What is "occitania"

Occitania (, , , , or ), also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the historical region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses the southern half of France, as well as Monaco and smaller parts of Italy ( Occitan Valleys, Guardia Piemontese) and Spain ( Aran Valley). Occitania has been recognized as a linguistic and cultural concept since the Middle Ages, but has never been a legal nor a political entity under this name, although the territory was united in Roman times as the Seven Provinces and in the early Middle Ages (Aquitanica or the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse) before the French conquest started in the early 13th century.

Currently about a half million people out of 16 million in the area have a proficient knowledge of Occitan, although the languages more usually spoken in the area are French, Italian, Catalan and Spanish. Since 2006, the Occitan language has been an official language of Catalonia, which includes the Aran Valley where Occitan gained official status in 1990.

Under later Roman rule (after 355), most of Occitania was known as Aquitania, itself part of the Seven Provinces within a wider Provincia Romana (modern Provence), while the northern provinces of what is now France were called Gallia ( Gaul). Gallia Aquitania (or Aquitanica) is thus also a name used since medieval times for Occitania (i.e. Limousin, Auvergne, Languedoc and Gascony), including Provence as well in the early 6th century. Thus the historic Duchy of Aquitaine must not be confused with the modern French region called Aquitaine: this is the main reason why the term Occitania was revived in the mid-19th century. The names "Occitania" and "Occitan language" (Occitana lingua) appeared in Latin texts from as early as 1242–1254 to 1290 and during the following years of the early 14th century; texts exist in which the area is referred to indirectly as "the country of the Occitan language" (Patria Linguae Occitanae). This derives from the name Lenga d'òc that was used in Italian (Lingua d'òc) by Dante in the late 13th century. The somewhat uncommon ending of the term Occitania is most probably a portmanteau French clerks coined from òc and Aquitània , thus blending the language and the land in just one concept. Occitan and Lenga d'òc both refer to the centuries-old set of Romance dialects that use òc for "yes".

1. Redirect Occitania

Occitania is a region of France that was created on 1 January 2016 from former French regions Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées. It was initially given the temporary name "Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées"; on 24 June 2016, the regional assembly in Toulouse adopted the name Région Occitanie, with the long-form Région Occitanie (Pyrénées-Méditerranée), as the name of the region. The name adopted by the regional council must be approved by the Council of State by 1 October 2016, before the name can become official.

The new region covers an area of more than with a population of 5,626,858.