Landes (department)

Landes
Lanas (Occitan)
Landak (Basque)
Location of Landes in France
Coordinates: 44°0′N 0°50′W / 44.000°N 0.833°W / 44.000; -0.833
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
PrefectureMont-de-Marsan
SubprefectureDax
Government
  President of the Departmental CouncilXavier Fortinon (PS)
Area
  Total
9,243 km2 (3,569 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)
  Total
428,427
  Rank59th
  Density46/km2 (120/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number40
Arrondissements2
Cantons15
Communes327
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Landes (French pronunciation: [lɑ̃d] ; Gascon and Occitan: Lanas [ˈlanəs]; Basque: Landak) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Southwestern France, with a long coastline on the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It also borders Gers to the east, Pyrénées-Atlantiques to the south, Lot-et-Garonne to the north-east, and Gironde to the north. Located on the Atlantic coast, it had a population of 413,690 as of 2019. Its prefecture is Mont-de-Marsan.

The department is the second-largest department in France and it covers the Forest of Landes. The southwestern part of the department is part of the wider conurbation of Biarritz and Bayonne across the Pyrénées-Atlantique border.