Lower Brittany in the context of "Gavotte"

Brest (French pronunciation: [bʁɛst] ; Breton: [bʀest] ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of a peninsula and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second largest French military port after Toulon. The city is located on the western edge of continental France. With 139,456 inhabitants (2020), Brest forms Western Brittany's largest metropolitan area (with a population of 370,000 in total), ranking third behind only Nantes and Rennes in the whole of historic Brittany, and the 25th most populous city in France (2019); moreover, Brest provides services to the one million inhabitants of Western Brittany. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the préfecture (administrative seat) of the department is in the much smaller town of Quimper.

During the Middle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Richelieu made it a military harbour in 1631. Brest grew around its arsenal until the second part of the 20th century. Heavily damaged by the Allies' bombing raids during World War II, the city centre was completely rebuilt after the war. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the deindustrialization of the city was followed by the development of the service sector. Nowadays, Brest is an important university town with 23,000 students. Besides a multidisciplinary university, the University of Western Brittany, Brest and its surrounding area possess several prestigious French elite schools such as École Navale (the French Naval Academy), Télécom Bretagne and the Superior National School of Advanced Techniques of Brittany (ENSTA Bretagne, formerly ENSIETA). Brest is also an important research centre, mainly focused on the sea, with among others the largest Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) centre, le Cedre (Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution) and the French Polar Institute.

The Bretons (/ˈbrɛtɒnz, -ənz, -ɒ̃z/; Breton: Bretoned or Vretoned, Breton pronunciation: [breˈtɔ̃nɛt]) are an ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. Originally, the demonym designated groups of Brittonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwall and Devon, mostly during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. They migrated in waves from the 3rd to 9th century (most heavily from 450 to 600) to the west of Armorica. That western part of Armorica was subsequently named after them, as were the inhabitants.

The main traditional language of Brittany is Breton (Brezhoneg), spoken in Lower Brittany (i.e., the western part of the peninsula). Breton is spoken by around 206,000 people as of 2013. The other principal minority language of Brittany is Gallo, a Romance language; Gallo is spoken only in Upper Brittany, where Breton used to be spoken as well but it has seen a decline and has been less dominant in Upper Brittany since around the year 900. Currently, most Bretons' native language is standard French.

Gwened, Bro-Gwened (Breton: Bro-Wened) or Vannetais (French: Pays Vannetais) is a historic realm and county of Brittany in France. It is considered part of Lower Brittany.

Bro-Gwened was an early medieval principality or kingdom around Vannes in Armorica (Brittany), lasting from around AD 490 to around 635. It was peopled by Christianized Britons fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britain, who displaced or assimilated the remaining pagan Veneti Gauls. Its bishop and (usually) court was at Gwened, the site of the former Roman settlement of Darioritum and the present French city of Vannes.

The revolt of the papier timbré was an anti-fiscal revolt in the Kingdom of France, occurring during the reign of Louis XIV from April to September 1675. It was fiercest in Lower Brittany, where it took on an anti-lordly tone and became known as the revolt of the Bonnets rouges (after the blue or red caps worn by the insurgents according to region) or revolt of the Torrebens (a war cry and signature in one of the peasant codes). It was unleashed by an increase in taxes, including the papier timbré, needed to authenticate official documents.

Upper Brittany (French: Haute-Bretagne; Breton: Breizh-Uhel; Gallo: Haùtt-Bertaèyn) is the eastern part of Brittany, France, which is historically associated with the Gallo language. The name is in counterpoint to Lower Brittany, the western part of the ancient province and present-day region, where the Breton language has traditionally been spoken. However, there is no certainty as to exactly where the line between 'Upper' and 'Lower' Brittany falls.

In many regards, Upper Brittany is dominated by the industrial and cathedral city of Rennes, seat of the University of Rennes 1 and the University of Rennes 2.

A longère is a type of longhouse typical of the regions of Brittany and Normandy in northwestern France. It is a long, narrow dwelling, developing along the axis of its peak, typically inhabited by farmers and artisans.

Longère also means a "long wall" or "gutter wall" of a building, whether for a church or house, in Lower Brittany.