Amazonite

See also: Moors

The Moors ( 40 ) (in Gascon Occitan tired Lanas ) are a department French, pertaining to the area Aquitaine.

History

See also: History of the Moors

The department was created with the French revolution the March 4th 1790 pursuant to the law of the December 22nd 1789, starting from part of the province of Guyenne and Gascogne. More precisely, various territorial entities inherited the Ancien Mode were then joined together, which confers on this administrative territory a certain heterogeneity between the agricultural Chalosse, rather turned towards the Béarn, and the forest closer to the the Gironde.

With orée of the contemporary time (1789-1850), the department was partly covered with badly drained moors (on approximately 60% to 70% of space), Lande S which paradoxically gave him its name, whereas the southern fringe consisted of slopes on the rich, cultivated and timbered ground. This moor was maintained by burn-beating in order to provide in food the large herds with Mouton S (between 900  000 and 1 million animals in 1850), supervised by Shepherds assembled on stilts; the use of these last made it possible to achieve more easily of long distances (15 to 20 kilometers per day), while supervising the herd. Before the Law of June 19th, 1857 known as Law of cleansing and setting in culture of the Moors of Gascogne , the mode agropastoral is generalized: it draws its force in the free use of the communal majority. Then the systematization of the plantations of pines (exploited for their resin and them Wood), accompanied by the sale of the communal during second half of the 19th century, completely modified the landscape and the economy of two thirds of the department, while contributing to its fast enrichment.

In June 2006, the general advice of the Moors expressed its will to modify the noun of the department in “Moors of Gascogne”, denomination related to the regional park which would have the advantage of being more “speaking” for the Anglo-Saxon tourists.

Geography

The department of the Moors belongs to the area Aquitaine. It is bordering on the departments of the the Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, the Gers and the Yrénées-Atlantiques, and is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean along a sandy coast of 106km bordered of high dunes. It is the second vastest department of Metropolitan France, and it profits from the second longer littoral in metropolis.

The Forêt of the Moors is largest Forêt of France; it covers approximately 67% of the department, in its northern part, but extends also largely on the the Gironde and the Lot-et-Garonne. The principal gasoline is the pine.

But the forest of the Moors does not occupy all the surface. In the south of the department, beyond the Adour, is the Chalosse, more undulating and green country, arable land divided between the duck and ox breedings and the culture of corn, as well as the vineyard of the Tursan in the East.

Territories and country

See also: Territories and country of the Moors

Under the Old Mode, the territory of the current Moors belonged to the province of Gascogne and included/understood several natural countries, whose form, size, borders and names could change during time.

At the time of the creation of the departments, a great homogeneous unit was divided in the following way:

  1. a vast part of the Moors of Gascogne: The Country of Buch, the Moors of the Medoc, the Moors of Bazadais and part of the Large Moor were attached to the the Gironde.

  2. the southern part of the Moors of Gascogne, to which was added a series of small countries along Adour gathered here under the name of Pays of Adour landais, was attached to the department of the Moors.

Climate

Economy

  • avicolous Production: fatty duck (7,5 million Duck fatty per annum), chicken, goose,…

  • bovine Breeding (Ox of Chalosse)
  • Agriculture: corn, sprinkles, vine, carrot, pepper,…
  • Sylviculture and derived industry (paper mill (e.g.: Paper mills of Gascogne to Mimizan),…)
  • balneal Hydrotherapy
  • Tourism and country holidays

Demography

The inhabitants of the Moors are the Landais .

Culture

  • Course landaise
  • Faïence laughs at Samadet
  • Dame of Brassempouy
  • employers' Fêtes in all the most famous cities, being the Fêtes of the Madeleine to Mount-with-Marsan and the Fêtes of Dax

Language

  • French: national official language, spoken and understood by the Gascon whole of the population
  • : regional language of the Gascogne still of use in the rural areas. The “parlar clar” is used in the east and the south-east of the department. The negro Parlar is nevertheless the Gascon dialect most characteristic of the department. It is employed in all the western half of the Moors: Marensin, Maremne, Seignanx, Large Moor, part of the Chalosse,… To speak clean with this area about Gascogne, this dialect is commonly called besides the landais .

Gastronomy

The Moors are the French department comtant the greatest number of agricultural produce recognized with a mark quality control.

One counts seven of them:

  • the farm Duck of the Moors (red Label)

  • the farm Chicken of the Moors, that of Saint-Sever being particularly famous (red Label)
  • the Ox of Chalosse (red Label and I.G.P.)

  • the Asparagus S of sands of Moors (I.G.P.)

  • the kiwi S of Adour (red Label)

  • the wines of Tursan and local wines of the Moors (AOVDQS)

  • the Armagnac and the Floc de Gascogne (AOC)

It is mainly starting from these products that the mets are prepared which make the fame of the kitchen landaise. The duck remains the animal king: many are landais them which raises some or which buys them whole each year to put out of preserve. The markets with the fats are legion, most important being undoubtedly those of Amou, of Dax, Peyrehorade and Mount-with-Marsan. All the pieces of duck (but also of goose) are consumed. The most appreciated preparations remain however:

  • the Foie gras (cooked, semi-cooks or fresh),

  • the steaklet (fresh, but also smoked or dried),
  • the thighs and sleeves crystallized,
  • the crystallized gizzard,
  • the Rillettes and will lubricate (or more commonly titiouns or titions , word Gascon for will lubricate),…

That it is of duck, chicken or ox, the most widespread manner to accompany the meats is to accompany them by potatoes cooked in the duck grease, even of boletus.

One of the most famous dishes of the departmental kitchen remains the plate landaise, made up of asparaguses, Maïs, pinions of pine, Bayonne ham (three products impossible to circumvent in the Moors), of sections of smoked or dried steaklet, crystallized gizzards and foie gras.

Lastly, as regards pastry making, the Moors are the cradle of the Pastis landais and of the Tourtière (natural, with apples, prunes).

In addition, the department counts several large tables, among which that of Michel Guérard with Eugenie-the-Baths (3 stars with the guide Michelin) and of Jean Coussau, installed with Magescq (2 stars with the Guide Michelin). Large the large spangled chief-cooks Alain Ducasse (twice 3 stars with the Michelin guide) and Helene Darroze (2 stars with the Michelin Guide) are originating in the Moors. The TV host Maïté in addition contributed to popularize the Gascon kitchen, in her daily program " kitchen of the musketeers ".

Construction

Symbol

Tourism

See also: Tourism in the Moors

Tourism is a major resource of the department.

It concentrates very mainly on the coastal areas (Mimizan, Hossegor, Capbreton, Seignosse, Biscarrosse…) where the fame of the conditions of Surf made the round the world tour (several tests per annum).

One should not either forget to quote the “gastronomical” Tourisme, because the Moors are famous culinairement through the Foie gras, of the Magret S, the Poulet S of Saint-Sever.

Thermal tourism attracts many curists with the stations of Dax, Saint-Paul-the-Dax, Saubusse-the-Baths, Préchacq-the-Baths or Eugenie-the-Baths.

Three of the four historical ways of the Pèlerinage of Saint-Jacques-to-Compostelle crossed the territory of the current department of the Moors:

The layout of the Voie of Soulac Littoral Aquitanian is also added.

The recent beaconing of these medieval ways tends to instigate a new form of tourism.

After drops in number of visits in 2003 following the catastrophe of the Prestige, the year 2004 was an excellent surprise for tourism landais: the department appeared in the first place of the estival destinations.

Policy

Since the beginning of the great social struggles which agitated the department during the XIXe and XXe century S, the department of the Moors is characterized by a strong anchoring on the left. The parties of doctrines socialist and communist found on these grounds marked by the strong ones and painful tensions between dominant and dominated classes, a fertile compost. This massive adhesion with the values of left is also explained by the population, primarily made up lasting a long time by the farm laborers (farm and sharecroppers, gemmeurs,…) and of industry ( Forging mills of Adour to the Boucau and Tarnos, paper industries,…).

In spite of the social progress and evolution of the population, the preserving and liberal ideas still do not manage to be established in the Moors, which still to date represent one of the high places of the French socialism. Thus, in 2007, out of the thirty cantons which account the department, only two are represented with the General advice by right elected members: Michel Herrero for the Canton of Gabarret and Pierre Dufourcq for the Canton of Grenade-on-the Adour. The current distribution of the seats is the following one:

In addition, the three appointed that the department sends to the National Assembly are members of the Socialist party.

Administration

Landais famous

Personalities

Gastronomy

Sporting personalities

Musical personalities

  • Joe Duplantier & Mario duplantier, respectively singer-guitarist and beater of Gojira and Empalot.

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

  • General advice (cg40.fr)
  • Comité Department of Tourime (TourismeLandes.com)
  • Extranet landais (LandesPublic.org)
  • Préfecture

Random links:Fuego de la arboleda de Cocoanut | Todd McFarlane | Joseph Fontemoing | Vallebona | Matti Pellonpää | Spider-Man (films)