Gironde

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).

• Name — Gironde • Native Name — Gironda • Type — Department of France • Image Flag — Flag of Gironde.svg • Image Shield — Blason département fr Gironde.svg • Image Map — Gironde-Position.svg • Map Caption — Location of Gironde in France • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — France • Subdivision Type1 — Region • Subdivision Name1 — Nouvelle-Aquitaine • Seat Type — Prefecture • Seat — Bordeaux • Parts Type — Subprefectures • Parts Style — para • P1 — Arcachon Blaye Langon Lesparre-Médoc Libourne • Leader Party — PS • Leader Title — President of the Departmental Council • Leader Name — Jean-Luc Gleyze • Unit Pref — Metric • Area Total Km2 — 10725 • Population Total — population_total • Population As Of — population_as_of • Population Footnotes — population_footnotes2 • Population Rank — 6th • Population Density Km2 — auto • Custom Label Sec1 — Department number • Custom Data Sec1 — 33 • Custom Label Sec2 — Arrondissements • Custom Data Sec2 — 6 • Custom Label1 Sec2 — Cantons • Custom Data1 Sec2 — 33 • Custom Label2 Sec2 — Communes • Custom Data2 Sec2 — 534 • Time Zone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +1 • Time Zone1 Dst — CEST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +2 • Postal Code Type — 33000 • Iso Code — FR-33 • Footnotes — area French Land Register data, which excludes estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km 2. Gironde (US usually; Gironda, pron) 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).

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.

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 km 2, 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 km 2 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.

The most populous commune is Bordeaux, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 7 communes with more than 30,000 inhabitants, 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

The President of the Departmental Council is Jean-Luc Gleyze of the Socialist Party. • Party || seats • • — Socialist Party — 45 • The Republicans — 12 • • — French Communist Party — 3 • Miscellaneous Right — 1 • MoDem — 1 • Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition — 1

• Constituency — Member — Party • Gironde's 1st constituency — Thomas Cazenave — 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

• Illustration — Bordeaux • Illustration — Bordeaux wine • Illustration — The Great Dune of Pyla • Illustration — Arcachon Bay • Illustration — Bourg-sur-Gironde • Illustration — Château de la Brède, birthplace of Montesquieu • Illustration — The Gironde estuary seen from the citadel of Blaye • Illustration — Grottoes of Ferrand • Illustration — Château d'Eck • The Medieval Construction Site of Guyenne (Chantier Médiéval de Guyenne), is an experimental archaeology project aiming at erecting an 11 th century chapel, a romanesque cloister and a gothic building.