The Morbihan ( ; ; ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (small sea in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline. It had a population of 783,390 in 2023.

{| class=wikitable

! Commune

! Population (2023)

|-

| Lorient

| style="text-align: center;" | 58,329

|-

| Vannes

| style="text-align: center;" | 55,790

|-

| Lanester

| style="text-align: center;" | 23,263

|-

| Ploemeur

| style="text-align: center;" | 18,872

|-

| Hennebont

| style="text-align: center;" | 15,910

|}

Demographics

Art and culture

Many residents support maintenance and use of the Breton language, and there are numerous advocates of bilingual education.

The painter Raymond Wintz (1884–1956) depicted locations around the Gulf of Morbihan.

Politics

As of 2014, the préfet of the Morbihan is Jean-François Savy, previously head of the Prefectures of Ardennes and of Hautes-Alpes. The president of the Departmental Council is David Lappartient, elected in July 2021.

Current National Assembly Representatives

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="2"|Constituency!!Member!!Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Morbihan's 1st constituency

| Anne Le Hénanff

| Horizons

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Morbihan's 2nd constituency

| Jimmy Pahun

| MoDem

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Morbihan's 3rd constituency

| Nicole Le Peih

| Renaissance

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Morbihan's 4th constituency

| Paul Molac

| Régions et Peuples Solidaires

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Morbihan's 5th constituency

| Damien Girard

| The Ecologists

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Morbihan's 6th constituency

| Jean-Michel Jacques

| Renaissance

|}

Tourism

  • The Carnac stones, megalithic alignments of Carnac, are situated in the Morbihan.

<gallery>

File:Vieux-quartier-port-vannes.jpg|Vannes

File:Entre Golfe Morbihan.JPG|The Gulf of Morbihan is a popular sailing destination.

File:Château de Rochefort-en-Terre (cour 1).jpg|Rochefort-en-Terre

File:Bagad.JPG|The bagad of Lann-Bihoué

File:Kerlescan.JPG|Carnac stones

</gallery>

See also

  • Cantons of the Morbihan department
  • Communes of the Morbihan department
  • Arrondissements of the Morbihan department
  • La Baule - Guérande Peninsula

References

  • Prefecture website
  • Departmental Council website
  • Cultural Heritage
  • Tourism website
  • Hiking in the Morbihan