Biarritz (fr. Biarritz) – a luxury resort town belonging to the Atlantic Pyrenees Department (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), the New Aquitaine Region in southwestern France. Its current Basque name is Biarritz (or Miarritze), and its current Gascon name is Biàrrits.
The name Biarritz probably comes from the berarr Basque root, replacing belharr, “grass” with the suffix -itz addition and its “grassy place” meaning. This is entirely plausible, since Biarritz was only a village in a swamp back in the nineteenth century.
Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the city has a coastline of 4 kilometers in the Bay of Biscay valley, less than 25 kilometers from the border with Spain. Biarritz is located on the border between the Basque lands and Gascony.
Therefore, there are Basque Country red-green-white flags next to the French and European Union flags on all administrative buildings of the department.
The city was formed as a result of the merger of two suburban areas of the neighboring city of Bayonne, one of which was engaged in agriculture, and the other in marine industries. It was here that the first whaling port of France was located.
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