GIRONDE, a maritime department of south-western France, formed from parts of the old province of Guyenne, viz., Bordelais, Bazadais, and parts of Perigord and Agenais. Area, 4,14o sq.m. Pop. (1931) 85 2,768. It is bounded north by the department of Charente-Inferieure, east by those of Dordogne and Lot-et-Gar onne, south by that of Landes, and west by the Bay of Biscay. The department lies on the east and the west sides of the Gironde estuary formed by union of Garonne and Dordogne. On the west, the Landes consist chiefly of morass or sandy plain, divided from the sea by dunes planted with pines which bind the sand to gether and prevent it from drifting inland. On the east the dunes are fringed for some distance by large lakes, Hourtin, Carcans and Lacanau, communicating with each other. The Bay of Arca chon forms a vast shallow lagoon, a large part of which has been converted into arable land. The estuary of the Gironde, about 45 m. in length, widens northwards from 2 to 6 miles. Islands and mud banks divide it into east and west channels and make navi gation difficult. It is, however, well buoyed and lighted, and has a mean depth of 21 feet. There are wide marshes on the right bank north of Blaye, and on the left low-lying polders protected by dikes and composed of fertile salt marshes. At the mouth of the Gironde stands one of the finest French lighthouses, the tower of Cordouan built 1585-161I, and extended in the late 18th cen tury.
The climate is humid and mild and very hot in summer. Wheat, rye, maize, oats and tobacco are largely grown, but the culture of the vine is by far the most important industry carried on (see WINE), the six vine-growing districts occuping about one-seventh of the surface of the department. The Medoc is a region 5o m. long by about 6 m. broad, along the left banks of the Garonne and Gironde. The Graves country is a zone 3o m. long, along the left bank of the Garonne from near Bordeaux to Barsac. The Sau ternes country lies south-east of the Graves. The Cotes lie on the right bank of Dordogne and Gironde between Dordogne and Garonne, and on the left bank of the Garonne. The produce of the Palus, the alluvial land of the valleys, and of the Entre-deux Mers, on the left bank of the Dordogne, is inferior. Fruits and vegetables are largely grown, peaches and pears being especially fine. The Medoc breed of horses, the Bazadais breed of oxen and the Bordelais breed of milch cows are well known. Oyster-breed ing is on a large scale in the Bay of Arcachon. Resin, pitch and turpentine are obtained from the pine woods, which also supply vine-props, and there are well-known quarries of limestone. Manufactures and trade are chiefly carried on at Bordeaux (q.v.), the chief town, and the third port of France. Pauillac, Blaye, Libourne and Arcachon are minor ports.
Gironde is divided into the arrondissements of Bordeaux, Blaye, Langon and Libourne, and has 5o cantons and 554 communes. The department is served chiefly by the Orleans and South ern companies. It forms part of the circumscription of the archbishopric, the appeal-court and the academie (educational di vision) of Bordeaux, and of the region of the XVIII. army corps (Bordeaux). Besides Bordeaux, Libourne, La Reole, Bazas, Blaye, Arcachon, St. Emilion and St. Macaire are the most noteworthy towns. Among other places of interest the chief are Cadillac, on the right bank of the Garonne, where there is a 16th century castle, surrounded by fortifications of the 14th century; Labrede, with a feudal chateau in which Montesquieu was born and lived; Villandraut, where there is a ruined castle of the 11th century; Uzeste, which has a church begun in 1310 by Pope Clement V.; Mazeres with an imposing 14th century castle; La Sauve, which has a church (13th cent.) and other remains of a Benedictine ab bey; and Ste. Foy-la-Grande, a bastide created in 1255 and after wards a centre of Protestantism, which is still strong there. La Teste, pop. (1931) 5,585, was the capital, in the middle ages, of the famous lords of Buch.