye and millet) and, on the meadows, a modest livestock industry (cattle). The coast, by contrast, combines intense maritime activity (the Breton fisherman is driven by fishing as far as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland) with specialized agriculture (early vegetables and fruit), encouraged by the temperate-humid climate and proximity to markets (England, Brest, Paris).
The peninsula’s character, its peripheral position and the social conditions arising from the local economy have helped preserve the original Celtic type, which has remained largely resistant to French influence inland, as shown not only by the strength of tradition (customs, religious sentiment and practice) but also by the survival of the Breton language, still spoken by over a million people and having nothing in common with French dialects.
The population, which stood at 2,400,000 in 1931, had fallen to 2,300,000 by 1946 (a 3.1% decline over fifteen years), despite past efforts to offset heavy emigration through high birth rates. Of the urban centres, only Rennes exceeds 100,000 inhabitants (just over that figure); Brest (79,000 inhabitants) is France’s largest naval arsenal in the west.
Bretagne is divided into four departments: Ille-et-Vilaine (seat: Rennes), Côtes-du-Nord (seat: Saint-Brieuc, 37,000 inhabitants), Finistère (seat: Quimper, 20,000 inhabitants) and Morbihan (seat: Vannes, 28,000 inhabitants), in which over 98% of the population is Catholic.