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Home > Travel France > France Destinations > Pau
Pau
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and comprises various overseas islands and territories which are located in other regions. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. At 674,843 square kilometres, France is the world's 40th-largest country after Myanmar. France is a member of The European Union and Paris is the capital of this nation. The sole official language of France is French. Since prehistoric times, France has been a crossroads of trade, migrations, and invasions.
Pau was made the capital of Bearn in 1464. Pau is on a slight elevation overlooking the valley of the mountain river called the Gave de Pau, where it was crossed by a ford, and controlled access was to an easy passage into the Pyrenees, used annually for the seasonal pasturage of flocks of sheep in the high meadows. The Universite de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour founded in 1972 is also in the town. From the 1950s to the 1990s Pau depended on the production of natural gas and sulphur dioxide which were discovered nearby at Lacq. Today the mainstays of the Bearn area are the oil business, the aerospace industry Turbomeca, tourism and agriculture. Pau was the birthplace of Elf Aquitaine, which has now become a part of Total.
Pau holds the honor of arranging the first race ever to be called a Grand Prix in 1901. After that the 1928 French Grand Prix was held in nearby St Gaudens, Pau also wanted to arrange the race and in 1930 the French Grand Prix was held on a Le Mans type track outside the city with Philippe Etancelin winning for Bugatti. Pau was back in the race calendar in 1933, now with a Monaco inspired track in the city center. Pau has an airport, Pau Pyrenees Airport, which is about 10 km away from the centre. The A64 motorway runs across Pau. The Spanish border is about 60 kilometres away from Pau.
Pau, justifiably so, enjoys a very positive reputation with worldwide travelers, and is one of the most visited place. It is also said the place of best geographical environment and can trace its origin back to prehistoric times.
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