Pyrénées-Atlantiques (French pronunciation: [pi.ʁe.nez‿at.lɑ̃.tik] ; Gascon Occitan: Pirenèus Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio Atlantiarrak or Pirinio Atlantikoak) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlantic Ocean, it covers the French Basque Country and the Béarn. Its prefecture is Pau. In 2019, it had a population of 682,621.

Originally named Basses-Pyrénées, it is one of the first 83 departments of France created during the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created out of parts belonging to the former greater province of Guyenne and Gascony, as well as the Béarn-Navarre (still, at least nominally, Kingdom of Navarre), meaning the Basques provinces of Basse-Navarre, Labourd, Bayonne (detached a few years before from Labourd) and Soule, as well as Béarn.

The 1790 administrative design brought about the end of native institutions and laws. All Basque estates representatives from Labourd overtly opposed the new administrative layout since it suppressed their institutions and laws. The representatives of Lower Navarre refused to vote in Paris arguing that they were not part of the Kingdom of France; those of Soule voted against. The brothers Garat, representing Labourd, eventually voted yes, thinking that it would give them a say in upcoming political decisions.

On 10 October 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. It is bordered by the Landes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers departments and the Bay of Biscay. It also borders Spain to the south by the provinces of Huesca, Navarre and Gipuzkoa along a coastline with the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Lac Gentau is located in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, as are the Lacs de Carnau.

The most populous commune is Pau, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 11 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Commune	Population (2020)
Pau	75,665
Bayonne	52,006
Anglet	40,310
Biarritz	25,885
Hendaye	17,621
Saint-Jean-de-Luz	14,282
Lons	13,843
Billère	13,229
Oloron-Sainte-Marie	10,653
Urrugne	10,495
Orthez	10,466

There does not seem to be a particular name to designate the inhabitants of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The western part is mainly inhabited by the Basques and the eastern part by the Béarnais, who since the Revolution and the creation of the department have shared the same department. However, from 1790 to 1969, the inhabitants were called Bas-Pyrénées. The Pyrénées-Atlantiques have a fertility rate below the French average with 1.7 children per woman.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 355,573 —     1811 383,502 +0.76% 1821 399,474 +0.41% 1831 428,401 +0.70% 1841 451,683 +0.53% 1851 446,997 −0.10% 1861 436,628 −0.23% 1872 426,700 −0.21% 1881 434,366 +0.20% 1891 425,033 −0.22% 1901 426,347 +0.03% 1911 433,318 +0.16% 1921 402,981 −0.72% 1931 422,719 +0.48%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1936 413,411 −0.44% 1946 415,797 +0.06% 1954 420,019 +0.13% 1962 466,038 +1.31% 1968 508,734 +1.47% 1975 534,748 +0.71% 1982 555,696 +0.55% 1990 578,516 +0.50% 1999 600,018 +0.41% 2006 636,845 +0.85% 2011 656,608 +0.61% 2016 673,986 +0.52% 2020 687,240 +0.49%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Sources:

Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a border department, has cultivated a number of economic and cultural links with Spain.

Two urban concentrations exist in the east and west of the department: Pau, which has 145,000 inhabitants and 344,000 workers in the local area; and Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz which has 166,400 inhabitants and 235,000 workers in the local area.

The department is known for its tourism industry:

• 
  Château de Pau
• 
  Villa Belza in Biarritz
• 
  Lac Gentau
• 
  Oloron-Sainte-Marie
• 
  Ainhoa

The parts of the department that were part of Guyenne and Gascony, as well as Béarn, have a culture heavily influenced by the Basques, but clearly different identities.

Both the Gascon Bearnese variant and Basque language are indigenous to the region in their respective districts. Gascon in turn is a dialect of Occitan, formerly the main language of southern France. It is more closely related to Catalan than it is to French. Basque is a language isolate, not related to any known language. Today, French, the sole official language of the French Republic, is the predominant native language and is spoken by virtually all inhabitants.

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is also home to a number of professional sports teams, including rugby union football clubs Aviron Bayonnais, Biarritz Olympique and Section Paloise; basketball club Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez; and association football club Pau FC.

The Pau Grand Prix, an auto race first held in 1901, has hosted the World Touring Car Championship, British Formula Three, Formula 3 Euro Series and FIA European Formula 3 Championship.

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is a stronghold of the centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem). Its founder and president, François Bayrou, has served as Mayor of Pau since 2014.

The Departmental Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques has 54 seats. Its president has been Jean-Jacques Lasserre of the Democratic Movement since 2015.

In the 2022 legislative election, Pyrénées-Atlantiques elected the following members of the National Assembly:

Constituency		Member	Party
	Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 1st constituency	Josy Poueyto	Democratic Movement
	Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 2nd constituency	Jean-Paul Mattei	Democratic Movement
	Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 3rd constituency	David Habib	Socialist Party
	Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 4th constituency	Iñaki Echaniz	Socialist Party
	Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 5th constituency	Florence Lasserre-David	Democratic Movement
	Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 6th constituency	Vincent Bru	Democratic Movement

In the Senate, the department is represented by three members: Frédérique Espagnac (since 2011), Max Brisson (since 2017) and Denise Saint-Pé (since 2017).

The coat of arms of Pyrénées-Atlantiques combines those of four traditional provinces:

1. Lower Navarre
2. Béarn
3. Labourd
4. Soule

Pyrénées-Atlantiques is twinned with:

• Misiones Province, Argentina (since 2012)

• Arrondissements of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
• Cantons of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in French) Prefecture official website
• (in French) Archives of the Pyrenees-Atlantiques department website
• (in French) Photography Panoramics 360° website
• (in English) Pyrenees-Atlantiques Monuments, Villages, Walks and Attractions
• (in English) Information on living, working and visiting Pyrenees Atlantiques