COTES-D'ARMOR

formerly Ctes-du-nord, maritime dpartement, Bretagne rgion, northwestern France, comprising the northern part of the historic province of Brittany. It has an area of 2,656 square miles (6,878 square km). The Noires Mountains, crossing its southern half from west to east with heights of more than 1,000 feet (300 m), form the watershed divide between rivers flowing northward to the English Channel and southward to the Bay of Biscay. The interior plateaus, swept by strong Atlantic rain-bearing winds, are used to pasture cattle and horses. Wheat and oats are the chief crops on the coastal belt, which also produces pigs, cattle, potatoes, and fruit. Fishing, once important, has declined. Slate and building stone are quarried. Industrial activity (tanning, boatbuilding, and sawmilling) is slight. The rocky, indented coast, embracing most of the picturesque meraude Coast, is dotted with seaside resorts, and tourism is significant. Most of the interior towns date from the European Middle Ages. Saint-Brieuc, the departmental capital, has a fortified cathedral. The four arrondissements of Ctes-d'Armor take their names from Dinan, Guingamp, Lannion, and Saint-Brieuc. The dpartement is in the educational division of Rennes. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 537,700.