Soule
Soule
Xiberoa or Zuberoa | |
|---|---|
Province | |
Location of Soule within the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departement and the Northern Basque Country. | |
| Country | France |
| CA | Pays Basque |
| Capital | Mauléon-Licharre (Maule-Lextarre) |
| Area | |
• Total | 785 km2 (303 sq mi) |
| Population (2012) | |
• Total | 17,018 |
| • Density | 22/km2 (56/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Soule (French pronunciation: [sul]; Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; Occitan: Sola) is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département. It is divided into two cantons of the arrondissement (district) of Oloron-Sainte-Marie (Mauleon-Licharre and Tardets-Sorholus), and a part of the canton of Saint Palais (arrondissement of Bayonne).
Its provincial capital is Mauléon, which combined with Licharre in 1841 to form "Mauléon-Licharre", but today is often known as "Mauléon-Soule". Historically, Soule is the smallest province of the Basque Country (785 km2; 303 sq. mi.). Its population has been decreasing (23,803 in 1901; 16,006 in 1990; 15,535 in 1999).