the Camargue

There is no exact etymology of the word Camargue, subject to many hypotheses. This word could come from a Celto-Ligurian (Provençal) Ca-mar dialect meaning “field covered with water”. Another possibility, based on archival documents, would give it a Latin origin, which would correspond to the domain of Senator Camars, a great landowner whose family dominated the city of Arles in the first century.

The Camargue is a 150,000 ha swampy area formed by the Rhone Delta and the Mediterranean Sea. It is the second largest delta of the Mediterranean and, like all deltas, forms a triangle whose ends are Le Grau du Roi, Arles and Fos sur Mer.

The Camargue is divided into 3 parts:

• The little Camargue, west of the little Rhône
• The island of Camargue (or large Camargue), between the two arms of the Rhône
• Le Plan Bourg, east of the Grand Rhône