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Aquitaine is in southwest France. The administrative capital is Bordeaux. It comprises the departements of Dordogne,
Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The climate is extremely wet. Red wines (Margaux, St Julien)
are produced in the Médoc district, bordering the Gironde. Fishing and tourism are important industries.
Landes is a region of sand dunes and pine forests. Over the ceturies Atlantic waves piled up a long coastine of dunes
- the highest in Europe - and westerly gales had whipped the sand inshore creating a treeless desert that was increasing every year threatening the
Bordeaux wine growing regions.
In the early 19th century the dunes were stablised by the sowing of gorse and pine seedlings. Now Landes is probably the richest timber area of
France.
- Regional information for Dordogne, Aquitaine
 The Dordogne is a region of South West France between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river that runs
through it. Locally it is known as the Périgord.
- Regional information for Garonne, Aquitaine
Lot-et-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers and just north of the sphere of centre of Basque-cultural influence in the North of Spain and South of France.
- Regional information for Gironde, Aquitaine
Gironde is part of the current region of Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne and Charente-Maritime and the Atlantic Ocean on the west.
- Regional information for Landes, Aquitaine
Landes is part of the current région of Aquitaine and is surrounded by the départements of Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Gers, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques, as well as the Atlantic Ocean on the west.
- Regional information for Pyrenees-Atlantique, Aquitaine
Pyrénées-Atlantiques is a department in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
- Aquitaine food and drink
 Aquitaine enjoys great food and wine. Bordeaux is a major wine producing area, while the Bassin d’Arcachon, a natural inland
sea with the largest beach in Europe, produces 90% of the country’s mussels.
- Aquitaine weather and climate
 Annual precipitation exceeds 30 inches (800 mm) outside Lot-et-Garonne and southern
Dordogne and increases toward the Pyrenees. An oceanic climate prevails.
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