The inhabitants of Pyrénées-Atlantiques are known, in French, as "Basques et Béarnais" (women: "Basques et Béarnaises"). The Basques live mainly in the western part of the department and the Béarnais in the eastern part. From 1790 to 1969, before the change of the name of the department, the inhabitants of this departmente were known as "Bas-Pyrénéens".