OLERON  , an

island lying off the west coast of France, opposite the mouths of the Charente and Seudre, and included in the department of Charente-Inferieure . In 1906 the population numbered 16,747 . In area (66 sq. m.) it ranks next to Corsica among French islands . It is about 18 in. in length from N.W.to S.E., and ' in extreme breadth; the width of the strait (Pertuis de Maumusson) separating it from the mainland is at one point less than a mile . The island is flat and low-lying and fringed by dunes on the coast . The greater part is very fertile, but there are also some extensive salt marshes, and oyster culture and fishing are carried on . The chief products are corn, wine, fruit and vegetables . The inhabitants are mostly Protestants and make excellent sailors . The chief places are St Pierre (pop . 1582 in 1906), Le Chateau d'Oleron (1546), and the watering-place of St Trojan-les-Bains . Oleron, the Uliarus Insula of Pliny, formed part of the duchy of Aquitaine, and finally came into the possession of the French crown in 1370 . It gave its name to a medieval code of maritime laws promulgated by Eleanor of Guienne .