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:

DépartementPréfectureISO3166-2Population(2012)Area(km²)Density(Inh./km²)AriègeFoix FR-09 152,366  4,890 AveyronRodezFR-12276,2298,735 Haute-GaronneToulouseFR-311,279,3496,309 GersAuchFR-32189,5306,257 LotCahorsFR-46174,3465,217 Hautes-PyrénéesTarbesFR-65228,8544,464 TarnAlbiFR-81378,9475,758 Tarn-et-GaronneMontaubanFR-82246,9713,718 

Demographics
In 2012, The Midi-Pyrénées region had a population of 2,926,592. Its population density was  inhabitants/km2.

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

Gallery

References

Other websites

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

Category:Former administrative regions of France