Plouescat (French pronunciation: [pluɛskat]; Breton: Ploueskad) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. It is a seaside resort, complete with a casino and a large camping and caravanning site, adjacent to its extensive beach of fine, powdery sand. The region is largely agricultural, specialising in artichokes, onions, cauliflowers and potatoes.

Plouescat (Ploueskad), capital of the canton, is part of the district of Morlaix. It is a town in northern Finistère (Penn-ar-Bed), located on the edge of the English Channel, in the country of Léon, on the "Côte des Sables", on the edge of the "Côte des Légendes".

It is separated from Plounévez-Lochrist (Gwinevez) by the Keralle, a small coastal river which rises in Saint-Vougay and flows into the Baie du Kernic, in Pont-Christ en Plouescat; to the east, the town borders Cléder.

The communal finage forms, at least in its western part, a peninsula limited to the north by the English Channel and by Anse du Kernite the south; its western peak lies at Porz Meur.

Inhabitants of Plouescat are called in French Plouescatais.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 2,118 —     1800 2,124 +0.04% 1806 2,407 +2.11% 1821 2,396 −0.03% 1831 3,017 +2.33% 1836 3,238 +1.42% 1841 3,314 +0.47% 1846 3,467 +0.91% 1851 3,180 −1.71% 1856 3,003 −1.14% 1861 3,082 +0.52% 1866 3,176 +0.60% 1872 3,095 −0.43% 1876 3,167 +0.58% 1881 3,148 −0.12% 1886 3,069 −0.51% 1891 2,983 −0.57% 1896 3,095 +0.74%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 3,145 +0.32% 1906 3,382 +1.46% 1911 3,526 +0.84% 1921 3,582 +0.16% 1926 3,866 +1.54% 1931 4,002 +0.69% 1936 4,137 +0.67% 1946 4,224 +0.21% 1954 4,131 −0.28% 1962 4,042 −0.27% 1968 4,003 −0.16% 1975 4,008 +0.02% 1982 3,935 −0.26% 1990 3,689 −0.80% 1999 3,660 −0.09% 2007 3,778 +0.40% 2012 3,600 −0.96% 2017 3,446 −0.87%
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968–2017)

In 2008, 17.02% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools.

In the centre of the village is Les Halles - a remarkable timber-framed market hall dating from the early 15th Century which has been classified by the French Ministry of Culture as a Monument historique since 1915.

The route of a former railway line provided the foundation for a new road, called Le boulevard de l'Europe, which by-passes Plouescat on its southern side.

Plouescat is twinned with:

• Braunton, England

• Communes of the Finistère department
• Hortense Clémentine Tanvet Sculptor of war memorial

• Official website (in French)
• Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
• Mayors of Finistère Association (in French)