Bordeaux

Bordeaux ( bor-DOH. French: [bɔʁdo] ; Gascon Occitan: Bordèu [buɾˈðɛw]; Basque: Bordele) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called "Bordelais" (masculine) or "Bordelaises" (feminine). The term "Bordelais" may also refer to the city and its surrounding region. The city of Bordeaux proper had a population of 267,991 in 2023 within its small municipal territory of 49 km2 (19 sq mi), but together with its suburbs and exurbs the Bordeaux metropolitan area had a population of 1,426,278 (2023), the sixth-most populous in France after Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, and Toulouse. Bordeaux and 27 suburban municipalities form the Bordeaux Metropolis, an indirectly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of wider metropolitan issues. The Bordeaux Metropolis, with a population of 854,334 at the 2023 census, is the fifth most populated metropolitan council in France after those of Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Lille. Bordeaux is a world capital of wine: many châteaux and vineyards stand on the hillsides of the Gironde, and the city is home to the world's main wine fair, Vinexpo. Bordeaux is also one of the centers of gastronomy and business tourism for the organization of international congresses. It is a central and strategic hub for the aeronautics, military and space sector, home to major companies such as Dassault Aviation, ArianeGroup, Safran and Thales. The link with aviation dates back to 1910, the year the first airplane flew over the city. A crossroads of knowledge through university research, it is home to one of the only two megajoule lasers in the world, as well as a university population of more than 130,000 students within the Bordeaux Metropolis. Bordeaux is an international...