Côtes-d'Armor [Côtes-du-Nord] [22]
Formerly known as Cotes-du-Nord, the Département of Cotes-d’Armor was created in 1790.  It is the northern most département of the Region of Brittany.  It is bounded by the English Channel to its north, and the Départements of Ille-et-Vilaine to the east, Morbihan to the south and Finistère to the west.  Cotes-d’Armor has four arrondissements:  Dinan, Guingamp, Lannion and Saint-Brieuc.  Saint-Brieuc is the département’s capital.

Cotes-d’Armor’s picturesque Émeraude Coast, that looks north to the Channel, is a see-sawed, indented barrier against the sea that is dotted by charming seaside resorts and old fishing villages.  Most of the towns of the interior were founded in the Middle Ages.  The département’s southern half is crossed by the Noires Mountains that run west to east and constitute the watershed divide between northward flowing rivers, that empty into the Channel, and the rivers emptying to the south into the Bay of Biscay.

Horses and cattle are pastured on the interior plateaux that are swept by the strong west to east winds that drive the heavy Atlantic rain bearing winds.  Along the coast, fishing was once important but is now secondary to the cultivation of fruit, oats, potatoes and wheat.  Cattle and pigs are also produced there.  Building stone and slate are quarried and there is some boating building and tanning. 
 

Finistère [29]
The Département of Finistere was carved out of the far western part of the historical province of Brittany, and as such is the most western of all French départements.  The name Finistere comes from the Latin phrase ‘finis terrae’, meaning ‘land’s end’.  It is bounded by the English Channel to the north, by the Départements of Cotes-d’Armor [Cotes-du-Nord] and Morbihan to the east, by the Bay of Biscay to the south and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west.  

The east-west oriented Montagnes Noires, which rise to the height of 1001 feet in the region’s north, are separated from the parallelly oriented, 1260 foot high Montagnes d’Arrée, in the south, by the Aulne Basin.  Both ranges are composed principally of granite.

Quimper, the départemental capital, is located to the south.  It has a distinctive Breton character and is a tourism center.  The Département of Finistère has four arrondissements:  Brest, Châteaulin, Morlaix and Quimper.   

Agricultural production is particularly favored in the département’s northeast, with cattle, cereals, fruits and vegetables being produced.  Over a third of the département is covered with forests, moors and wasteland.  Along the coast, farmers divide their time between commercial fishing and the working of their small farms.  France’s second-leading fishing port is Douarnenez.  Brest, on the western coast, is a leading naval port.  The region has limited industrial production which includes agricultural machinery, foundries, engineering works and naval and riverboat shipbuilding.
 

Ille-et-Vilaine [35]
The Département of Ille-et-Vilaine was created from the northeastern part of the old province of Bretagne.  The département is generally flat and there are forests, dunes and marshes in the north.  It is bounded by the English Channel and the Region of Basse-Normandie [Lower Normandy] to the north, the Region of Pays de la Loire [Western Loire] to the east and south and the Départements of Morbihan and Côtes-d’Armor [Côtes-du-Nord] to the west.  Ille-et-Vilaine’s coastline stretches westward from 3 miles west of Mont-Saint-Michel to an estuary 5 miles west of Dinard.  Ille-et-Vilaine’s costline includes part of the rocky Côte d’Émeraude and the Rance River estuary where the towns of Saint-Malo and Dinard are located.   

Rennes, the départemental capital, is located in approximately the center of the département.  It is situated on the Ille et Rance Canal which connects the north flowing Rance River with the Vilaine River that flows southwesterly into the Atlantic.  The University of Rennes was founded in 1735.  It is known for its Department of Breton Culture and Celtic languages.  Ille-et-Vilaine is divided into four arrondissements:  Fougères, Redon, Rennes and Saint-Malo.

There is a 25 foot differential between the low tide and the high tide at the Rance River estuary, making it ideal for the generation of tidal electricity.  To the east, the coastal strip of the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel is used for market gardening and sheep raising.  Oysters are cultivated along the coast near Cancale.  As the fishing industry has declined, coastal resorts have become more important to the economy.  Wheat, fodder crops and vegetables are raised in the fertile Rennes basin and the département engages in apple growing for cider making.  Rennes has become industrialized in more recent years and a women’s footwear industry has grown up at Fougères.  
 

Morbihan [56]
The Département of Morbihan was created from the southeastern part of the historic province of Brittany.  The département takes its name from the virtually landlocked Morbihan Gulf, on the south coast, where the ancient town of Vannes is located on estuaries opening onto the gulf.  Morbihan is bordered by the Département of Côtes-d’Armor [Côtes-du-Nord] to the north, Ille-et-Vilaine to the east, the Region of Pays de la Loire [Western Loire] to the southeast, the Bay of Biscay to the south and the Département of Finistère to the west.   

The Montagnes Noires, rising only to 970 feet, form practically the length of the département’s northwestern boundary.  The central plateau of the Landes de Lanvaux runs virtually the length of the département, parallel to the cost.  In the east, the main streams flow eastward into the Vilaine River.  In the west, rivers such as the Scorff and the Blavet, flow southward to the ocean.  The entire Morbihan coast is jagged.  To the west of the Gulf of Morbihan is the Quiberon Peninsula that juts out into the Bay of Biscay, and to its south is the island of Belle-Île-en-Mer.

Morbihan’s principal economic activities are agriculture, fishing and tourism.  Oysters are cultivated in the Gulf of Morbihan.  At Lorient, a naval port on the estuary of the Leita River, submarines are built.  Tourism is popular along the entire Morbihan coast and among the medieval towns and villages.  The département has, just in the Carnac-Locmariaquer area, west of the Morbihan Gulf, literally thousands of prehistoric megaliths and the département boasts of having more prehistoric stone monuments than any other French département.  Carnac has stones laid in concentric circles built by ancient peoples. These megaliths and dolmens and menhirs are believed to have been placed there between 3500 and 1800 B.C. Vannes has some light industries and the harbor towns of Étel, Port-Louis, Groix and Quiberon have small canning factories.

Morbihan is divided into the arrondissements of Lorient, Pontivy and Vannes.  The département’s capital is Vannes.