Ouessant (Island) (English spelling)

Japanese: ウェサン[島]（英語表記）Ouessant

A small island 20km off the coast of the tip of the Brittany Peninsula in western France. Area 15km2. Population 1,450 (1975). As its name Ouessant (meaning "the highest land" in archaic) suggests, it is surrounded by 65m cliffs and washed by the rough waves of the North Atlantic Current. There are many reefs around, and the island is often shrouded in thick fog, making it a famous spot for shipwrecks. On the island, women and elderly people grow potatoes and other crops on the shared farmland and graze sheep for food, but most of the men are sailors. In recent years, a small number of tourists have begun to visit, attracted by the scenery of the strange rocks along the coast, the rough waves, and the traditional customs of the remote island, and 250 of the 794 buildings (1975) are villas.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

フランス西部，ブルターニュ半島の先端沖合20kmにある小島。面積15km2。人口1450(1975)。ウェサン(古語で〈もっとも高い土地〉の意)の名のとおり，65mの絶壁に囲まれ，北大西洋海流の荒波に洗われる。周囲に暗礁が多く，しばしば深い霧につつまれ，海難の名所として知られている。島では共有の耕地で女や老人がジャガイモなどを作り，食用の羊を放牧しているが，男は船員が多い。近年，沿岸の奇岩や荒波の光景と離島の伝統的風習にひかれて，観光客がわずかながら訪れるようになり，794棟の建物のうち250棟(1975)が別荘である。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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