Payne, Malcolm; Shardlow, Steven (2002). Social Work in the British Isles. UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p.247. ISBN 978-1-8530-2833-5. of Loire-Atlantique, a part of historical Brittany subsequently placed into Region Pays de la Loire. The region became part of the Roman Republic in 51 BC. It was included in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis in 13 BC. Gallic towns and villages were redeveloped according to Roman standards, and several cities were created. These cities are Condate ( Rennes), Vorgium ( Carhaix), Darioritum ( Vannes) and Condevincum or Condevicnum ( Nantes). Together with Fanum Martis ( Corseul), they were the capitals of the local civitates. They all had a grid plan and a forum, and sometimes a temple, a basilica, thermae or an aqueduct, like Carhaix. The joke in Brittany is that it is the land where you can have sun, rain, and clouds all in one day. It is a region with a long maritime history, leading to a mix of cultural heritage and cuisine. In 2022, Alvan and Ahez have been selected to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Their song, Fulenn, is sung entirely in Breton and is about the legend of Katel Kollet, a lady who dances with the devil.

As such, the region gained the name “Little Britain” or “Brittany”. In French, the region is called “ Bretagne” and Great Britain is called “ Grand Bretagne“. Brittany, which is known as “Breizh” in Breton, is one of 6 Celtic nations along with: Bretagne Environnement, ed. (2005). "Les mammifères". Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. As a result of their unique cultural identity, Breton history became a long struggle for independence, at first from the Franks (5th to 9th centuries), that led to a Breton kingdom. After Viking invasions the kingdom became a duchy. The influence of the Counts of Anjou and the Dukes of Normandy was important from the 10th to 12th centuries, and finally the duchy was under the influence of England and France. Brittany was united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as if it were a separate nation under the crown.Christian Y. M. Kerboul (1997). Les Royaumes brittoniques au très haut Moyen Âge. Éditions du Pontig/Coop Breizh. pp.80–143. ISBN 2-9510310-3-3. canton, following the heraldic use (semé). The Gwenn-ha-Du was adopted by the first Congress of the Breton Autonomist Party, held in Rosporden on 10 September 1927.

Renforcer les atouts de l'économie maritime" (in French). Région Bretagne . Retrieved 1 April 2022. in opposition to the Vannetais, spoken around Vannes, which is the most differentiated Breton dialect.The Duchy was legally abolished with the French Revolution that began in 1789 - and in 1790 the province of Brittany was divided into five departments: Côtes-du-Nord (later Côtes-d'Armor), Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Inférieure (later Loire-Atlantique) and Morbihan. Brittany essentially lost all its special privileges that existed under the Duchy. Three years later, the area became a centre of royalist and Catholic resistance to the Revolution during the Chouannerie. 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 Museum of Brittany, located in Rennes, was founded in 1856. Its collections are mainly dedicated to the history of the region. Museums dedicated to Prehistory and local megaliths are located in Carnac and Penmarch, while several towns like Vannes and Nantes have a museum presenting their own history. Brittany lost 240,000 men during the First World War. [38] The Second World War was also catastrophic for the region. It was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940 and freed after Operation Cobra in August 1944. However, the areas around Saint-Nazaire and Lorient only surrendered on 10 and 11 May 1945, several days after the German capitulation. The two port towns had been virtually destroyed by Allied air raids, like Brest and Saint-Malo, and other towns, such as Nantes and Rennes, had also suffered. Galette (biscuit) – butter sweet biscuit from Lower Brittany, not the same as galette from Upper Brittany