And this is despite the region’s conquest by the Romans (who named it “Armorica”), followed by the Franks (who tried to wipe out the local language Breton), and every other invading force to the area. During the French Revolution, Brittany was divided into five départements, each made up of three or four arrondissements. The arrondissements are further divided in cantons, which are themselves made up of one or several communes. The communes and the départements have a local council elected by their citizens, but arrondissements and cantons are not run by elected officials. The cantons serve as an electoral district for the election of the département councils and arrondissements are run by a subprefect appointed by the French president. The president also appoints a prefect in each département.

In Lower Brittany, many people also speak the Breton language, a Celtic language closely related to Cornish and Welsh, more distantly to Irish, and very different from French. On the road you may notice signs in both French and Breton. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, many Cornish Britons settled in western Armorica to escape the Saxons and the region started to be called Britannia, although this name only replaced Armorica in the sixth century or perhaps by the end of the fifth. [16] Smith, Julia M. H. Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 80–83. Breton political parties do not have wide support and their electoral success is small. However, Bretons have a strong cultural identity. According to a poll made in 2008, 50% of the inhabitants of the region of Brittany considered themselves as much Breton as French, 22.5% felt more Breton than French, and 15.4% more French than Breton. A minority, 1.5%, considered themselves Breton but not French, while 9.3% did not consider themselves to be Breton at all. [68] The history of Brittany in France is a rollercoaster ride of Celtic shenanigans and epic feuds, served with a side of linguistic acrobatics.Brittany has the same education system as the rest of France. As in other French regions, formal education before the 19th century was the preserve of the elite. Before 1460, Brittany did not have a university, and Breton students had to go to Angers, Poitiers or Caen. The University of Nantes was founded under the duke Francis II, who wanted to affirm the Breton independence from France. All the traditional disciplines were taught here: arts, theology, law and medicine. During the 17th century, it had around 1,500 students. It declined during the 18th century, mostly because Nantes was flourishing with the Atlantic slave trade and paid no attention to its cultural institutions. New version with more traditional ermine spots as seen in the flag of the province of Bretagne, uploaded by GwenofGwened Bretons are mainly Catholic and the Christianisation occurred during the Roman Gaul and Frank era. During the Briton emigration to Brittany, several Christian missionaries, mostly Welsh, came in the region and founded dioceses. They are known as the "Seven founder saints": of the poll respondents agreed that Brittany should have more political power, and 31.1% thought that it should stay the same. Only 4.6% favoured independence, and 9.4% were undecided. [68] Several drafts for French regions had been proposed since the 1920s, and the definitive regions were drawn in 1956. The new Brittany had four départements, and Loire-Atlantique formed the Pays de la Loire region together with parts of Anjou, Maine and Poitou. In 1972, the regions received their present competencies, with an elected regional council. Since then, the region of Brittany has had its own council and administrative bodies.

See also: Demography of France Rennes, the most populated city in Region Brittany and the second in historical Brittany, behind Nantes Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l'ouest, (Anjou, Maine, Poitou, Touraine). Université d'Angers. 1976.

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Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez and Divi Kervella (2011). Atlas de Bretagne – Atlas Breizh. Coop Breizh. p.100. ISBN 978-2-84346-496-6. As a general rule cyclists are very well respected in the region and many larger towns have cycle-lanes – however traffic is 'cycle-friendly' even in their absence. As the region was located along the west coast of France, its proximity to the English coastline was closer than its distance from the French capital Paris, making for an interesting tug-of-war. There’s nothing quite as spicy like a territorial soap opera, Breton-style! The Celtic traditions in Brittany strengthened after the fall of Rome. This is because in the 5th and 6th centuries, the Britons of what is now Wales and Cornwall in Great Britain began to emigrate to Armorica (aka Brittany).