Morbihan
—  Department  —
Coat of arms
Location of Morbihan in France
Coordinates: 47°50′N 02°50′E / 47.833°N 2.833°E / 47.833; 2.833Coordinates: 47°50′N 02°50′E / 47.833°N 2.833°E / 47.833; 2.833
Country	France
Region	Brittany
Prefecture	Vannes
Subprefectures	Lorient Pontivy
Government
• President of the General Council	Joseph-François Kergueris
Area1
• Total	6,823 km2 (2,634 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Total	702,487
• Rank	32nd
• Density	100/km2 (270/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	56
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	42
Communes	261
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Morbihan (French pronunciation: [mɔʁbi.ɑ̃]; Breton: Mor-Bihan) is a department in 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 is famous for the Carnac stones, which are more extensive and predates the more familiar Stonehenge.

History[link]

Morbihan is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from a part of the Duchy of Brittany. It is the only French department which has no French name; the word Morbihan is Breton. It is also the only department in France which has kept its original name.

Geography[link]

Morbihan is part of the current region of Brittany and is surrounded by the departments of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Loire-Atlantique, and the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest.

The Gulf of Morbihan has many islands: 365 according to legend, but, in reality, between 30 and 40, according to how they are counted. There are also many islets which are too small to be built on. Of these islands, all but two are private: l'Île aux Moines and l'Île D'Arz. The others are privately owned, some by movie stars or fashion designers.

In the department of Morbihan, but outside the Gulf, there are four inhabited islands:

• Belle Île
• Groix
• Houat
• Hoëdic

• Meaban, just outside the Port du Crouesty is an ornithological reserve and it is forbidden to alight there.

Culture[link]

The Breton language is an important issue, with many advocating bilingual education.

Art[link]

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

Tourism[link]

• The Carnac stones, megalithic alignments of Carnac are situated in Morbihan.
• Tourism office of Auray

See also[link]

Brittany portal

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

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Morbihan

• (French) Prefecture website
• (French) General Council website
• (English) Morbihan at the Open Directory Project
• (French) Cultural Heritage
• (French) Tourism website
• (English) Hiking in Morbihan

Gérard Jaffrès
Gerard Jaffrès in concert.
Background information
Born	December 15, 1956 St Pol, Brittany, France
Genres	Celtic rock Breton music
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals (French), guitar
Years active	1985–
Labels	Kelou-Mad, Coop Breizh
Website	www.gerardjaffres.com

Gérard Jaffrès (born in 1956 in Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Finistère) is a French singer, writer and performer.

He started playing the guitar at the age of 15, playing mostly folk repertoire (Alan Stivell, Tri Yann…) and pop music (Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin…).^[1]

In 1973, he joined the band of Burt Blanca, a rock singer popular in Belgium and in France in the Sixties. He stayed in the band for 11 years as a bass player. The same year, he moved to Belgium, where he has lived ever since.^[2]

Jaffrès started a solo career in 1985, recording ten discs with Gramophone records. He has published a new album every two years since 1991.^[3]

Jaffrès' music is a blend of Celtic music and rock'n'roll/folk which he uses to depict the landscape of Brittany and tell legends from the area of the Leon (North Finistère). His texts mix sometimes Breton and French.^[4]

Discography[link]

• Capitaine de Galère, 1991
• Les soldats de pierre, 1993
• Kérichen 72 , 1995
• Les années baluches, 1997
• Au creux de ma terre, 1999
• Le fou de Bassan, 2001
• Viens dans ma maison, 2003
• Le beau voyage, 2005
• Mon pays t'attend, 2007
• Nos premières années, 2008
• Gérard Jaffrès en public, 2010

References[link]

1. ^ RamDam (French music web site), Gérard Jaffres Biography
2. ^ on Larousse encyclopedia (fr)
3. ^ Official biography
4. ^ Telegramme's article, French newspaper, 3 September 2004

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gérard Jaffrès

Brittany portal

• (French) Gérard Jaffrès official web site
• (French) Gerard Jaffrès weblink