Occitanie

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Occitanie
Occitània  (Occitan)
Flag of Occitanie
Coat of arms of Occitanie
Country France
PrefectureToulouse
Departments
Government
 • President of the Regional CouncilCarole Delga (PS)
Area
 • Total72,724 km2 (28,079 sq mi)
Population
 (2015)
 • Total5,774,185
 • Density79/km2 (210/sq mi)
DemonymOccitans
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeFR-OCC
GDP ()Ranked
Total€ billion (US$ bn)
Per capita€ (US$)

Occitanie (Occitan: Occitània, Catalan: Occitània) is an administrative region of France. It was created on 1 January 2016 from the former French regions Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées.

The name in French, Occitanie, was approved as the new name of the region on 28 September 2016.[1]

The new Occitanie Region is the main part of a wider cultural entity known as Occitania. This wider region once included part of Spain (Aran Valley), and Monaco, and parts of Italy (the Occitan Valleys and Guardia Piemontese). This wider area used to speak Occitan as their first language.

Geography[change | change source]

The Occitanie region is the third largest region of France, after Nouvelle-Aquitaine and French Guiana, and the second of Metropolitan France with an area of 72,723.5 km2 (28,079 sq mi). It is in southern France (the Midi) and borders to the south with Spain and Andorra; it also borders three French regions: Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the west, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the north, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to the east. The Mediterranean Sea is to the southeast.

Its capital, Toulouse, is at 590 km (367 mi) to the southwest of Paris, the national capital, at 405 km (252 mi) to the west of Marseille, at 245 km (152 mi) to the southeast of Bordeaux and at 395 km (245 mi) to the north of Barcelona (Spain).

Rivers[change | change source]

There are two main drainage basin in the region; some rivers in those basins are:

  • Garonne river is 522 km (324 mi) long but, in the region it is 250 km (160 mi) long, more than half its total length.[2]
  • Tarn 381 km (237 mi)
  • Lot 485 km (301 mi)
  • Ariège 163.1 km (101.3 mi)
  • Gers 175.4 km (109.0 mi)
  • Tech 84.1 km (52.3 mi)
  • Têt 115.8 km (72.0 mi)
  • Agly 81.7 km (50.8 mi)
  • Aude 224 km (139 mi)
  • Rhône 812 km (505 mi)

Mountains[change | change source]

The Pic Vignemale (42°46′26″N 0°8′51″E / 42.77389°N 0.14750°E / 42.77389; 0.14750 (Vignemale)), at 3,299 m (10,823 ft), is the highest mountain of the Occitanie region; it is on the border with Spain.[3] It is in the Pyrénées National Park.

The highest point of the different departments of the Occitanie region are:[4]

Department Mountain Elevation
Ariège Pica d'Estats 3,142 m (10,308 ft)
Aude Pic de Madrès 2,469 m (8,100 ft)
Aveyron Signal de Mailhe-Biau 1,463 m (4,800 ft)
Gard Mont Aigoual 1,565 m (5,135 ft)
Haute-Garonne Perdiguero 3,221 m (10,568 ft)
Gers Mont de Chapelle Saint Roch 377 m (1,237 ft)
Hérault Valbonne 1,151 m (3,776 ft)
Lot Signal de Labastide-du-Haut-Mont 783 m (2,569 ft)
Lozère Mont Lozère 1,699 m (5,574 ft)
Hautes-Pyrénées Pic Vignemale 3,299 m (10,823 ft)
Pyrénées-Orientales Pic Carlit 2,921 m (9,583 ft)
Tarn Puech de Rascas 1,270 m (4,170 ft)
Tarn-et-Garonne Puech des Carts-Sommet Nord 504 m (1,654 ft)

Departments[change | change source]

The Occitanie region is formed by 13 departments:

ISO
3166-2
Shield Department Prefecture Arr. Cant. Comm. Population
(2014)[5]
Area
(km²)
Density
(Inh./km²)
FR-09 Ariège Foix 3 13 332 152,574 4,889.9 31.2
FR-11 Aude Carcassonne 3 19 436 365,478 6,139.0 59.5
FR-12 Aveyron Rodez 3 23 286 278,644 8,735.1 31.9
FR-30 Gard Nîmes 3 23 353 736,029 5,852.8 125.8
FR-31 Haute-Garonne Toulouse 3 27 589 1,317,668 6,309.3 208.8
FR-32 Gers Auch 3 17 462 190,625 6,256.8 30.5
FR-34 Hérault Montpellier 3 25 343 1,107,398 6,101.0 181.5
FR-46 Lot Cahors 3 17 326 173,648 5,216.5 33.3
FR-48 Lozère Mende 2 13 176 76,360 5,166.9 14.8
FR-65 Hautes-Pyrénées Tarbes 3 17 470 228,950 4,464.0 51.3
FR-66 Pyrénées-Orientales     Perpignan 3 17 226 466,327 4,116.0 113.3
FR-81 Tarn Albi 2 23 320 384,474 5,757.9 66.8
FR-82 Tarn-et-Garonne Montauban 2 30 195 252,578 3,718.3 67.9
Total of the Region 36 264 4,514 5,730,753 72,723.5 78.8

Arr. = Arrondissements          Cant. = Cantons          Comm. = Communes

Demographics[change | change source]

The Occitanie region had a population, in 2014, of 5,730,753, for a population density of 78.8 inhabitants/km2.

Le Capitole, Toulouse

The important cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants (2014) in the region are:

INSEE
code
City Department Population
(2014)
31555 Toulouse Haute-Garonne 466,297
34172 Montpellier Hérault 275,318
30189 Nîmes Gard 151,075
66136 Perpignan Pyrénées-Orientales 120,605
34032 Béziers Hérault 75,701
82121 Montauban Tarn-et-Garonne 58,826
11262 Narbonne Aude 52,855
81004 Albi Tarn 49,531
11069 Carcassonne Aude 45,941
34301 Sète Hérault 44,136
81065 Castres Tarn 41,382
65440 Tarbes Hautes-Pyrénées 40,900
30007 Alès Gard 39,993
31149 Colomiers Haute-Garonne 38,541
31557 Tournefeuille Haute-Garonne 26,674
34003 Agde Hérault 26,111
31395 Muret Haute-Garonne 24,975
34145 Lunel Hérault 24,873
12202 Rodez Aveyron 24,088
31069 Blagnac Haute-Garonne 23,416
34108 Frontignan Hérault 22,896
12145 Millau Aveyron 22,064
32013 Auch Gers 21,807

Gallery[change | change source]

Related pages[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. "Décret n° 2016-1264 du 28 septembre 2016 portant fixation du nom et du chef-lieu de le région Occitanie" (in French). Légifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  2. "La Garonne (O---0000)" (in French). SANDRE - Portail national d'accès aux référentiels sur l'eau. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  3. "Pic Vignemale, France/Spain". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  4. "France Department High Points". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  5. "Populations légales 2014 des départements et des collectivités d'outre-mer" (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2017.

Other websites[change | change source]