Bordeaux, city and port, capital of Gironde département, Aquitaine région, southwestern France. It lies along the Garonne River 15 miles (24 km) above its junction with the Dordogne and 60 miles (96 km) from its mouth, in a plain east of the wine-growing district of Médoc.
The dry soil of Médoc attracted settlement as early as the Bronze Age; and, at least since Roman times, Bordeaux has been a flourishing town and port, with connections particularly with Spain and Britain. As Burdigala, it was the chief town of the Bituriges Vivisci, a Celtic people. Under the Romans it was the capital of the province of Aquitania, which extended from the Pyrenees to the Loire. In the 4th century Burdigala, then the capital of Aquitania Secunda (one of the three parts into which the emperor Diocletian had divided Aquitania), was described by the writer Ausonius, a native of the city, as a square, walled town and one of the great educational centres of Gaul. During the decline of the Roman Empire, the region around Bordeaux entered a period of political instability from which it recovered only when the dukes of Aquitaine established themselves early in the 10th century.
As part of the inheritance of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Bordeaux, along with the rest of the duchy, became English in 1154 upon the accession of her husband to the English throne as Henry II. His 14th-century descendant Edward the Black Prince, who for 20 years held court at Bordeaux and whose son, Richard (later King Richard II), was born there, is still honoured in the city. Under the English, Bordeaux was given unusual freedom: mayors were elected from 1235, and a thriving trade developed with England’s ports. Neighbouring towns such as Saint-Émilion and Libourne joined a federation under the leadership of Bordeaux. After the French victory over the English at Castillon in 1453, the city was united with France; but the burghers of Bordeaux long resisted limitation of their municipal freedoms, and 120 of them were executed after a salt-tax rebellion in 1548.
The 17th century was a period of disturbance. There were massacres during the Wars of Religion, and trade withered. In the 18th century Bordeaux again prospered from the “triangular” trade: slaves from Africa to the West Indies, sugar and coffee back to Bordeaux, then arms and wines back to Africa. The marquis de Tourny, intendant of Guyenne, made the city pleasing with squares and fine buildings. The Girondist Party of the French Revolution was formed in Bordeaux, which suffered severely during the Reign of Terror. After enduring the English blockade during the Napoleonic Wars, the city in 1814 declared for the Bourbons, prompting Louis XVIII to give his grandnephew the title of duke (duc) de Bordeaux.
After the coming of the railways, the great improvements to the port and the increase in trade with West Africa and South America led to increased prosperity. In 1870, during the Franco-German War, the French government was transferred to Bordeaux when the Germans approached Tours, and the government was also moved to Bordeaux when Paris was threatened by the Germans in August 1914, at the outset of World War I. In June 1940, during World War II, when a German advance again became a menace to Paris, the French government relocated first to Tours and later to Bordeaux. There Premier Paul Reynaud led a minority in the government favouring “war to the finish.” Among his supporters were Charles de Gaulle and Georges Mandel. Reynaud sent appeals for immediate help to the United States and Great Britain. He was overridden by the opposition, however, and resigned on June 16, two days after the Germans entered Paris. Bordeaux was severely bombed before its occupation by German troops and, again, by the Allies when it was an important German air and submarine base. The city was reoccupied, largely by French forces, in August 1944.
Since 1945 Bordeaux has continued to expand; new suburbs have been built, and many of the small towns, which formerly surrounded the city, have now been incorporated within it, forming a continuous built-up area. This expansion has been accompanied by a shift of both population and economic activity from the centre toward the periphery of the city. Office-based activities (including government administrative services) and retailing, both concentrated in and around the Mériadeck commercial centre, a major redevelopment of the 1970s, dominate in the city centre; part of the historic centre has been rehabilitated and is a conservation zone. Conversely, the periphery is dotted with a series of office, retail, and business parks, hypermarkets, and industrial zones.
The modern city of Bordeaux is surrounded by a semicircle of boulevards, beyond which lie the suburbs of Le Bouscat, Caudéran, Mérignac, Talence, and Bègles. The Garonne River (1,650–2,250 feet [500–690 metres] wide), separating the city proper from the suburb of La Bastide, embraces a 5-mile (8-km) crescent of broad quays, behind which rise tall warehouses, factories, and mansions. Outside the great city squares are characteristic low, white houses. La Bastide, on the right bank, is reached by a 19th-century bridge. Some gates of the old city wall remain, and there are ruins of a Roman amphitheatre. The Grand Théâtre (1775–80), with its statue-topped colonnade, is one of the finest in France; its imposing double stairway and cupola were later imitated by the architect Charles Garnier for the Paris Opéra. Farther down the quay is the Esplanade des Quinconces, one of the largest squares in Europe; it contains a monument to the Girondins and huge statues of Montesquieu and Michel de Montaigne (the latter’s tomb is at the university, founded 1441). Bordeaux’s ecclesiastical antiquities include two 15th-century bell towers: that of Pey-Berland, near Saint-André Cathedral, and the Saint-Michel Tower, with a spire of 357 feet (109 metres). A late 20th-century urban development plan called for the renovation of the city centre and extension of new districts northward around a large lake and along the west bank of the Gironde estuary. An exhibition hall was built, as well as a large, modern bridge connecting the city with the nearby national highway (only one bridge formerly existed for foot and automobile traffic across the Garonne). Bordeaux’s historic centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007.
The great families of Bordeaux made their fortunes in shipping and trade, especially of the celebrated wines of Bordeaux (see Bordeaux wine). The prosperity of these wine-growing and wine-trading houses took a great leap at the time of the English domination. After a critical period during the 15th–17th century, prosperity returned in the 18th century and has continued ever since, despite problems of weather and grape parasites, the most critical of which was the phylloxera infestation of 1869. The modern extent of the vineyards is about half its former maximum area. The government of France and the local growers regard control of quality and quantity of these wines as essential to the preservation of a major export market. Bordeaux has never been a major centre of industry in France; however, from the 1960s, industrial activities have expanded. In addition to the more traditional industries such as food processing, light engineering, and the manufacture of textiles, clothing, and chemicals, the production of aerospace equipment, car components, and electronics has also become important. However, employment in the city is dominated by the service sector, reflective of Bordeaux’s role as a commercial, business, and administrative centre. The city also has a number of universities and graduate schools and is a regional centre for culture and the arts.
The port area has been important since the 18th century, but commercial activity is now concentrated in five specialized outports. With the closure of the oil refineries located along the Gironde, port traffic has declined, although refined petroleum products are still imported. Bordeaux is well integrated into the national motorway network, is linked to Paris by high-speed trains (TGV), and possesses a large regional airport. Pop. (1999) 215,363; (2005 est.) 230,600.