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Finistère is a département of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, located in Brittany
Bretagne

Bretagne is one of the 26 regions of France 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....
 (Breizh in Breton
Breton language

The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
 and Bretagne in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
).

name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, as does the Breton
Breton language

The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
 name for the region, and may be compared with Land's End
Land's End

Land's End is a Headlands and bays on the Penwith peninsula, located near Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the most Extreme points of the United Kingdom tip of the southern mainland ....
 on the opposite side of the English Channel
English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
. It is not to be confused with Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre

Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia , Spain.Cape Finisterre is sometimes said to be the westernmost point of Spain....
 in Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
.

Geography
Finistère is the westernmost region of mainland France.

The largest population center, and only city, in Finistère is Brest
Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France.Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Brittany peninsula, Brest is an important port and naval base....
.






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Finistère is a département of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, located in Brittany
Bretagne

Bretagne is one of the 26 regions of France 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....
 (Breizh in Breton
Breton language

The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
 and Bretagne in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
).

History

The name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, as does the Breton
Breton language

The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
 name for the region, and may be compared with Land's End
Land's End

Land's End is a Headlands and bays on the Penwith peninsula, located near Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the most Extreme points of the United Kingdom tip of the southern mainland ....
 on the opposite side of the English Channel
English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
. It is not to be confused with Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre

Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia , Spain.Cape Finisterre is sometimes said to be the westernmost point of Spain....
 in Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
.

Geography


Finistère is the westernmost region of mainland France.

The largest population center, and only city, in Finistère is Brest
Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France.Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Brittany peninsula, Brest is an important port and naval base....
. Other large towns in the département include Quimper, Morlaix
Morlaix

Morlaix is a Communes of France in Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
, Carhaix and Douarnenez
Douarnenez

Douarnenez, , is a Communes of France in the Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France.It lies at the mouth of the Pouldavid Estuary on the southern shore of Douarnenez Bay in the Atlantic Ocean, 25 km north-west of Quimper, Finist?re....
. Finistère includes the island of Ushant
Ushant

Ushant is an island in the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of European France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon....
 (Ouessant in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
).

The abers, rugged fjord-like inlets on the north coast, are a notable feature of the landscape.

The westernmost point of continental France, known as the Pointe de Corsen
Pointe de Corsen

The Pointe de Corsen is the westernmost point of continental France, located west of Brest, France in the Plouarzel Communes of France, Finist?re, Brittany....
, extends from the north-western tip of Finistère. A few miles to the south is the slightly less westerly, but rugged, & isolated, headland of Pointe du Raz
Pointe du Raz

The Pointe du Raz is a Headlands and bays that extends into the Atlantic from western Brittany, in France. The local Breton language name is Beg ar Raz....
.

Economy

Agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
, food processing
Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for ingestion by humans or animals either in the home or by the food industry....
 and various related industries occupy an important place in Finistère's economy.

The military presence in Finistère (Île Longue
Île Longue

?le Longue is a peninsula of the roadstead of Brest. It is the base of the SNLE, the French ballistic missile submarines, and as such one of the most secretive and heavily defended places in France....
 nuclear submarine
Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
 base; Naval Air base of Lanvéoc-Poulmic), as well as military-related industries such as the Brest headquarters of DCNS employ a significant number of the départements population.

The port of Roscoff
Roscoff

Roscoff is a Communes of France in the Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France.The nearby ?le-de-Batz, called Enez Vaz in Breton language, is a small island that can be reached by Launch from the harbour....
 links Brittany by ferry
Ferry

A ferry is a form of transport, usually a boat or ship, used to carry passengers and their vehicles across a body of water. Ferries are also used to transport freight and even railroad cars....
 with Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 and Great Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
.

Culture

Finistère is the area where Breton
Breton language

The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
 survives most strongly as a spoken language. Breton-speaking schools are called Diwan
Diwan (school)

Diwan is a federation of Breton language-medium schools in Brittany ....
, Divyezh and Dihun.

The Festival de Cornouaille
Cornouaille

Cornwall, in French Cornouaille, is an historic region in Brittany, in northwest France. The name is the same as that of Cornwall in south-west England, perhaps because many of the Brythons who settled there may have been from Cornwall....
, which takes place in Quimper, is a celebration of Breton music
Music of Brittany

Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard -binou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched out into numerous fusion sub-genres....
 and traditions.

One of the highlights of summer in Finistère is the "Festival des Vieilles Charrues
Vieilles Charrues Festival

The Vieilles Charrues Festival is held every year in mid-July in the city of Carhaix located in the west of Brittany.This festival is the largest music festival in France, attracting more than 200,000 festival-goers every year....
" held in Carhaix-Plouguer where major international stars attract tens of thousands of spectators.

The painter Raymond Wintz
Raymond Wintz

Raymond Wintz was a Paris-born Painting and engraver whose most famous paintings were of marine and coastal views in Brittany. He is best known for his painting The Blue Door, which is still widely available as a poster and print....
 

See also

  • Cantons of the Finistère department
  • Communes of the Finistère department
  • Arrondissements of the Finistère department
  • Ys
    Ys

    Ys, also spelled Is or Ker-Is in Breton language, and Ker-Ys in French language , is a mythical city that was built on the coast of Brittany and later swallowed by the ocean....


External links

http://www.finisteretourisme.com/