AQUITAINE is the lowland region surrounded by the Central Massif, the Armorican Massif, and the Pyrenees. It is composed partly of Secondary and partly of later formations, but the character of the soil is very variable. In the sub-Pyrenean districts, covered to a large extent with glacial debris, in the Landes where Quater nary sands stretch over wide areas, and on some of the limestone rocks of the north and east, it is infertile ; in other places, and more especially in the Tertiary lands of the valley of the Garonne, it is well adapted to cultivation. Agricultural pursuits predominate, wheat is the chief cereal grown, while the French maize crop is almost exclusively obtained here, as temperature and humidity are alike favourable to it. Cattle are reared on the richer pasture lands, and sheep are fed on the Landes, in the sub-Pyrenean districts, and elsewhere.
Nearly one-third of the French vineyards are situated in this region, the most important being in the country round Bordeaux, from which come such well-known wines as Medoc, St. Julien, and
Sauterne. Further north, in the basin of the Charente, are grown the vines from which brandy is made, and Cognac, situated on that river, is the centre of the brandy-distilling industry. Plums and walnuts are also important products of Aquitaine.
The industries of Aquitaine are chiefly concerned with the prepa ration for the markets of its various agricultural products, and it is only at the ports, where coal can easily be obtained from Great Britain, and raw material from other parts of the world, that manu factures assume a more varied character. At Bordeaux there are chemical works and sugar and petroleum refineries ; at Pauillac, the outport of Bordeaux, and at Bayonne, iron-works. In order to prevent damage being done by moving sand dunes, the Landes have in many places been planted with forests of pine, and these have given rise to various pursuits, such as the preparation of pit-props and the extraction of resinous products.