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( Brittany)
Brittany (Breton Breizh pronounced [b?ejs]; French Bretagne, [b??ta?]&_160;(help·info); Gallo Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy. It was at one time called Less, Lesser or Little Britain (in opposition to Great Britain). Brittany occupies a large peninsula in the north-west of France, lying between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its land area is 34,034 km² (13,137&_160;sq&_160;mi). The historical province of Brittany is divided into five departments Finistère in the west, Côtes-d'Armor in the north, Ille-et-Vilaine in the north-east, Loire-Atlantique in the south-east and Morbihan in the south, on the Bay of Biscay. During World War II, the government of Vichy France detached the Loire-Atlantique region (around the city of Nantes) from Brittany, and placed it within a region based around the city of Angers [1]. Today, 80% of historic Brittany has now become the région of Bretagne, while the remaining area, around Nantes (formerly one of the historic capitals of Brittany), forms part of the Loire-Atlantique département. For the current debate regarding reunification, see the Bretagne article. In January 2006 the population of Brittany was estimated to be about 4.3 million. Of these, 72% lived in the Bretagne région, while 28% of lived in the Pays-de-la-Loire région. At the 1999 census, the largest metropolitan areas were Nantes (711,120 inhabitants) Rennes (521,188 inhabitants), and Brest (303,484 inhabitants).
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