Midi-Pyrénées

**Midi-Pyrénées** ( 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 . 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 (), at , 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:

|Département|Préfecture|ISO 3166-2|Population <small>(2012)</small>|Area <small>(km²)</small>|Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small>|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Ariège|Foix|style="text-align:center;"|FR-09|align="right"|152,366|align="right"|4,890|style="text-align:center;"||
|Aveyron|Rodez|style="text-align:center;"|FR-12|align="right"|276,229|align="right"|8,735|style="text-align:center;"||
|Haute-Garonne|Toulouse|style="text-align:center;"|FR-31|align="right"|1,279,349|align="right"|6,309|style="text-align:center;"||
|Gers|Auch|style="text-align:center;"|FR-32|align="right"|189,530|align="right"|6,257|style="text-align:center;"||
|Lot|Cahors|style="text-align:center;"|FR-46|align="right"|174,346|align="right"|5,217|style="text-align:center;"||
|Hautes-Pyrénées|Tarbes|style="text-align:center;"|FR-65|align="right"|228,854|align="right"|4,464|style="text-align:center;"||
|Tarn|Albi|style="text-align:center;"|FR-81|align="right"|378,947|align="right"|5,758|style="text-align:center;"||
|Tarn-et-Garonne|Montauban|style="text-align:center;"|FR-82|align="right"|246,971|align="right"|3,718|style="text-align:center;"||

## Demographics

In 2012, The Midi-Pyrénées region had a population of 2,926,592. Its population density was  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>.

The 10 most important cities in the region were:
|City|Population (2012)|Départment|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Toulouse|453,317|Haute-Garonne|
|Montauban|56,887|Tarn-et-Garonne|
|Albi|49,231|Tarn|
|Tarbes|41,664|Hautes-Pyrénées|
|Castres|41,529|Tarn|
|Colomiers|36,699|Haute-Garonne|
|Tournefeuille|26,342|Haute-Garonne|
|Muret|24,492|Haute-Garonne|
|Rodez|23,744|Aveyron|
|Blagnac|22,983|Haute-Garonne|

## Other websites

- Regional Council of Midi-Pyrénées official website
- france.fr - Official website of France
- About-France.com: MIDI-PYRENEES - a short guide

## Infobox (settlement)

- **official name**: Midi-Pyrénées
- **native name lang**: fr
- **settlement type**: Regions of France, Region of France
- **image flag**: Flag of Midi-Pyrénées.svg
- **flag size**: 120px
- **image shield**: Arms of Languedoc.svg
- **blank emblem size**: 75px
- **image map**: Midi-Pyrénées in France.svg
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **extinct title**: Dissolved
- **extinct date**: 1 January 2016
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Toulouse
- **parts type**: Departments of France, Departments
- **parts style**: list
- **parts**: 8
- **p1**: Ariège (department), Ariège
- **p2**: Aveyron
- **p3**: Haute-Garonne
- **p4**: Gers
- **p5**: Lot (department), Lot
- **p6**: Hautes-Pyrénées
- **p7**: Tarn (department), Tarn
- **p8**: Tarn-et-Garonne
- **leader party**: Socialist Party (France), PS
- **leader title**: President of the Regional Council (France), President
- **leader name**: Martin Malvy
- **area total km2**: 45348
- **population total**: 2926592
- **population as of**: 1 January 2012
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **blank name sec1**: Gross domestic product, GDP (2012)
- **blank info sec1**: List of French regions and overseas collectivities by GDP, Ranked 8th
- **blank1 name sec1**: Total
- **blank1 info sec1**: €79.9 billion (US$102.7 bn)
- **blank2 name sec1**: Per capita
- **blank2 info sec1**: €27,198 (US$34,982)
- **blank name sec2**: First level NUTS of the European Union#France, NUTS Region
- **blank info sec2**: FR6
- **website**: [http://www.midipyrenees.fr/ Midi-Pyrenees Region]
- **iso code**: FR-N