Midi-Pyrénées

Midi-Pyrénées (Occitan: Miègjorn-Pirenèus or Mieidia-Pirenèus) is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Occitanie. It is part of the historical region of Occitania. The name of the region is not based on any old name, like in most other regions, but on the geography of the region, Midi (meaning "southern France") - Pyrénées (Pyrenees mountains that are the highest mountains in the region). The French adjective and name of the people living in the region is Midi-Pyrénéen. The departments in the region were Ariège, Aveyron, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Lot, Hautes-Pyrénées, Tarn, and Tarn-et-Garonne. Its capital was Toulouse. Geography The Midi-Pyrénées region is the largest region of Metropolitan France. It had an area of 45,348 km2 (17,509 sq mi). It bordered to the south with Spain and Andorra. It also bordered four French regions: Aquitaine to the west, Limousin to the north, Auvergne to the northeast and Languedoc-Roussillon to the east. The region can be divided into three landscape zones: The south is dominated by the high mountains of the Pyrenees. The north-east and the north are part of the highlands of the Massif Central The central and north-western parts of the region, however, are flat. This zone is dominated by the Garonne river and its tributaries, which drains most of the region to the Atlantic Ocean. The Pic Vignemale (42°46′26″N 0°8′51″E), at 3,299 m (10,823 ft), is the highest point of the Midi-Pyrénées region; it is on the border with Spain. The Vignemale is in the Pyrénées National Park. The main rivers of the region are the Garonne river, that flows through the Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées and Tarn-et-Garonne departments; and the Adour river, that flows through the Hautes-Pyrénées and Gers departments. Departments The Midi-Pyrénées region was formed by eight departments: Demographics In 2012, The Midi-Pyrénées region had a population of 2,926,592. Its population density was 64.5 inhabitants/km2. The 10 most important cities in the region were: Gallery References Other websites Regional Council of Midi-Pyrénées official website Archived 2011-09-13 at the Wayback Machine (in French) france.fr - Official website of France (in French) About-France.com: MIDI-PYRENEES - a short guide