Guérande
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Guérande Gwenrann |
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Guerande and a hillside view of the salt marshes
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 Guérande
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Location within Pays de la Loire region
Guérande
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| Coordinates: 47°19′N 2°25′W / 47.32°N 2.42°WCoordinates: 47°19′N 2°25′W / 47.32°N 2.42°W | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Pays de la Loire | |
| Department | Loire-Atlantique | |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Nazaire | |
| Canton | Guérande | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2014-) | Stephanie Phan Than | |
| Area1 | 81.44 km2 (31.44 sq mi) | |
| Population (2007)2 | 15,356 | |
| • Density | 190/km2 (490/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 44069 / | |
| Elevation | 0–57 m (0–187 ft) | |
| Website | www.ville-guerande.fr | |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Guérande (French pronunciation: [ɡeʁɑ̃d]; Breton: Gwenrann) is a medieval town located in the département of Loire-Atlantique in western France. The inhabitants are referred to as Guérandais, for men, and Guérandaise, for women.
The Guérande Peninsula overlooks two contrasting landscapes: the "Pays Blanc" (White Land), because of its salt marshes, and the "Pays Noir", with the Brière peat bog.
Since 2004, the medieval town of Guérande has been a member of a national network of 120 towns, the Villes et Pays d'Art et d'Histoire (Towns and Regions of Art and History). The fortified wall of Guérande is one of the best preserved and complete in France. Its circumference stretches 1434 meters.
The main towns around Guérande are Saint-Nazaire and Nantes to the East ( 19 km (11.81 mi) and 80 km (49.71 mi) away), and Vannes (70 km (43.50 mi) to the North).
The Guérande Peninsula is surrounded by water. It stretches out from the Atlantic Ocean (West) to the Brière Regional Nature Reserve (East), and from the river Vilaine (North) to the Loire's estuary (South).
Guérande is in the heart of the peninsula called "Presqu'île guérandaise", along with other towns, such as La Baule, Le Croisic, Pornichet, Batz-sur-Mer, Le Pouliguen, or Piriac.
According to the classification established by the INSEE in 1999, Guérande is now classified as an urban district, 1 out of 9 forming the urban area of Saint-Nazaire.
Guérande in figures : -Population : 15,356 inhabitants (census 2007) -Land area : 8,144 hectares -32 towns and villages, the biggest ones are Saillé, Clis, Careil and La Madeleine -2000 hectares of salt marshes
About half of the remaining megalithic monuments of the Département Loire-Atlantique, is located on the Peninsula, which makes it an important area for Prehistory. It is now known that these structures date from around 5200-2200 BC.
At the end of the Iron Age, the Peninsula was occupied by 2 tribes:
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