Occitania

Occitania (Occitan: Occitània) is a historic area in southwestern Europe where Occitan is the autochthonous language. It is politically located in southern France, part of Italy (Occitan Valleys), part of Spain (Aran Valley) and Monaco. Occitania is often referred to as the Midi (i.e. the 'South' in French), although this term lacks of linguistic precision.

Geography

Occitania forms a large isthmus between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe, stretching between two seas, the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and three mountains, the Alps, the Massif Central and the Pyrenees.

Occitania comprises the following cultural regions, from west to east: Bearn, Gascony (including Aran Valley), Limousin, southern Bourbonnais, Auvergne, Velay, Vivarais, Guyenne, Languedoc, southern Dauphiné, the Occitan Valleys, Provence, the County of Nice and Monaco.

The largest cities are Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nice.

History

Since the Middle Ages, Occitania has always existed as a cohesive, cultural area with a certain consciousness of its unity, as the literary development of the Occitan language shows (and the usual term Midi). Nonetheless it has never been a political entity. Several political attemps of unification existed, especially between the 11th and the 13th centuries, carried on by the Duchy of Aquitania, the County of Toulouse and the Kingdom of Aragon. Since the 19th century, several movements have tried to improve the social use of Occitan and to achieve the public recognition of Occitan culture. Part of the Occitan movement expresses political claims ranging from regional autonomy to full independence. In 1990, Occitan was recognized as an official language in Aran Valley (Spain) and in 1999, it became a protected language in a large part of the Occitan Valleys (Italy).