Ille-et-Vilaine is a département of France, located in Brittany (Bretagne in French) in the northwest corner of France.
History
Ille-et-Vilaine was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Brittany.
Geography
Ille-et-Vilaine is a part of the current région of Bretagne and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Morbihan, and Côtes-d'Armor, as well as the English Channel on the north.
Major rivers running through it are the Ille, the Vilaine, the Rance and the Couesnon .
Demography
The population has grown over the last few decades and was estimated at 903,400 in January 2003.
Culture
Gallo is a historic minority language spoken in eastern Brittany. Gallo and Breton are both studied at the University of Rennes.
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