Bayonne (France)

Bayonne (aka Baiona / Bayona) is a river port city in France's Basque Country (Pyrenees-Atlantiques department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region) with population around 50,000. The city is at the confluence of two rivers (Nive and Adour).

The city is also part of Eurociudad Vasca Bayonne-San Sebastian/Eurocity - a cross-border region (between Spain and France, along the Bay of Biscay's coast) that integrates 42 communities (total population around 650,000) in both countries. These integrated communities share common projects (tourism, freight transportation, infrastructures) based on their common Basque cultural base. The largest cities (with population 10,000+) in this "eurodistrict" are France's Bayonne, Anglet, Biarritz, Hendaye, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and Spain's Donostia-San Sebastian, Renteria, Hernani, Fuenterrabia, Passages, Andoain, Lasarte-Oria, Zarauz. The Agglomeration Cote Basque-Adour includes the French cities Anglet and Biarritz.

Nive and Adour in Bayonne are crossed by several bridges linking the city's districts, and some of them carrying railway traffic. In the Saint-Esprit district is Port Bayonne (Amiral-Bergeret dock, at the Adour River's mouth) and occupies part of Anglet, Boucau and Tarnos. The Port is pipeline-connected to the Lacq (natural gas field). By annual shipping traffic (4,2 million tonnes/~2,8M export) the Port is ranked France's 9th largest. Main exports are metallurgical products and maize. Main imports are refined oil products (from Total's refinery at Donges) and fertilizers.

The city's economy is based on light industries, construction, trade, logistics and transportation, services, education, healthcare, agriculture, commercial fishing. Bayonne is at the intersection of Highway A63 (linking Bordeaux with Spain) and at the D1-extension of Highway A64/E80 (linking Bayonne with Toulouse via Tarbes and Pau).

Gare de Bayonne (train station in Saint-Esprit district) serves TGVs (intercity high-speed trains) and is one of the main stops on the Bordeaux-Irun line (235-km / 146 mi- long railroad linking Bordeaux with Spain) - together with Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, Dax, Hendaye and Irun (Spain). Gare de Bayonne is also the terminus of two railways - Toulouse to Bayonne and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Bayonne.

Bayonne is served by the Biarritz Pays Basque Airport (aka Biarritz-Parme Airport) located just 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Biarritz City. The airport serves regular flights linking to domestic airports (Lyon, Paris) as well as international flights linking to Belgium (Charleroi) and the UK-England (London). Seasonal flights connect to Switzerland (Geneva, Basel), Ireland (Dublin), Corsica Island (Bastia), Germany (Berlin), Luxembourg City.