Occitanie is an administrative region in the South-West and
South-East of France resulting from the merger of the former
Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées regions. Created by the
territorial reform of 2014, it comprises 13 departments. Its capital is
Toulouse.
The region extends over 72,724 km2 and is comparable to
Ireland, making it the third largest region in France behind New
Aquitaine and Guyana, as well as the second in mainland France. It has
6,101,005 inhabitants (municipal population on January 1, 2023) and is
thus the fifth most populated French (and metropolitan) region. Its
population density is lower than the average for metropolitan France,
with 84 inhabitants/km2, which is the sixth lowest density among French
regions (and the fourth among metropolitan regions). However, its
population is very unevenly distributed, with two major cities (Toulouse
and Montpellier), a fairly densely populated Mediterranean coastline and
rural regions belonging to the “diagonal of the void”.
Its
largest city is Toulouse, which is also the regional prefecture, while
the second regional metropolis, Montpellier, retains several
administrations. The headquarters, the administrations and the general
management of the Regional Council are located in Toulouse and the
deliberative assemblies are held in Montpellier.
With a maritime
facade on the Mediterranean Sea, it brings together territories of the
Aquitaine Basin to the west (Gers, northern Hautes-Pyrénées and Ariège,
center and north of Haute-Garonne, center and west of Tarn -et-Garonne,
west of the Tarn, south of the Lot), the Pyrenees to the south (south of
the Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne and Ariège, south of the Aude and
west of the Pyrénées-Orientales), of the Massif Central to the north (
Aveyron and Lozère, central and northern Lot, eastern Tarn-et-Garonne
and Tarn, northern Aude, Hérault and Gard) and the Mediterranean basin
to the east (eastern Pyrénées-Orientales and Aude, south of Hérault and
Gard). It is bordered by the regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the west,
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the north and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to the
east, as well as by Spain and Andorra to the south.
Nîmes
Toulouse
Albi
Béziers
Carcassonne
Montpellier
Narbonne
Perpignan
Temporarily called Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées, the name
“Occitanie” has been official since September 28, 2016 and effective
since September 30, 2016. If it is subtitled “Pyrénées-Méditerranée” by
the regional council, this sub- title does not appear in the Official
Journal of the French Republic. The law initially provided for naming
the merged regions by juxtaposing the names of the former regions in
alphabetical order. The region is therefore provisionally named
"Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées" until a new name is chosen by
decree in Council of State on the proposal of the regional council of
the merged region, a decision to be taken before July 1, 2016.
On
June 24, 2016, the regional council meeting in plenary assembly voted in
favor of adopting the name Occitanie. This name will be accompanied by
the Pyrénées-Méditerranée signature in all of the region's official
communication. The name was validated by the Council of State and the
Government, and published in the official journal on September 29, 2016.
In 2016 and then in 2017, the Council of State rejected Catalan appeals
seeking to have the name Occitanie-Pays Catalan adopted.
The
logo, created by Léa Filipowicz19, takes up the motifs of the Occitan
cross (former arms of the Counts of Toulouse, gules with a cross
emptied, keyed and pommetée in gold) and the coat of arms of Roussillon
(equivalent to the former arms of the Counts of Barcelona, or four pales
gules). It was officially unveiled on Friday February 3, 2017 in
Montpellier by regional president Carole Delga.
The Occitanie region largely overlaps with the territory of the
Garonne watershed, which depends on the Adour-Garonne Water Agency based
in Toulouse. This river flows over approximately 250 km on the territory
of the region, i.e. almost half of the French course of the river (522
km), between the Franco-Spanish border at Pont-du-Roy (Fos,
Haute-Garonne) and the boundary with New Aquitaine at Lamagistère
(Tarn-et-Garonne). And its basin extends over 55,600 km2 in France,
corresponding to almost all of the former Midi-Pyrénées region, to the
north of Languedoc-Roussillon (especially Lozère), and to part of the
north of the former Aquitaine.
Nine of the ten main tributaries
of the Garonne (reaching or exceeding 100 km) flow entirely or mainly in
Occitanie: the Lot (about 400 km out of the 485 km in total length of
the river flowing from east to west on the right bank of the Garonne, in
Lozère, Aveyron and in the Lot department), the Tarn (380.2 km from east
to west on the right bank, in Lozère, Aveyron then in the departments of
Tarn, Haute- Garonne and Tarn-et-Garonne), Ariège (163.2 km from
south-south-east to north-north-west on the right bank, in the
Pyrénées-Orientales, the department of Ariège and Haute- Garonne), the
Gers (about 150 km out of the 175 km of the river flowing from south to
north on the left bank, in the Hautes-Pyrénées and in the department of
Gers), the Save (148.4 km from the south- west to north-east on the left
bank, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers and Haute-Garonne), the Baïse (140 km
out of the 188 km of the total course flowing from south to north on the
left bank, in the Hautes -Pyrenees and in the Gers), Gimone (135.7 km
from south - south-west to north - north-east on the left bank, in the
Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers, Haute-Garonne and Tarn-et- Garonne), Arrats (131
km of natural course and 162 km with the Neste canal from
south-south-west to north-north-east on the left bank, in the
Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Gers and Tarn-et-Garonne) and La Louge
(100 km from south-west to north-east on the left bank, in
Haute-Garonne).
The eastern limit of the region, in Gard and
Lozère, is attached to the Rhône basin. More specifically, it includes
the western part of the Rhône delta, in the Camargue: the Petite
Camargue. Two tributaries of more than 100 km, on the right bank of the
Rhône, flow from the northwest to the southeast in the departments of
Lozère and Gard: the Cèze (128.4 km) and the Gardon (127.3 km).
The Loire basin for its part concerns a small part of the regional
territory, namely 22 municipalities to the north-east of Lozère, the
department where the longest tributary of the Loire, the Allier (420.7
km from south to north on the left of the Loire, of which only 30 km is
in Lozère), has its source (at Moure de la Gardille in Margeride). The
triple meeting point of the watershed lines between the Rhône, Garonne
and Loire basins is at the top of Planas (1,271 m), near the boundary
between the municipalities of Belvezet and Allenc in Lozère.
Between these three watersheds, the Languedoc coastal plain is crossed
by two other rivers of relative importance to the southern rainfall
regime, the Aude (224 km from south to north then from west to east, in
the Pyrénées-Orientales, in Ariège, in the department of Aude and in
Hérault) and La Têt (115.8 km from west to east, in the
Pyrénées-Orientales). There are also several coastal rivers with the
Cévennes rainfall regime, the main ones being the Hérault (147.6 km from
north to south, in the Gard and the department of Hérault) and the Orb
(135.4 km from the north to south then from northwest to southeast, in
Aveyron and Hérault).
The south-west of the region (almost all of
the Hautes-Pyrénées department, western part of the Gers department) is
integrated into the Adour basin (308 km), and its main tributaries: gave
de Pau, Arros, Midouze. The Adour notably waters the town of Tarbes, the
Gave de Pau and that of Lourdes.
Numerous streams and rivers have
dug, in the reliefs of sedimentary rock of the region (especially in the
southern foothills of the Massif Central), steep passages called gorges.
The gorges of the Tarn, the gorges of the Hérault, the gorges of the
Gardon, the gorges of the Allier, for example, can thus be cited.
Many lagoons or coastal ponds line the Mediterranean coast,
separated from the sea by coastal bars formed by the sedimentary
contribution of the Rhône and connected to it by channels locally called
graus. The largest in the region, which is also its largest body of
water (the second largest French Mediterranean pond and the third
largest natural body of water in France, after Lake Geneva and the Etang
de Berre), is the Etang de Thau (75 km2) located in the Hérault, between
Agde and Sète. Other important ponds are those of Bages-Sigean (55 km2,
in Aude), Salses-Leucate (54.8 km2, between Pyrénées-Orientales and
Aude) and Or (or Mauguio , 31.4 km2, on the border between Hérault and
Gard).
The region extends over part of the two major mountainous massifs of
the South of France: the northern slope of the Pyrenees and the south of
the Massif Central.
The Pyrenean massif extends over
approximately 15,000 km2 in the region, covering more or less
significant portions of the Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Ariège, Aude
and Pyrénées-Orientales. This is thus 85.5% of the whole of the French
Pyrenees, and about a fifth of the regional territory. Part of the
Alpine belt and of Eocene age, it stretches from east to west and marks
the border with Spain. More particularly, the region includes the French
slopes of the central Pyrenees (the highest and with the fewest passes
between France and Spain, the highest regional point and of the French
Pyrenees is located there, at 3,298 m at Vignemale in the Hautes-
Pyrenees) and the eastern or Catalan Pyrenees (culminating at the Pic
Carlit at 2,921 m, it is nevertheless the Canigou, which dominates the
plain of Roussillon from the top of its 2,784 m, which appears
representative of the Catalan Pyrenees). The relief is marked by its
very deep south-north facing valleys, the rarity and high altitude of
its passes, its numerous mountain torrents (called gaves or nestes), the
frequency of cases where the upper part of a valley ends in a circus (of
Gavarnie, Troumouse or Marcadau in the Hautes-Pyrénées), the absence of
large lakes, compared to the Alps massif for example, and its low
population density (27.5 inhab./ km2 in 2006 for the whole of the French
Pyrenees).
The Massif Central covers for its part in the region
approximately 26,000 km2, i.e. all of Lozère, Aveyron and Lot, the
eastern limit of Tarn-et-Garonne and the south-eastern third of Tarn, as
well as the northern limits of Aude, Hérault and Gard. This corresponds
to 30% of the entire Massif Central and just over a third of the
regional territory. Set of ancient geological formation (Hercynian) and
therefore eroded, the relief is relatively hilly and moderately high,
combining plateaus, low and medium mountains. The highest point of the
massif in the region is the summit of Finiels at Mont Lozère (1,699 m).
The set includes heavily eroded karstic (limestone) plateaus called
causses (causses du Quercy in the northwest in the Lot and
Tarn-et-Garonne, Grands Causses like those of Larzac or Méjean in the
center-east in the Aveyron, in Lozère, Hérault and Gard), volcanic and
granitic high plateaus (Aubrac in the north in Aveyron and Lozère) or
crystalline (Lévézou in the center in Aveyron) and secondary mountain
ranges (Margeride to the northeast in Lozère, Cévennes to the east in
Aveyron, Lozère, in Hérault and Gard, and the succession of the
mountains of Lacaune, Caroux-Espinouse and the Montagne Noire to the
south between Haute- Garonne, Tarn, Aveyron, Aude and Hérault). These
regions are interspersed with low altitude acidic siliceous soils
(Ségala in the west in the Tarn and Aveyron) or the gorges of the main
rivers of the region.
These two massifs meet as closely as
possible at the level of the Montagne Noire and the Corbières massif,
separated by a narrow strip of plain and low hills, uniting the
Lauragais and the Minervois. Culminating at Naurouze (189 m), between
Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) and Biterrois (Hérault) via Carcassonne (Aude),
this geographical threshold thus connects the sedimentary basin which
extends to the west to to the Atlantic (Aquitaine Basin), and to the
east the sandy coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea (Languedoc coast).
This, in its hinterland, rises gradually towards the plateaus and
mountains of the Massif Central through a system of intermediate
limestone reliefs, between 200 and 400 m altitude (Garrigues).
The subsoil of the region has limited resources that were exploited in
the past. Mention may be made of tungsten mines (circus of Anglade in
Salau in the Ariège Pyrenees until 1987, the Fumade deposit in the Tarn
could be exploited in the future), gold (fed by alluvial deposits of
very low levels, most of the waterways of the Massif Central and the
Pyrenees being gold-bearing rivers, especially the Salsigne gold mine in
the Montagne Noire and the Aude department, closed in 2004), copper (for
example the Pioch Farrus mine, in Cabrières in Hérault, was exploited in
the late Neolithic period 5,000 years ago), bituminous shale (from Cisba
lake in Sévérac-le-Château in Aveyron to in 1951), zinc and lead (in
Arrens in the Hautes-Pyrénées until 1983, the Croix de Pallières mine in
the lower Cévennes of Gard was operated until 1971, that of Bentaillou
in the Pyrenean valley of Biros was arrested in 1955) or uranium (in
Lodève in the Hérault until 1997). The south of the Massif Central also
has coal reserves which were exploited until 2001 in the mines of the
Cévennes in the Gard (Pays d'Alès), Decazeville in the Aveyron and
Carmaux in the Tarn.
This particular topographical and geological
setting, as well as the situation of the region, contribute to creating
certain local climatic particularities.
The Occitanie region straddles three major climatic areas: the
Languedoc coast is subject to the Mediterranean climate (Csa, even
tending towards Csb in certain areas, according to the Köppen
classification); the Aquitaine Basin has a slightly warmer oceanic
climate because it is further south (Aquitaine oceanic climate, Cfb de
Köppen); the Massif Central and the Pyrenees have a climate under
mountain influence (only the highest peaks of the Pyrenees have a
mountain climate). The space located between Toulouse and the threshold
of Lauragais is subject to a Mediterranean climate under both oceanic
and mountain influence.
In the Mediterranean climate, the annual
amplitude is quite limited, being 14°C in Perpignan, 15°C in Sète, 17°C
in Montpellier and 18°C in Nîmes. These values are comparable to those
of semi-oceanic climates, despite the often lower latitude. The winters
are however a little milder than those of the western facade: the
average temperature in January ranges from 6.9°C in Nîmes to 8.4°C in
Perpignan, the number of annual frost days is 8.5 in Sète and 12.1 in
Grau-du-Roi on the coast, 13.5 in Perpignan and 25.3 in Montpellier, a
few km from the coast. Summers are by definition hot and dry; the
average July temperature ranges from 23°C in Sète to 24.9 in Nîmes. The
minimum rainfall in summer is recorded in July, 12.4 mm or 13.1 mm on
the coast respectively in Grau-du-Roi and Sète but 16.4 mm in
Montpellier, 17.1 mm in Perpignan and 28, 2 mm in Nimes. Sunshine, as on
the entire Mediterranean rim, is very high: on average, 2,506 hours per
year in Perpignan, 2,663 in Nîmes and 2,668.2 in Montpellier.
For
the Mediterranean climate under oceanic influence, the average
temperatures are slightly lower, in winter as in summer, and the
precipitations are stronger. Thus, in Toulouse and Albi, although the
annual amplitude remains almost identical to those of the Languedoc
coast (16°C), the thermal averages for January (5.9°C) and July (22°C)
are lower by 1 to 3°C, while the least rainy month, which remains July,
sees 37.7 mm of precipitation. There is less sunshine there (2,031 hours
per year in Toulouse and 2,200 hours in Albi).
Regarding the
Aquitaine oceanic climate, the winters remain rather mild (in January
5°C in Gourdon, 5.2 in Auch, 5.5 in Montauban) with frosts which can
however be severe. Over the period 1971-2000, the absolute minima are
−20°C in Montauban. Summers are hotter than in the oceanic type of the
territories located further north (in July 20.3°C in Gourdon, 20.7°C in
Auch, 22.5°C in Montauban) and stormy. As for the Paris area, the
amplitude increases with distance from the coast but remains within
reasonable limits, with 15.5°C in Auch. Precipitation is regular all
year round, but unlike the “Parisian” area, the summer minimum persists
most often, including when going east. There is also a maximum of spring
which does not exist in the north, in particular at the foot of the
Pyrenees. These rains are moderate in the center of the basin (Montauban
747 mm/year) and increase as you approach the massifs (Gourdon 883
mm/year). Sunshine decreases when approaching the Pyrénées-Atlantiques
with 1,866 hours per year in Auch, and increases towards the east and
the Mediterranean: Gourdon 2,054 hours and Albi 2,200 hours. Although
this climate is more southern than the “Parisian” type, fog or low
winter clouds in anticyclonic weather are still frequent.
In the
northern and southern massifs of the region, with altitude, the
temperature decreases and, for the slopes exposed to rainy winds,
precipitation increases. In the small massifs and the outer foothills,
the mountain climate corresponds to the climate of the neighboring plain
modified by altitude. Winters become much colder than in the plains, the
average temperature in January remains positive in the middle mountains:
0.6°C in Mende (1,019 m). However, this winter temperature becomes
clearly negative in the deep valleys or when the altitude increases,
such as at Mont Aigoual (1,567 m) with −1.4°C. Where the average winter
temperature is below 0°C, snow falls regularly and lasts a long time in
winter. Summers are cool, Mount Aigoual records a July average of
13.1°C. The decrease in temperature with altitude is not uniform
depending on the season, it is more marked in spring and summer than in
autumn and winter, which means that the annual amplitude tends to be
lower at altitude than in the surrounding plains. The rhythm of sunshine
is different, in winter in anticyclonic weather, the massifs generally
overhang the inversion layer, they are then sunny and relatively mild
while the plain remains cold and gray. In summer, cumulus clouds are
more numerous near the summits, the massifs experience cloudy weather
with thunderstorms at the end of the afternoon, while the weather
remains sunny in the plains. The mountains tend to be sunnier than the
plains in winter, and vice versa in summer.
The topographical
setting of the region also creates specific climatic and meteorological
phenomena. In particular, the reliefs create the conditions for the
development of relatively violent winds, by acceleration of the
maritime, oceanic or northern winds due to the channeling effect
(Venturi effect) of the surrounding massifs (Massif Central and Pyrenees
in the Lauragais threshold, Massif center and the Alps via the Rhone
corridor to the northeast). Thus, three corridor winds regularly mark
the territories of the region: coming from Lauragais, the autan wind
blows from the southeast / south-southeast in the eastern part of the
Aquitaine Basin and the southwest of the Massif Central , while the
tramontane comes in the opposite direction from the north-northwest
towards the Languedoc coast29,30. The mistral comes from the north –
north-east through the Rhône valley, and mainly affects the eastern part
of the Languedoc plain and the south-east of the Massif Central. These
winds, generally powerful, dry the air, clear the sky and, in winter in
the Mediterranean climate, can cause more frequent cold episodes than in
protected regions such as the Côte d'Azur.
The meeting of cold
oceanic air with warm and humid air carried by winds coming from the
Gulf of Lion (called "maritime entries"), and the accumulation of the
cloud masses thus formed on the reliefs of the south of the Massif
Central (mainly the Cévennes), cause violent storm phenomena. Called
"Cévennes episodes", they mainly affect Gard, Hérault and Lozère (an
identical phenomenon existing in Aude with the Montagne Noire), mainly
in autumn. Months of precipitation can then fall in a few days, causing
the swelling of coastal rivers (called Cévennes rivers) and flooding in
the plains, then causing significant damage.
In the Pyrenean
foothills and the Aquitaine basin, in autumn and winter, the south to
southwest wind can bring dry and exceptionally hot weather for the
season, due to the foehn effect due to the crossing of the Pyrenees by a
mild air mass from Spain. This phenomenon can promote forest fires.
The low densities of mountain territories have allowed the
maintenance of relatively large, preserved and diverse natural
environments. Agricultural areas cover 48% of the regional area,
supplemented by 43% of forests and 2% of other natural areas (and forest
areas tend to grow due to the agricultural decline known in the diagonal
of low densities or policies public). Thus, an inhabitant of Occitania
has, on average, 1.5 times more natural and agricultural space than in
the whole of metropolitan France, and the natural areas of ecological,
faunal and floristic interest (ZNIEFF) cover 52% of the regional
territory (compared to 24% for the whole of metropolitan France). Three
forest areas in the region are in the process of being labeled "Forêt
d'Exception" by the National Forestry Office (ONF) in 2018: those of
Mont Aigoual between Gard and Lozère, Camporells in the
Pyrénées-Orientales and Mount Valier in Ariège.
These natural
regions serve as biotopes for specific biocenoses and which are the
subject of preservation policies. In terms of number of species,
Occitania (and especially the former Languedoc-Roussillon) is one of the
three most important French regions in terms of biodiversity, along with
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Corsica. Four of the fourteen biosphere
reserves recognized by Unesco in France are located at least partially
in the region: the Camargue (in the Gard), the Cévennes (in Lozère and
in the Gard), the watershed of the Dordogne (in the Lot) and the Gorges
du Gardon (in the Gard exclusively). Among the areas of endemism or
sub-endemism are the mountainous massifs of the Pyrenees (for example,
the desman of the Pyrenees or the euprocte of the Pyrenees), the
Cévennes, the Causses and the Montagne Noire in the south of the Massif
central (especially plant species such as the Ophrys of Aveyron,
molluscs or insects), the Clape massif in the Aude, the Alaric mountain
in the Corbières or the Albères, but also the coastal rivers of the
coastal plain (Chabot du Lez, Chabot de l'Hérault and Minnow of
Septimanie) or the Pyrenean mountain streams. Several national action
plans for the reintroduction or restoration of vulnerable or extinct
species concerned the Occitanie region, starting with the reintroduction
of the bear in the Pyrenees carried out in 1996-1997 and 2006 in
Haute-Garonne and in the Hautes-Pyrenees.
Another emblematic
animal in the region, but causing strong tensions with the populations
living from livestock which had led to its gradual extermination and its
disappearance from French territory in the 1940s, the gray wolf
reappeared in the Alps in the 1990s and in the massifs of Occitanie in a
attested manner in the years 2000 and 2010. In 2016-2017, seven zones of
permanent presence (ZPP) of the wolf were attested in the region,
including four in the south of the Massif Central (Aubrac as well as as
the Grands Causses and Mont Lozère between Aveyron and Lozère, the
Caroux in the Hérault, and the Tanargue as well as the Moure de la
Gardille in Lozère but also in Ardèche and Haute-Loire) and in the
eastern Pyrenees ( on the peaks of Carlit and Puig de Campcardós,
Puigmal and Canigou, and Razès in the Pyrénées-Orientales and Aude).
The region has several protected areas, including the Pyrenees
National Park (part of which is classified as a World Heritage site in
the Pyrénées-Mont Perdu site), the Cévennes National Park and the Grands
Causses Regional Natural Park (which are part of the of the Causses and
Cévennes site classified as World Heritage), the Haut-Languedoc regional
natural park, the Causses du Quercy regional natural park, the
Narbonnaise regional natural park in the Mediterranean, the Catalan
Pyrenees regional natural park, the regional natural park of the Ariège
Pyrenees, the regional natural park of Aubrac, the marine natural park
of the Gulf of Lion and the five sites classified with the Grand Site de
France label of the Pont du Gard, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert and Gorges
Hérault, the Canigou massif, the Petite Camargue and the Cirque de
Navacelles.
On the other hand, the lowest altitudes of the
coastal plain and the Toulouse basin, historically the densest and most
urbanized, concentrate almost all of the demographic and economic
development experienced by the region since the 1960s (with the
attractiveness of the two metropolises or mass tourism on the
Mediterranean coast). This results in increasingly marked anthropogenic
pressure, causing the artificialization of agricultural land or natural
spaces (banks of waterways and ponds, coastal strips, scrubland, etc.)
through urban sprawl, the segmentation of the space by buildings and
traffic routes, soil depletion and pollution, for example by
agricultural inputs, the erosion of dunes on the coast, among others.
The geographical distribution of the population in Occitania is
characterized by the macrocephaly of Toulouse and Montpellier, a densely
populated and urbanized Mediterranean coastal plain, an agricultural
Toulouse hinterland and mountainous massifs forming part of the
"diagonal of low densities".
The urban framework of the regional
space has essentially been established since the central Middle Ages,
during which the urban development then experienced by the Christian
West - and particularly the Mediterranean regions - made it possible to
complete an initial network inherited from Antiquity.
Since then,
while the urban hierarchy has changed little and urban growth has been
very limited throughout the modern era and the Industrial Revolution,
the economic and demographic dynamism known since the last third of the
20th century has greatly contributed to urban spaces. It has been
accompanied by a phenomenon of metropolisation, with a densification of
increasingly vast peri-urban or interstitial spaces along the axes
around Toulouse and on the coast where “a quasi-urban continuum” is
forming. Similarly, while this growth has generally benefited all
cities, it has greatly contributed to widening the gaps between, on the
one hand, the two main regional cities, Toulouse and Montpellier, and,
on the other apart, the other agglomerations.
To the west, this
framework includes a monocentric system made up of medium-sized towns
(Montauban, Albi, Castres, Pamiers, Auch, Carcassonne, even Cahors and,
outside the region, Agen) arranged in a star pattern around the Toulouse
metropolis; to the east, large cities (especially Montpellier, but also
Perpignan and Nîmes) and more modest urban centers (Béziers, Narbonne,
Sète) which extend in a chain across the coastal plain from Avignon in
the northeast to in Perpignan to the south-west. Apart from these two
main networks, in a piedmont situation, a few agglomerations of relative
importance complete this network (Alès in front of the Cévennes in the
Gard, Rodez at the foot of the Grands Causses in the Aveyron or Tarbes
in the Pyrenean foothills) .
The organization of the transport networks corresponds to the distribution of the population in the region, and offers fairly diversified modes of travel.
The region has 10 airports, the most important of which are those of Toulouse-Blagnac (9,264,611 passengers in 2017) and Montpellier-Méditerranée (1,849,410 passengers in 2017) with many international connections to Europe and the Maghreb. The region also has many smaller capacity airports such as Nîmes-Garons, Perpignan-Rivesaltes, Carcassonne-Salvaza, and Béziers-Cap d'Agde, with many daily flights to the UK in particular. Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées airport welcomes international tourist-religious charter traffic to Lourdes. Finally, the region also has airports of regional importance such as Brive-Souillac, Castres-Mazamet and Rodez-Marcillac.
The region is crossed by the A9, A20, A54, A61, A62, A64, A66, A68,
A75, A620, A621, A623, A624, A645, A680, A709 and A750 motorways.
Four class A European roads pass through the regional territory: the
E9 (Orléans-Barcelona axis, passing through the region via the A20, A62,
A61, A66 and N20), the E11 ( Vierzon-Béziers, formed in the region by
the A75), the E15 (one of the "north-south" reference routes between
Inverness in Scotland to Algeciras in Andalusia, passing in particular
through London, Paris, Lyon and Barcelona, its route in the region
corresponds exclusively to the A9), the E72 (Bordeaux-Toulouse via the
A62), the E80 ("east-west" reference road between Lisbon and the
Turkey-Iran border passing between others, via Vitoria-Gasteiz,
Toulouse, Montpellier, Nice, Rome, Dubrovnik, Sofia and Istanbul, in the
Occitanie region it follows the route of the A64, A620, A61, A9 and A54)
.
The organization of the road network is twofold. First of all,
it is structured as a star around Toulouse in the western part of the
region, the most important axis being the "Autoroute des Deux Mers"
linking Bordeaux to Narbonne via the regional capital, but also
Montauban to the northwest and Carcassonne to the southeast, consisting
of the A62 and A61, the junction between the latter two forming the
eastern half of the Toulouse ring road. The other important routes of
this old "Midi-Pyrenean" network, which radiate from this Deux Mers
motorway or the A620 (former "western ring road" and current western and
southern portions of the Toulouse ring road) are the A64 "La Pyrénéenne"
towards Tarbes in the south-west and beyond Pau and Bayonne as well as
the A645 "slipway of the Val d'Aran" towards Spain, the A66
"L'Ariégeoise" and the RN20 towards Pamiers and Foix to the south, the
A68 "Autoroute du Pastel" (doubled by the A680 being extended to
Castres) and the RN88 towards Albi and Rodez to the northeast and beyond
to Lyon, the A20 "L'Occitane" from Montauban to Cahors to the north and
beyond to Vierzon, the A621 "Fil d'Ariane" to Blagnac airport to the
north-west, the A624 and the RN124 to Auch to the west and beyond
Mont-de-Marsan. The convergence of all these radial motorways as well as
the importance of commuting in the Toulouse urban area make the Toulouse
ring road the busiest road axis in Occitanie, with, in 2016 and on
average, more than 93,000 vehicles /d counted on all the permanent
counting stations of this ring road (figure amounting to more than
130,000 and up to 140,000 vehicles/d on the south-west portions, and
more than 120,000 in the north-west and north -East).
The network
is on the other hand more linear on the Mediterranean coastal plain,
organized from the A9 "La Languedocienne - La Catalane" (doubled by the
A709 for the service of the agglomeration of Montpellier and completed
from Nîmes towards Arles and Salon-de-Provence to the east by the A54)
and the main railway lines which practically follow the route of the
ancient Voie Domitienne. The fact that it serves several major cities
(Nîmes, Perpignan and above all Montpellier, but also, beyond the
eastern border of the region, Avignon) and a very busy tourist coast in
the summer (with the seaside resorts of the mission Racine), while being
part of a European axis linking together several European and even world
cities (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Barcelona) and generating significant
commercial flows, make the A9 one of the busiest motorways (and one of
the most congested) in France. It is still, outside the ring road, the
most used road axis in the region in 2016, especially between
Montpellier and Nîmes (around 90,000 vehicles/day on average for all the
permanent stations in this section, up to 119,500 vehicles /d in
Montpellier East). Although the intensity of this traffic is gradually
decreasing between Montpellier and the Franco-Spanish border (32,600
vehicles/day at Perthus on average in 2016), it is mainly personal
vehicles that use this section less, while the number of heavy goods is
still very important there (representing between 20% and 30% of
traffic).
Finally, a penetrating road linking this Mediterranean
coastal axis to the Massif Central was gradually developed between 1989
and 2014: the A75 "La Méridienne" from Béziers to the western part of
Lozère and beyond to Clermont- Ferrand to the north, symbolized by the
Millau viaduct (only paid section) and linked to Montpellier by the A750
“L'Héraultaise”.
The Franco-Spanish border is crossed in the
mountains by the Aragnouet-Bielsa tunnel, and passes such as the Col
d'Ares or the Col du Perthus.
The organization of this network takes up the characteristics of the
road network. It is thus starred from the Toulouse-Matabiau station in
the former Midi-Pyrénées, with the main axis being the cross between the
Atlantic and the Mediterranean: the line from Bordeaux-Saint-Jean to
Sète-Ville. On the other hand, it is more linear in the former
Languedoc-Roussillon, with the axis serving the main cities of the
coastal plain as its backbone and consisting successively of the line
from Tarascon to Sète-Ville, from the end of the Bordeaux line
-Saint-Jean to Sète-Ville between Sète and Narbonne and the line from
Narbonne to Port-Bou to the border. These main lines are connected to
the national and international network, and are used by the Regional
Express Transport (TER), Intercités and Intercités de nuit, TGV and Alta
Velocidad Española (AVE) trains, as well as trains freight.
The
most important stations in the region are all located on one of these
two axes, namely those of Toulouse-Matabiau, with approximately 10
million passengers in 2015, Montpellier-Saint-Roch, with 8 million
passengers same year, from Nîmes, 3.8 million, from Perpignan, 1.6
million, from Narbonne, 1.4 million, from Béziers, 1.3 million, from
Montauban-Ville-Bourbon, 1.1 million, from Sète, 1 million, and from
Carcassonne, 800,000.
The small lines, almost exclusively served
by TER, connect these stations to the rural hinterland and the
mountainous regions of the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, with for
example: from Toulouse, the line from Saint-Agne to Auch (from the
Toulouse-Saint-Agne station to the west and Auch), the line from
Toulouse to Bayonne (from Matabiau to the south-west, Tarbes and
Lourdes, then Pau and finally Bayonne), the Transpyrénéen Oriental (from
Portet station -Saint-Simon in the suburbs of Toulouse to the south,
Pamiers, Foix and finally the stations of Latour-de-Carol - Enveitg,
where it connects with the Cerdagne line also known as the "yellow
train" which joins Villefranche - Vernet -les-Bains and beyond the line
descending to Perpignan) and the line from Brive-la-Gaillarde to
Toulouse (from Matabiau towards the northeast, passing through
Saint-Sulpice from where a branch to Castres starts and Mazamet, via
Gaillac then via Figeac, which both allow the stations of Albi-Ville,
Albi-Madeleine and Rodez to be connected via a bypass); from
Montauban-Ville-Bourbon, the Orléans - Limoges - Montauban line
departing from Paris-Austerlitz station (towards the northeast, it
passes through Cahors station); from Carcassonne, the line from
Carcassonne to Rivesaltes (towards the south, single track, it is no
longer served by TER trains until Quillan via Limoux, certain portions
upstream and up to Rivesaltes can still be used for the transport of
minerals or by the Cathar country and Fenouillèdes train, a tourist
train); from Béziers, the Causses line (towards the north, it serves
Bédarieux, Millau, Sévérac-le-Château and the western part of Lozère
with Marvejols and Saint-Chély-d'Apcher, before continuing to
Neussargues in the Cantal); from Nîmes, the line from
Saint-Germain-des-Fossés to Nîmes (on which the Le Cévenol train runs,
from Nîmes station to the northwest, which serves Alès, the Cévennes at
Génolhac, the eastern part of Lozère with La Bastide -
Saint-Laurent-les-Bains then Langogne, and beyond to Clermont-Ferrand)
and the line from Saint-Césaire to Grau-du-Roi (from Saint-Césaire
station on a single track to the south-west, serving the Petite Camargue
to the sea with Aigues-Mortes and Grau-du-Roi, very busy in summer).
The Occitanie region manages the TER Occitanie network, inherited
from the two TER networks of the former Midi-Pyrénées and
Languedoc-Roussillon regions: the TER Midi-Pyrénées representing, in
2010, 356 train trips and 80 coach trips per day weekdays, and the TER
Languedoc-Roussillon, with, in the same year, 236 train runs and 53
coach runs per day on a full weekday. In 2016, traffic on this network
was 21 million passengers on the 543 trains of the 20 rail lines and 43
lines by coach of the network, traveling on a rail network of 2,514 km
and between 274 stations and stopping points. . The number of travelers
per daily average is around 56,000, which is equivalent to 3.66 trips
per inhabitant per year.
In 2016, for rail transport, the annual
budget of the Occitanie region amounted to 484 million euros. Between
the regionalization of the TER and 2016, Occitanie or its two
predecessors invested around 2 billion euros for rail transport. Between
2002 and 2016, the region financed 153 new trains, fitted out 65
interchange hubs, and refurbished 130 regional stations as well as 600
kilometers of regional railway lines. Going from 13.1 million annual
travelers in 2002 to 20.8 million in 2014, passenger traffic has
increased by 60%. In September 2018, the TER network merged with that of
coaches, school transport and regional on-demand transport to form the
Intermodal Lines of Occitanie (LiO).
The region is crossed by
three high-speed lines (LGV), crossing part of the coastal plain and
forming part of a European radial axis going from Paris to Madrid: the
LGV Méditerranée (put into service in 2001, it serves the station from
Nîmes and the future TGV station of Nîmes - Manduel - Redessan from the
Valence TGV station and, beyond, by the LGV Rhône-Alpes and Sud-Est,
from Paris-Gare-de-Lyon via the Gare de Lyon -Part-Dieu, or from
Marseille-Saint-Charles station), the Nîmes – Montpellier bypass (which
extends the previous one since 2017 for freight and from 2018 for
passengers to the new Montpellier-Sud station -de-France) and the LGV
Perpignan - Figueras (which links, since a progressive opening to
traffic between 2010 and 2013, the station of Perpignan to that of
Figueras-Vilafant on the other side of the border with Spain and,
beyond, to the stations of Girona, Barcelona-Sants then the future
Barcelona-Sagrera TAV, Zaragoza-Delicias and finally Madrid-Atocha by
the Spanish LGV Madrid-Barcelona-Figueras). Several lines are planned or
under construction: the new Montpellier - Perpignan line (which should
allow a complete high-speed service from Paris or Marseille to Madrid
via Barcelona, TGVs currently running at reduced speed on the classic
line , congested, serving the stations of Béziers and Narbonne) and the
LGV Bordeaux - Toulouse (one of the constituent elements of the major
South-West railway project or GPSO, this line should make it possible to
connect Toulouse-Matabiau station to that of Paris-Montparnasse via the
Montauban-Ville-Bourbon station and by connecting, at the
Bordeaux-Saint-Jean station, to the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique, the TGVs
circulating while waiting at reduced speed by taking the line classic
from Bordeaux-Saint-Jean to Sète-Ville). A new Toulouse - Narbonne line
has also been considered (but the launch of the public debate, scheduled
for 2012, never took place), which would make it possible to complete
the cross-sectional link between the Atlantic Ocean and the
Mediterranean Sea but also to connect the capital to Barcelona,
Marseille, Lyon and Paris-Gare-de-Lyon at high speed. The international
LGVs to Spain are operated by the Renfe-SNCF in Cooperation rail
partnership, which uses French TGVs or Spanish AVEs therefore traveling
at high speed from Paris or Marseille to Montpellier then from Perpignan
to Madrid, and at reduced speed from Toulouse or Montpellier to
Perpignan via Narbonne.
The region is crossed by the Canal des Deux-Mers which connects the
Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and consists of the Canal
Lateral à la Garonne and the Canal du Midi, as well as by the Canal du
Rhône à Sète between the Etang de Thau (and therefore the Mediterranean
Sea) and the Rhône. However, since the 1970s and 1980s, these river axes
no longer accommodate any transport of goods, which were their initial
vocation. Instead, significant river tourism has developed.
The
only river axis to retain commercial and industrial importance is the
Rhône at the eastern limit of the region, with the multimodal hub of
Beaucaire (the only Rhone port located in the region, but mainly
intended for yachting) - Tarascon (industrial and secondary river) -
Arles (main industrial and port site in this area).
With its facade open to the Mediterranean Sea, commercial ports have
developed such as the port of Sète (the first in the region in tonnes of
goods, the second on the French Mediterranean coast, far behind the
large maritime port of Marseille and the 11th in France), the port of
Port-la-Nouvelle (the second in the region, the third on the French
Mediterranean coast but the first for the export of cereals or the
second for the import of petroleum products, and the 21st in France ) or
the port of Port-Vendres (the third in the region, the eighth in French
Mediterranean waters and the 35th in France for all the goods traded,
but it is above all the second fruit port in the whole of the
Mediterranean) . But these three ports, all beneficiaries of the “Ports
Sud de France” label, concentrate only a small part of the maritime
traffic of goods in French Mediterranean waters, the bulk of it being
provided by Marseille. The Occitanie region is, with Brittany, the only
metropolitan region with access to the sea to have no major seaport in
2018. The two main commercial ports, those of Sète and Port-la-Nouvelle,
are properties of the region.
For passenger transport, only the
ports of Sète and, to a lesser extent, Port-Vendres stand out, while
being very far from the major platforms of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
(Marseille, Nice, Toulon) and from Corsica (Bastia and Ajaccio).
In Occitania, only the agglomeration of Toulouse has a metro network.
The urban areas of Toulouse and Montpellier are also the only two to
have a tram network.
However, all major cities have a bus
network. This is the case for the largest main cities such as Toulouse
or Montpellier, but also for medium-sized cities such as Tarbes,
Montauban, Albi, Rodez, Carcassonne or even Sète. The departments also
have interurban lines. The cities of Nîmes and Perpignan also have a
high-level service bus network (BHNS).
Four cities have a
self-service bicycle system: Toulouse (VélôToulouse), Montpellier
(Vélomagg'), Perpignan (BIP!) and Tarbes (Vél'en ville).
From September 2018, the Occitanie region becomes the organizing authority for all interurban and school transport in the region, in addition to TER. This leads to the transformation of the departmental interurban networks into a single regional network, called Lignes intermodales d'Occitanie. In 2018, this network will consist of approximately 360 regular lines, as well as thousands of school lines, on-demand transport services, and the currently existing TERs. This new network is accompanied by the creation of two lines in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, the only department where these did not exist. Despite this unique network, in 2020, it will still be difficult to travel between different departments, without taking regional TER coaches at least, the standardization of the network taking time. In addition, for the moment, there is still no single tariff range: each network will keep its own for the 2020-2021 school year.
With 5,933,185 inhabitants on January 1, 2019, Occitanie is the fifth most populated French region. It is also one of the most dynamic demographically, in particular thanks to a very positive migratory balance. But, with 79 inhabitants/km2, it is also the sixth least dense region, and the fourth in mainland France (excluding Corsica). The population is very unevenly distributed there, with two poles concentrating nearly three-fifths of the inhabitants: the urban area of Toulouse (nearly a quarter), which forms a monocentric system to the west, and the Languedoc coastal plain (more than a third ), very urbanized, polycentric and included in the Mediterranean Arc, to the east. Between the two, the rest of the Aquitaine Basin as well as the reliefs of the Pyrenees and the Massif Central constitute for their part the south-western limit of the “Diagonal of the void”.
The Occitanie region has been one of the regions with the strongest
demographic growth in metropolitan France for many years. During the
period 2007-2012, the increase in population averaged 0.9% per year,
which places it second in mainland France after the territorial
community of Corsica (1.1%). This dynamism is mainly driven by the large
conurbations (1.4% annual growth in the urban area of Toulouse, 1.3 in
that of Montpellier and 1.1 for those of Perpignan or Béziers), by the
whole coast (1.3% in Hérault which is one of the two most attractive
departments, 1% in Gard, 0.9% in Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales) and by
Tarn-et-Garonne (1.3%). Conversely, the least dynamic departments are
those located in the heart of the Pyrenees (average annual growth was
zero between 2007 and 2012 in the Hautes-Pyrénées) and the Massif
Central (also 0% in Lozère, 0.1% in Aveyron).
Demographic growth
is explained above all by the strong attractiveness of these territories
(heliotropism), since the apparent migratory balance was, between 2007
and 2012, a surplus of 40,400 people, then carrying four-fifths of the
population growth and making the region the first land of reception of
Metropolis in absolute value. In relation to the population, this
migratory balance represents an average annual growth of +0.7%, the
second in mainland France, again behind Corsica (+1.1%). On the other
hand, the rate of population change due to the natural balance is
relatively low (+0.2% per year between 2007 and 2012), i.e. twice less
than the metropolitan average and a level comparable to that of several
other major regions. (Brittany, Burgundy-Franche-Comté, Centre-Val de
Loire). However, the ratio between natural balance and migratory balance
is more balanced in the two regional cities, the two being equal at +
0.7% per year between 2007 and 2012 in the urban area of Toulouse and
respectively at + 0 .6% and + 0.7% in Montpellier.
On the other
hand, the natural balance is particularly weak, even negative, in the
more modest agglomerations (+ 0.2% per year in the urban area of
Perpignan, + 0.1% in that of Béziers, - 0.1% in the urban unit of Alès)
and in all the departments of the Pyrenees (0% in the
Pyrénées-Orientales, -0.2% in the Ariège and the Hautes-Pyrénées), the
rural Aquitaine basin (-0, 3% in Gers, 0% in Tarn) and the Massif
Central (-0.3% in Lot, -0.2% in Aveyron and Lozère).
This low
natural balance is strongly associated with the average age of the
population, which is slightly higher than in the country as a whole: in
fact, the under 20s represent only 23% of the regional population,
compared to 24.4 % for the whole of metropolitan France, while people
aged 65 or over make up almost a fifth of the inhabitants (19.7%), ie
2.5 points more than the average for Metropolitan France. Moreover, the
proportion of very old people, over 80, was 6.5% in 2012, compared to
5.5% at metropolitan level. The same disparities observed for the
natural balance are visible with regard to the distribution by age:
indeed, the two urban areas of Toulouse and Montpellier, student towns
and important technology parks on a national or even European scale, are
younger and maintain or attract young workers by a more diversified job
offer than in the rest of the region. Thus, in the urban area of
Toulouse, the under 20s rose to 24.7% and the over 65s fell to 14.2% in
2012, and these figures were 23.9% for the under 20s. years and 15.5%
for those over 65 in the urban area of Montpellier. On the other hand,
there were 20% under 20 years old and 25.6% over 65 years old in the
Lot, as well as 20.9% and 24.7% respectively in Aveyron, 20.9% and 24.4%
in Gers, 20.9% and 23.9% in Hautes-Pyrénées, 21.4% and 23% in Ariège,
21.4% and 22.05% in Lozère, 22.7% and 22.8% in the Pyrénées-Orientales
as well as 22.9% and 22.5% in the urban unit of Béziers.
It is therefore migratory flows, both internal to French territory
and international, that drive the bulk of demographic growth. As a
result, less than six out of ten inhabitants in 2011 were born in the
future Occitanie region, compared to an average of more than two thirds
of natives for the other regions. A large proportion of these
non-natives come from other French regions, with relatively varied
profiles and ages (students attracted by the Toulouse or Montpellier
university centres, active in employment or not, especially from their
thirties onwards with an even higher net migration high for people
nearing the end of their career, mainly retirees). More specifically, in
2008, 3,183,471 inhabitants of the future region were born there, ie
58.7% of the total population (50.8% from Languedoc-Roussillon and 59.9
from Midi-Pyrénées). Among the 2,236,475 residents born outside this
territory, more than two-thirds (1,519,265 people or 67.9%) came from
another metropolitan region, especially Île-de-France (379,678 residents
or 17%), the future neighboring regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (227,083
and 10.2%), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (179,912 and 8%) and
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (162,457 and 7.3%), as well as old industrial
regions in the north such as the future Hauts-de-France (151,306 and
6.8%) or the Grand Est (135,169 and 6%). Added to this were 32,382
people from overseas territories (1.4%).
A significant proportion
of these residents born outside the region's borders were born abroad.
Also in 2008, there were 684,828 or 30.6% of natives living outside (and
12.6% of the regional population). About two-thirds of them are
immigrants, as defined by INSEE and the former High Council for
Integration, namely “a person born abroad and residing in France”. These
therefore do not include repatriates from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco
(Pieds-noirs and Harkis), numerous in the former Languedoc-Roussillon
(one of the two main settlement regions for these communities, with
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur), particularly in the major conurbations of
Montpellier (in the district of La Paillade in the north or in the town
of Lattes in its southern suburbs, for example, with 25,000 repatriated
from Algeria settled between 1962 and 1963), Béziers, Sète, Perpignan,
Narbonne or Toulouse. Pieds-noirs and Harkis (who were first grouped
together in concentration camps such as that of Rivesaltes in the
Pyrénées-Orientales or Saint-Maurice-l'Ardoise in the Gard) then largely
contributed to the development of these urban centers which were still
in the 1960s only small provincial towns that were not very dynamic.
Nowadays, Pied-noir culture and ancestry is very strong in Occitania,
and many political figures claim this affiliation (Pierre Cohen, former
mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Marc Pujol, mayor of Perpignan, Robert Ménard,
mayor of Béziers, Julien Sanchez, mayor of Beaucaire, Kléber Mesquida,
deputy then president of the departmental council of Hérault, Louis
Aliot, deputy of Pyrénées-Orientales, Ysabel Saiah, wife of Dominique
Baudis, Bernard Soléra, mayor of Quint-Fonsegrives, Paul Quilès, Mayor
of Cordes-sur-Ciel, Secretary of State Kader Arif, etc.), making the
Pieds-noirs an essential electoral and economic lobby in Occitania.
In absolute value, the region is the fourth in mainland France in
number of immigrants in 2012 (469,325 people), far behind Île-de-France
and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes but almost on a par with Provence- Alps-Cote
d'Azur. On the other hand, in relative value and in relation to the
regional population, the proportion of immigrants is lower than the
metropolitan average (8.3% against 8.8%, but higher than the 6.7% in
provincial France) and brings its place within the regions in fifth
place (tied with the Grand Est and behind Corsica). The share of
immigrants in the departmental population is highest in
Pyrénées-Orientales (10%), Hérault (9.5%), Haute-Garonne (9.2%) and Gard
(8.8%). ), and lowest in Lozère and Aveyron (4.5%).
The regional
space has been, since Antiquity, a land of welcome for major
international population movements. During the 20th century, various
communities settled in the region. The Italians arrived at the turn of
the century, working in the vineyards or for the Salins du Midi and
causing violent reactions to their installation which marked the
regional history, such as the massacre of Aigues-Mortes in August 1893.
From the 1930s, the Spanish refugees from the Retirada after the war in
Spain were first concentrated in camps with deplorable living
conditions, hastily settled mainly on the beaches of the Roussillon
coast, like those of Argelès. -sur-Mer or Barcarès, but also other
departments, such as the Agde camp in Hérault. A large part of them will
then settle in the Pyrénées-Orientales, more generally in all the
coastal departments of the former Languedoc-Roussillon or in those of
the Pyrenean border (Hautes-Pyrénées and Ariège), adding to a few
communities formed at the beginning of the century by the migration of
agricultural workers mainly from the region of Murcia (Mauguio being one
of the main centers of this immigration in the region and more generally
in France). These populations of Spanish origin have strongly marked the
region demographically, economically and culturally, by maintaining
specific practices (romerias, bullfights, flamenco, bullfights, etc.).
The arrivals of Spaniards, like those of Italians, however gradually
decreased from the end of the 1960s to become almost non-existent at the
end of the 20th century. The Portuguese came from the 1960s (even if few
of them settled in the region, compared to Île-de-France for example),
as did the Algerians, many of whom settled in France after the War of
Independence. Moroccans and nationals of sub-Saharan Africa or Asia have
largely immigrated since the late 1970s and 1980s.
Thus, almost
half of these immigrants living in the region (45.7%) come from another
country of the European Union (mainly from the neighboring country,
Spain, but also from Italy or Portugal), almost one-fifth (19%) from
Morocco (mainly concentrated in Gard, Hérault and Tarn-et-Garonne) and
one-tenth (11.4%) from Algeria (fairly large community in Haute-Garonne,
especially in the Toulouse conurbation). These immigrant populations,
and especially those of African origin, are mainly concentrated in
certain districts of the urban centers of the large urban areas of the
region, generally those where the number of social housing (in the form
of large complexes) is important: Bagatelle , La Reynerie and
Bellefontaine in the south-west receive 20% of immigrants from the
municipality of Toulouse; La Paillade, Hauts-de-Massanne, Alco and Le
Petit Bard, to the north-west of Montpellier, are the districts of this
agglomeration with the highest proportions of immigrants (more than 15%
in 1999); the same applies to the Haut-Vernet, Bas-Vernet and
Moyen-Vernet districts to the north of Perpignan; for Mont-du-Plan in
the center-east of Nîmes; for La Devèze south-east of Béziers. The
immigrant populations originating from Spain, Italy or Portugal, as well
as their descendants, although also very present in the large urban
centers, are however more distributed in space than those originating
from the African continent, and the percentage of of them living in a
peri-urban or rural commune is more important.
An increasing
number of people from Eastern Europe are arriving in this French region,
especially from Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Moldova and Ukraine.