Puy-de-Dôme, department (1990 pop. 598,800), S central France, in
Auvergne.
Clermont-Ferrand is the capital.
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Pas-de-Calais, department (1990 pop. 1,435,000), N France, on the Strait of Dover.
Arras is the capital.
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Pas-de-Calais: see
Dover, Strait of.
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Mont-de-Marsan, town (1990 pop. 31,864), capital of Landes dept., SW France. It is a commercial center where important fairs are held. The town's products include lumber, goose-liver pâté, and machinery.
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Hauts-de-Seine, department (1990 pop. 1,393,400), N central France, W of Paris.
Nanterre is the capital.
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Fort-de-France, city (1999 pop. 94,049), capital of the French overseas dept. of
Martinique, West Indies. It is a popular tourist resort and a free port, exporting mainly bananas, sugar, and rum. It was settled in 1762 by the French, who built Fort-Royal by the strategically situated harbor. Yellow fever hampered its prosperity, however, and Fort-de-France did not gain importance until after 1902, when the city of
Saint-Pierre was destroyed by an eruption of Mont Pelée. Drainage of the swamps to control disease further stimulated Fort-de-France's growth. Empress Josephine, first wife of Napoleon I, was born across the bay from the city.
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Eyzies-de-Tayac, Les, or
Les Eyzies, village (1993 est. pop. 856), Dordogne dept., SW France, on the Vézère River. Situated some 15 mi (24 km) SW of the Lascaux caves (see
Paleolithic art), the village is in an area rich in prehistoric remains. The more than 100 archaeological sites nearby include the Cro-Magnon cave, which gave its name to the human skulls dating from the
Paleolithic period's Aurignacian culture that were found (1868) there; the Combarelles, Grand Roc, and Font-de-Gaum caverns, where Paleolithic paintings and carvings were discovered (1901); Le Moustier cave, which yielded a human skeleton and chipped flints and gave its name to the Mousterian culture associated with
Neanderthal man; and La Madeleine rock shelter, whose tools and carvings defined the characteristics of the Magdalenian culture. Les Eyzies-de-Tayac is home to the National Museum of Prehistory, which contains one of world's the finest collection of early European artifacts.
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De-shima or De-jima, artificial island, c.40 acres (16 hectares), Nagasaki prefecture, W Kyushu, Japan, in Nagasaki harbor. It has many docks and is connected by bridge to the city of Nagasaki. Dutch traders were restricted (1641-1858) to this island after Japan closed (17th cent.) its borders to foreign trade.
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De-jima, island, Japan: see
De-shima.
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Chaux-de-Fonds, La, city (1990 pop. 36,894), Neuchâtel canton, NW Switzerland, in the Jura Mts., near the French border. It is one of the largest watch-manufacturing centers in Switzerland.
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Champ-de-Mars, former parade ground of Paris, France, between the École militaire and the Seine River. There, at the Fěte de la Fédération (July 14, 1790), Louis XVI took an oath to uphold the new constitution. On its vast grounds several expositions were held, notably that of 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was erected there.
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Bagnères-de-Luchon, town, Haute-Garonne dept., S France, at the foot of the Maladetta Mts. It is an important resort in the Pyrenees. Its warm sulfur springs have been known since Roman times.
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Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, department (1990 pop. 132,400), SE France; formerly Basses-Alpes dept.
Digne is the capital.
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Île-de-France, region and former province, N central France, in the center of the Paris basin, a fertile depression where the Marne and Ouse rivers join the Seine. Containing parts of the Beauce and Brie districts and of the Vexin, Île-de-France is now included in the departments of Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Hauts-de-Seine, Val d'Oise, Yvelines, Essonne, and Seine-et-Marne. It is the most densely populated area in France. The region has numerous large industrial towns and residential suburbs and some agricultural production, mostly sugar beets and wheat. The region employs the bulk of France's computer specialists, engineers, and mathematicians, and has a highly developed transport system. Places of economic or historic importance besides Paris include Beauvais, Compiégne, Fontainebleau, Laon, Meaux, Melun, Nemours, Saint-Cloud, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Senlis, Soissons, and Versailles. Île-de-France was the cradle of the French monarchy. The name came into use only in the 14th cent. and was then applied to the land bounded by the Seine, the Ouse, and the Marne and their affluents. But the region, including the countship of Paris, had become part of the duchy of France or Francia by the 10th cent. When Hugh Capet, duke of France and count of Paris, was chosen as the French king in 987, his domains became the nucleus of the ever-growing crown land, which by the time of the death of Louis XI (1483) comprised the major part of present-day France. Île-de-France itself, which had been enlarged through the acquisition by the crown of various fiefs, was at that time constituted into a province subject to the parlement of Paris. After the French Revolution the province was divided.
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fer-de-lance(French; “spearhead”)
Extremely venomous pit viper (genus Bothrops), found in diverse tropical American habitats, from cultivated lands to forests. It has a broad, triangular head and is gray or brown, marked by a series of black-edged diamonds often bordered in a lighter colour. It is usually about 4–7 ft (1.2–2 m) long. Its bite can be fatal to humans. The name is sometimes applied to all members of the Central and South American genus Bothrops and to an Asian genus, Trimeresurus.
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Officer on the personal staff of a general, admiral, or other high-ranking commander who acts as a confidential secretary. Today they are usually of junior rank, and their duties are largely social. The term also denotes a high-ranking military officer who acts as an aide to a chief of state.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
French
Pas de Calais ancient
Fretum Gallicum.Channel separating southeastern England from northwestern France. Connecting the English Channel with the North Sea, it is about 20 mi (32 km) wide at its narrowest point. Lined on the British side with the famous White Cliffs, which are composed of soft chalk, it is one of the world's busiest seaways; its chief ports include Dover and Folkestone in England and Calais and Boulogne in France. It was the scene of several historic naval battles, including the repulse by the English of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Allied troops in the Dunkirk Evacuation crossed to Dover in 1940.
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City (pop., 1999: 94,049), capital of Martinique, West Indies. Located on the island's western coast, it was formerly called Fort-Royal and has been Martinique's capital since 1680. Until 1918, when its commercial growth began, it had an inadequate water supply, was partly surrounded by swamps, and was notorious for yellow fever; the swamps have since been drained. It is the French West Indies' largest town, chief port, and busiest commercial centre and has long sheltered the French fleet in the West Indies. Sugarcane, cacao, and rum are exported.
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