BAYONNE

town, Pyrnes-Atlantiques dpartement, Aquitaine region, southwestern France, at the confluence of the Nive with the Adour River, 5 mi (8 km) from its mouth. With Biarritz, the noted Atlantic resort, it forms an urban concentration. As Lapurdum, it was the chief port of Roman Novempopulania, and the coastal zone is still called the Pays de Labourd. The present name is thought to be Basque in origin. Traditionally it was the Bayonne Basques who first used the bayonet. Grand Bayonne on the left bank of the Nive, behind fortifications designed by the 17th-century French military engineer Sbastien Le Prestre de Vauban, contains the Chteau Vieux and the Cathdrale de Sainte-Marie (13th-16th century, with two 19th-century towers [210 ft; 64 m]). Across the river in Petit Bayonne are the Chteau Neuf, the arsenal, and the Muse Basque. Downstream, on the right bank of the Adour, are the port and industrial complexes of Le Boucau and Forges. Formerly busy with imports of English coal and Spanish ores, Bayonne languished until oil production was started at Parentis-en-Born and natural gas was discovered at Lacq in the 1950s. There are associated petrochemical industries, and sulfur and natural gas are extracted. It is still a port for tunny (tuna) fishermen. Pop. (1982) 40,088. city, Hudson county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S., on a 3-mile (5-km) peninsula between Newark and Upper New York bays, adjacent to Jersey City, New Jersey, and within the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Bayonne is connected with Staten Island, New York City (south), by a bridge over Kill Van Kull. Settled by the Dutch in 1646, it was originally called Bergen Neck and later was known as Konstable Hoeck (Constable Hook) when it was consolidated with Bergen Point, Centerville, and Salterville. It became a township in 1861. In 1869 it was incorporated as a city and renamed Bayonne. From 1850 until World War I, Bayonne was renowned for its yacht building. Since 1875 it has been a centre for oil refining, and it is now the northern terminus for several pipeline systems, including the Big Inch (about 1,500 miles [2,400 km] long) from Longview, Texas. Manufactures include machinery, textiles, and chemicals. It has extensive docks and shipyards along its 9-mile (14-km) waterfront. Pop. (1990) 61,464; (1996 est.) 60,499.