Île de Sein

French commune
nomcommune=Île-de-Sein
native_name=Enez-Sun


caption=Close-up of the island


x=7
y=91
lat_long=coord|48|02|12|N|4|50|58|W|region:FR_type:city
insee=29083
cp=29990
région=Bretagne
département=Finistère
arrondissement=Quimper
canton=Pont-Croix
maire=Alain Le Roy
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=
alt mini=0
alt maxi=9 m
km²=0.58
sans=242
date-sans=1999
dens=417
date-dens=1999|

The Île de Sein is a French island in the Atlantic Ocean, off Finistère, 8 kilometres from "pointe du Raz" ("Raz" meaning tidal race), from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is "Enez Sun". The island, with its neighbouring islets, forms the territory of the commune of Île-de-Sein, part of the department of Finistère and the administrative region of Bretagne.

Administratively, it is a commune in Finistère department in Bretagne in northwestern France.

It is on the sea routes going south from the English Channel. The island was known for its wreckers, and is well known for the dangers of its waters, the "Chaussée de Sein", a vast zone of reefs stretching more than thirty miles from east to west, requiring numerous lighthouses, beacons, and buoys.

During World War II, every single male resident of the island of military age (a total of 124 men aged 14 to 54) fled to London to join Charles de Gaulle's Free French within days of the French surrender to Germany in June 1940. In 1946, the island as a whole was admitted into the extremely select Order of the Liberation for this feat and its residents were exempted from paying income tax, a privilege they enjoy to this day.

During the 1960s, famous Parisian artists Maurice Boitel and Jean Rigaud painted in the Île de Sein.

Demographics

Inhabitants of Île-de-Sein are called "Sénans".

ee also

*Communes of the Finistère department

References

* [http://www.amf29.asso.fr/ Mayors of Finistère Association] fr icon;
* [http://www.insee.fr/en/home/home_page.asp INSEE] en icon;
* [http://www.ign.fr/rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1&lng_id=EN IGN] en icon

External links

* [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/merimee_fr?ACTION=CHERCHER&FIELD_98=INSEE&VALUE_98=29083 French Ministry of Culture list for Île-de-Sein] fr icon