FINISTERE, the most western department of France, formed from part of the old province of Brittany. Pop. Area, 2,729 square miles. It is bounded W. and S. by the Atlantic Ocean, E. by the departments of Cotes-du-Nord and Morbihan, and N. by the English Channel.
Finistere is the west end of the worn down ancient fold region, axes of which still emerge slightly as the Monts d'Arree (1,282 ft.) in the north and Montagnes Noires in the south. These run east and west, with the Aulne basin between them. Small streams flow north from the Monts d'Arree and south from the Montagnes Noires. The Aulne and Elorn, and the other streams in lesser degree, have estuaries due to coastal sinking, and these estuaries form the harbour of Brest and other navigable entries. Off the promontories prolonging the Monts d'Arree are the Ushant islands and off that prolonging the Montagnes Noires the Iles de Sein in the south, with Batz off the north coast and many others. Be tween islands and mainland are famous tide races which make navigation difficult. The coasts are often steep and rocky.
The climate is oceanic, average temperature 52°, rainfall heavy. Though more than a third of the department is covered by heath, waste land and forest, it produces oats, wheat, buck wheat, rye and barley. The neighbourhood of Roscoff and the borders of the Brest roadstead are extremely fertile and yield large quantities of asparagus, artichokes and onions, besides melons and other fruits. The cider apple is abundant. Hemp and flax are also grown. The farm and dairy produce is plentiful, and cattle and horses are largely bred. Honey and wax are pro duced. 'The great pilchard fishery makes this department a nursery of seamen for the French navy. Coal, though found in Finistere, is not mined ; there are quarries of granite, slate, potter's clay, etc. The lead mines of Poullaouen and Huelgoat, which long yielded silver, are no longer worked. The preparation of sardines is carried on on a large scale at several coast-towns. The manu factures include ropes, agricultural implements, paper, leather, earthenware, soap, candles and fertilizers and chemicals derived from seaweed. Brest has important foundries and engineering works ; and shipbuilding is carried on there and at other seaports. Brest and Morlaix are the most important commercial ports. Trade is in fish, vegetables and fruit. Coal is the chief import. The department is served by the Orleans and Ouest-Etat rail= ways. The canal from Nantes to Brest traverses the department.
Finistere is divided into the following arrondissements of Brest, Chateaulin, Morlaix and Quimper (43 cantons, 299 corn munes), the town of Quimper being the capital of the department and the seat of a bishopric. The north of the department belongs to the region of the X. army corps (Rennes), and the south to the region of the XI. army corps (Nantes) and the whole to the archiepiscopal province and academie (educational division) of Rennes, where its court of appeal is also situated.
The more important places are the ports of Quimper, Brest, Morlaix, Quimperle, Douarnenez, Concarneau, Roscoff and, in land, Landerneau and Chateaulin. Finistere abounds in menhirs and other megalithic monuments, of which those of Penmarc'h, Plouarzal and Crozon are most noted. The two religious structures characteristic of Brittany—calvaries and ossuaries—are frequently met with, e.g., the calvaries of Plougastel-Daoulas, Pleyben, St. Thegonnec (17th century), and Guimiliau (16th century), and the ossuaries of Sizun and St. Thegonnec (16th century) and Guimiliau (57th century). Daoulas has the remains of a fine Romanesque church and cloister. Locronan and St. Jean du Doigt have interesting churches and are among many centres of famous folk ceremonies called "pardons." St. Pol de Leon has a fine granite Gothic cathedral. Kerjean has a large 16th century château.