Upper Brittany in the context of "Brittany (historical province)"

The culture of Brittany is the patterns of human activity and symbolism associated with the historical region of Brittany in northwestern France and the Breton people. Breton culture has been influenced by various local and nearby traditions over the centuries, including the Celtic culture of the Britons and Gauls and French culture to a lesser extent, particularly in Upper Brittany.

Modern day Brittany (Breton: Breizh, Gallo: Bertaeyn, French: Bretagne) is considered a historical region, which includes the Loire-Atlantique department. It was once independent as the Duchy of Brittany, with its capital in Nantes, and then it became duchy within the Kingdom of France before being ultimately integrated into France in 1491. Therefore, it is not meant to be confused with the administrative region of Brittany, which are the boundaries of Brittany as politically defined by France's historical Vichy regime since 1941. Brittany's strongest international connections tend to be in the United Kingdom, particularly in the Celtic Brythonic groups of Cornwall and Wales, and in Canada.

Gallo (endonym: Galo; French: langue gallèse) is a regional language of eastern Brittany. It is one of the langues d'oïl, a Romance sub-family that includes French. Today it is spoken only by a minority of the population, as the standard form of French now predominates in this area.

Gallo was originally spoken in the Marches of Neustria, an area now corresponding to the border lands between Brittany, Normandy, and Maine. Gallo was a shared spoken language among many of those who took part in the Norman conquest of England, most of whom originated in Upper (i.e. eastern) Brittany and Lower (i.e. western) Normandy, and thus had its part, together with the much bigger role played by the Norman language, in the development of the Anglo-Norman variety of French which would have such a strong influence on English.

Lower Brittany (Breton: Breizh-Izel; French: Basse-Bretagne) denotes the parts of Brittany west of Ploërmel, where the Breton language has been traditionally spoken, and where the culture associated with this language is most prolific. The name is in distinction to Upper Brittany, the eastern part of Brittany, which is of a predominantly Romance culture.