Editing Landes (department) (section)

==History==
Landes is one of the original 83 departments that were created during the [[French Revolution]] on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the [[provinces of France|provinces]] of [[Guyenne]] and [[Gascony]].

During the first part of the 19th century, large parts of the department were covered with poorly drained [[heath (habitat)|heathland]] ({{langx|fr|lande}}); this is the origin of the department's name. The vegetation covered rich soil and was periodically burned off, leaving excellent pasturage for [[sheep]], which around 1850 are thought to have numbered between 900,000 and 1,000,000 in this area. The sheep were managed by [[shepherds]] who moved around on stilts and became proficient at covering long distances thus supported. Most of the sheep departed during the second half of the nineteenth century when systematic development of large [[pine tree|pine]] plantations transformed the landscape and the local economy.

One of the most famous citizens of the Landes was the 19th-century French economist [[Frédéric Bastiat]].

The Nobel Prize–winning novelist [[François Mauriac]] set his novels in the Landes.