La Teste-de-Buch
La Teste-de-Buch (French pronunciation: [la tɛst də byʃ]; Occitan: La Tèsta (de Bug), [la ˈtɛstə (ðe ˈβyc)]; lit. "La Teste-of-Buch") is a coastal commune in the Gironde department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in Southwestern France. Until 13 June 1994, it was officially known simply as La Teste.
La Teste-de-Buch
La Tèsta (Occitan) | |
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Coat of arms | |
Location of La Teste-de-Buch | |
La Teste-de-Buch La Teste-de-Buch | |
| Coordinates: 44°37′12″N 1°08′45″W | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
| Department | Gironde |
| Arrondissement | Arcachon |
| Canton | La Teste-de-Buch |
| Intercommunality | CA Bassin d'Arcachon Sud |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Patrick Davet |
| Area 1 | 180.20 km2 (69.58 sq mi) |
| Population (2021) | 26,556 |
| • Density | 150/km2 (380/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 33529 /33260 |
| Elevation | 0–101 m (0–331 ft) (avg. 4 m or 13 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
The commune is located on the south shore of Arcachon Bay (Bassin d'Arcachon) and on the Atlantic coast of France, lying in the southwestern part of Gironde, on the departmental border with Landes. It is the eighth-largest commune in metropolitan France in geographical area at 180.20 km2 (69.58 sq mi). It is the largest and most populated of the four communes that make up the Communauté d'agglomération Bassin d'Arcachon Sud (COBAS), which coincides with the urban unit (agglomeration) of La Teste-de-Buch-Arcachon, population 67,563 (2018). La Teste-de-Buch proper had a population of 26,269 as of 2020.
La Teste-de-Buch is famous for the Dune of Pilat (Dune du Pilat), the highest sand dune in Europe. It is also the site of a fictional battle during the Napoleonic wars depicted in Sharpe's Siege by Bernard Cornwell.