Occitanie

The region has some of Europe's oldest human remains, found in a cave at Tautavel in the Roussillon, and the painted caves of Niaux in the Ariège. Rome founded Narbonne in 118 BC as its first colony in Gaul outside Italy and ran the Via Domitia along the coast to Spain; Nîmes, with its arena, temple and aqueduct, was one of the richest cities of Roman Gaul. After Rome, Toulouse became the capital of the Visigothic kingdom in the 5th century.

In the Middle Ages the Counts of Toulouse ruled a rich, largely independent land where troubadours composed in the Occitan language. The Cathar religious movement spread here, and in 1209 the Pope proclaimed the Albigensian Crusade: Béziers was sacked, Carcassonne taken, and the Cathar stronghold of Montségur fell in 1244. The region then came under the French crown. The Canal du Midi, built by Pierre-Paul Riquet and completed in 1681, linked the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Roussillon, long Catalan, became French in 1659, and the Protestant Camisards of the Cévennes rebelled against Louis XIV in 1702.

In 1858 the visions of Bernadette Soubirous turned Lourdes into a major pilgrimage centre, and in 1907 Languedoc's wine growers revolted over falling prices. In the 20th century Toulouse became the centre of French aviation and then of Airbus and the space industry. The region was formed in 2016 with Toulouse as capital.

The region takes its name from Occitan, the language of oc, still spoken by a minority and visible on bilingual street signs in Toulouse and other towns. Its cross, the red-and-gold Occitan cross of the Counts of Toulouse, appears on flags and buildings. In the Pyrénées-Orientales, Catalan identity is strong: people dance the sardana, fly the Catalan flag and look to Barcelona as much as to Paris.

Rugby is the dominant sport, and Stade Toulousain is one of Europe's most successful clubs. In Nîmes and Béziers, ferias with bullfights, music and street parties draw huge crowds, while in the Gard's Petite Camargue the course camarguaise, in which competitors try to snatch rosettes from a bull's horns without harming it, is popular. Sète is known for its water jousting, with boatmen trying to knock each other into the canal. The Cévennes preserve a strong Protestant heritage, and Lourdes adds a very different, Catholic character to the western Pyrenees.

Crafts include Laguiole knives from the Aubrac, and gloves from Millau. Montpellier is home to one of the oldest medical schools still operating, and its universities give the city a young population.

About six million people live in Occitanie. Toulouse, with around 500,000 people, is the fourth-largest city in France; Montpellier has about 300,000 and is one of the fastest-growing. Nîmes, Perpignan, Béziers, Narbonne, Montauban, Albi and Carcassonne are the other main towns, while the Lozère is the least populated department in France.

Toulouse's economy is built on aerospace — Airbus is headquartered there and many suppliers surround it — along with CNES's Toulouse Space Centre and research institutions. Montpellier focuses on health, universities and technology. Elsewhere, the economy relies on wine, farming and tourism, and Languedoc is one of the largest wine-growing areas in the world.

Days follow a southern rhythm: morning markets, long lunches and evenings in the squares during summer. Pressure on housing and water, droughts and the future of struggling vineyards are current concerns.

Cassoulet is the region's signature dish: white beans slow-cooked with duck or goose confit, sausage and pork, and claimed by Castelnaudary, Carcassonne and Toulouse, which is also famous for its coarse pork saucisse de Toulouse. In the Aubrac, aligot is mashed potato beaten with fresh tomme cheese until it stretches. The Gers produces foie gras and duck, and Armagnac, a grape brandy.

Roquefort is a blue ewe's-milk cheese matured in caves at Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the Aveyron, while Rocamadour and Pélardon are small goat cheeses. On the coast, Nîmes makes brandade de morue, a purée of salt cod with olive oil and garlic; Sète has the tielle, a spicy octopus pie; oysters and mussels come from the Étang de Thau; and Collioure is known for its salted anchovies. Roussillon has Catalan dishes such as crème catalane, a custard with a caramelised top.

The vineyards produce Corbières, Minervois, Faugères and Pic Saint-Loup reds, the white Picpoul de Pinet, the sparkling Blanquette de Limoux, sweet wines from Banyuls and Rivesaltes, dark Malbec from Cahors, and Madiran and Gaillac in the west.

Toulouse has the brick Basilica of Saint-Sernin, the Capitole, the Jacobins convent, the banks of the Garonne and the Cité de l'espace, a space museum. The Canal du Midi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, runs from Toulouse to the Mediterranean. Albi's cathedral of Sainte-Cécile and the Toulouse-Lautrec museum lie to the north-east, with the hill town of Cordes-sur-Ciel nearby, and further north are Conques, Moissac's cloister, Rocamadour, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie on the Lot, and the Millau Viaduct.

Carcassonne's Cité rises above the Aude, and the Cathar castles of Peyrepertuse, Quéribus and Montségur stand on rocky summits. In the east, Nîmes has its Roman arena and the Maison Carrée, and the Pont du Gard spans the Gardon nearby, along with Uzès. Montpellier offers the Place de la Comédie and its old quarter, with Sète, the walled town of Aigues-Mortes and the Catalan port of Collioure on the coast.

Among the mountains, the Pyrenees include the Cirque de Gavarnie, the Pic du Midi observatory, Canigou and the Train Jaune through the Cerdagne. Lourdes' Sanctuary of Our Lady and the grotto attract pilgrims throughout the year. Further north, the Cévennes national park, the limestone Causses and the Tarn gorges provide walking, canoeing and caves.