Calvados

Calvados is a department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the Normandy coast. In 2019, it had a population of 694,905. History Calvados is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, in application of the law of 22 December 1789. It had been part of the former province of Normandy. The name "Orne-Inférieure" was originally proposed, but it was ultimately called Calvados after a group of rocks off its coast. One popular legend ascribes its etymology to the Salvador, a ship from the Spanish Armada that sank by the rocks near Arromanches-les-bains in 1588. It is more likely, however, that the name Calvados was derived from calva dorsa, meaning bare backs, in reference to two sparsely vegetated rocks off its shore. After the allied victory at Waterloo the department was occupied by Prussian troops between June 1815 and November 1818.