Editing Camargue

{{Short description|French region in the Rhône river delta}}
{{Other uses}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
{{Designation list
| designation1 = Ramsar
| designation1_offname = Camargue
| designation1_date = 1 December 1986
| designation1_number = 346<ref>{{Cite web|title=Camargue|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/346|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
| designation2 = Ramsar
| designation2_offname = La Petite Camargue
| designation2_date = 8 January 1996
| designation2_number = 786<ref>{{Cite web|title=La Petite Camargue|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/786|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
}}

The '''Camargue''' ({{IPAc-en|k|æ|ˈ|m|ɑːr|ɡ}},<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/camargue|title=Camargue|work=[[Collins English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|access-date=7 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/camargue|title=Camargue, the|work=[[Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]]|publisher=[[Longman]]|access-date=8 September 2019}}</ref> <small>also</small> {{IPAc-en|UK|k|ə|ˈ|-}},<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Camargue |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322182250/https://www.lexico.com/definition/camargue |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-03-22 |title=Camargue |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|k|ɑː|ˈ|-}},<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Camargue|access-date=7 May 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|kamaʁɡ|lang}}; {{langx|oc|label=[[Provençal dialect|Provençal]]|Camarga}}) is a coastal region in southern France located south of the city of [[Arles]], between the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and the two arms of the [[Rhône]] [[river delta]]. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western is the ''Petit Rhône''.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Camargue}}</ref>

Administratively, it lies within the [[Departments of France|department]] of [[Bouches-du-Rhône]] (‘Mouths of the Rhône’); it spans portions of the [[Communes of France|communes]] of Arles, [[Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer]] and [[Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône]]. A further expanse of marshy plain, known as the "Petite Camargue" (Little Camargue), just to the west of the "Petit Rhône", lies within the department of [[Gard]].

The Camargue was designated a [[Ramsar site]] as a "[[Wetland]] of International Importance" on 1 December 1986. The Petite Camargue received this designation on 8 January 1996.

==Geography==
[[File:Camargue map.png|right|thumb|550px|Map of the Camargue]]

With an area of over {{convert|930|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, the Camargue is one of western Europe's largest river deltas.<ref>Blondel J., 2019. La Camargue, un delta d'exception. In J. Blondel, G. Barruol & R. Vianet, eds: L'encyclopédie de la Camargue, Buchet Chastel, Publisher. ISBN: 978-2-283-03322-7</ref> It is a vast plain comprising large [[brine]] [[lagoon]]s or ''étangs'', cut off from the sea by sandbars and encircled by [[Phragmites|reed]]-covered marshes. These are in turn surrounded by a large cultivated area.

Approximately a third of the Camargue is either lakes or marshland. The central area around the shoreline of the [[Étang de Vaccarès]] has been protected as a [[regional park]] since 1927, in recognition of its great importance as a haven for wild birds. In 2008, it was incorporated into the larger [[Parc naturel régional de Camargue]].



<gallery mode="packed" caption="" heights="180">
File:P9230095 Saintes Sylvereal pont Rhone reduct.jpg|Former Sylvéréal bridge (2007) upon ''le [[petit Rhône]]''.
File:Etang de vaccares.jpg|Shoreline of the [[Étang de Vaccarès]].
</gallery>

==Flora and fauna==
[[File:Camargue - Repos des flamants roses.JPG|thumb|Flamingos in the Camargue]]
[[File:Horses in the Camargue 1.jpg|thumb|Horses and cattle in the Camargue]]
The Camargue is home to more than 400 species of birds and has been identified as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]].<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org |title=Camargue |access-date=2013-08-31 |work=Important Bird Areas factsheet |publisher=BirdLife International |year=2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630122358/http://www.birdlife.org/ |archive-date=30 June 2007 }}</ref> Its brine ponds provide one of the few European habitats for the [[greater flamingo]]. The marshes are also a prime habitat for many species of insects, notably (and notoriously) some of the most ferocious [[mosquito]]s to be found anywhere in France. [[Camargue horse]]s (Camarguais) roam the extensive marshlands, along with [[Camargue cattle]].

The native flora of the Camargue have adapted to the saline conditions. [[Sea lavender]] and [[glasswort]] flourish, along with [[tamarisk]]s and reeds.

==Regional park==
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2025}}
{{main|Parc naturel régional de Camargue}}
Officially established as a regional park and nature reserve in 1970, the Parc naturel régional de Camargue covers {{cvt|820|km2}}. This territory is some of the most natural and most protected in all of Europe. A roadside museum provides background on flora, fauna, as well as the history of the area.

== Human influence ==
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2025}}
Humans have lived in the Camargue for millennia, greatly affecting it with drainage schemes, [[Levee|dykes]], [[rice]] paddies and [[Salt evaporation pond|salt pans]]. Much of the outer Camargue has been drained for agricultural purposes.

The Camargue has an eponymous horse breed, the white [[Camargue (horse)|Camarguais]]. Camargue horses are ridden by the ''[[gardian]]s'' (cowboys), who rear the region's cattle for [[Bullfighting|fighting bulls]] for regional use and for export to Spain, as well as sheep. Many of these animals are raised in [[semi-feral]] conditions, allowed to roam through the Camargue within a [[manade]], or free-running herd. They are periodically rounded up for culling, medical treatment, or other events.

[[File:Gardian house.JPG|thumb|A 20th-century "gardian" home. The pole is used to climb up and check the animals]]
[[File:Entrée de l'église des Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.jpg|thumb|The [[Cross of Camargue]] on the [[Church of the Saintes Maries de la Mer]]]]
Few towns of any size have developed in the Camargue. Arles has been called its "capital", located at the extreme north of the delta where the Rhône forks into its two principal branches. The only other towns of note are along the seafront or near it: [[Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer]], which has also been dubbed its "capital", about {{cvt|45|km}} to the southwest. The medieval fortress-town of [[Aigues-Mortes]] is located on the far western edge, in the Petite Camargue. Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the destination of the annual [[Romani people|Romani]] pilgrimage for the veneration of [[Saint Sarah]].

The Camargue was exploited in the Middle Ages by [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] and [[Benedictines|Benedictine]] monks. In the 16th–17th centuries, big estates, known locally as ''[[Mas (Provençal farmhouse)|mas]]'', were founded by rich landlords from [[Arles]]. At the end of the 18th century, they had the Rhône diked to protect the town and their properties from flooding. In 1858, the building of the ''digue à la mer'' (dyke to the sea) achieved temporary protection of the delta from erosion, but it is a changing landform, always affected by waters and weather.

The north of the Camargue is agricultural land. The main crops are cereals, grapes and rice. Near the seashore, prehistoric man started extracting salt, a practice that continues today. Salt was a source of wealth for the Cistercian "salt abbeys" of [[Abbaye d'Ulmet|Ulmet]], [[Franquevaux]] and [[Psalmody Abbey|Psalmody]] in the Middle Ages. Industrial salt collection started in the 19th century, and big chemical companies such as [[Pechiney]] and Solvay founded the "mining" city of [[Salin-de-Giraud]].

The boundaries of the Camargue are constantly altered by the Rhône as it transports huge quantities of mud downstream – as much as 20 million m<sup>3</sup> annually. Some of the ''étangs'' are the remnants of old arms and legs of the river. The general trend is for the coastline to move outwards as new earth is deposited in the delta at the river's mouth. [[Aigues-Mortes]], originally built as a port on the coast, is now some {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} inland. The pace of change has been modified in recent years by man-made barriers, such as [[dam]]s on the Rhône and sea dykes, but flooding remains a problem across the region.

==See also==
* [[Bac du Sauvage]]
* [[Camargue cattle]]
* [[Camargue equitation]]
* [[Camargue horse]]
* [[Camargue red rice]]
* [[Folco de Baroncelli-Javon]]
* [[Gardian]]
* [[Manade]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite journal|last=Russell|first=Richard Joel|year=1942|title=Geomorphology of the Rhone Delta|journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers|volume=32|issue=2|pages=149–255|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLMguCEPSJQC|access-date=2011-10-09|doi=10.2307/2561087|jstor=2561087}} – ''also in jstor (paywall)''

==External links==
{{Commons category|Camargue}}
*{{ill|Gardian Nation|fr|Nacioun gardiano}} or the "Camargue Nation"

{{coord|43|32|N|04|30|E|region:FR_scale:100000|format=dms|display=title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Camargue| ]]
[[Category:Landforms of Bouches-du-Rhône]]
[[Category:Arles]]
[[Category:Marshes of France]]
[[Category:Ramsar sites in Metropolitan France]]
[[Category:Biosphere reserves of France]]
[[Category:River deltas of Europe]]
[[Category:Birdwatching sites in France]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of France]]
[[Category:Natural regions of France]]
[[Category:Landforms of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur]]