Occitania

Occitania is the southernmost administrative region of metropolitan France excluding Corsica, created on 1 January 2016 from the former regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées. The Council of State approved Occitania as the new name of the region on 28 September 2016, coming into effect on 30 September 2016. The modern administrative region is named after the larger cultural and historical region of Occitania, which corresponds with the southern third of France. The region of Occitania as it is today covers a territory similar to that ruled by the Counts of Toulouse in the 12th and 13th centuries. The banner of arms of the Counts of Toulouse, known colloquially as the Occitan cross, is used by the modern region and is also a popular cultural symbol. In 2020, Occitania had a population of 5,973,969. Toponymy Enacted in 2014, the territorial reform of French regions had been subject to debate for many years. The reform law used as the new region's provisional name, the hyphenated names of its predecessors: Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées, in alphabetical order. As for most of the merged regions, a permanent name was then proposed by the new regional council to replace that provisional name. On 24 June 2016, the Regional Council of Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées adopted the name Occitania after lengthy public consultation. The provisional name of the region was withdrawn on 30 September 2016, when the new name took effect.