Languedoc-Roussillon

¹ French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers

Languedoc-Roussillon (Occitan: Lengadòc-Rosselhon; Catalan: Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is one of the 26 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.

1 Geography
2 Politics
3 Wine
4 Major communities
5 See also
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Geography

The region is made up of the following historical provinces:

68.7% of Languedoc-Roussillon is the province of Languedoc: departments of Hérault, Gard, Aude, extreme south and extreme east of Lozère, and extreme north of Pyrénées-Orientales. The former province of Languedoc also extends over the Midi-Pyrénées region, including the old capital of Languedoc Toulouse.

17.9% of Languedoc-Roussillon is the province of Gévaudan: Lozère department. A small part of Gévaudan is also inside the Auvergne region. Gévaudan is often considered to be a sub-province inside the province of Languedoc, in which case Languedoc accounts for 86.6% of Languedoc-Roussillon.

13.4% of Languedoc-Roussillon, located in the southernmost part of the region, is a collection of five historical Catalan pays: Roussillon, Vallespir, Conflent, Capcir, and Cerdagne, all of which are in turn included -east to west- in the Pyrénées-Orientales département. These pays were part of the Ancient Regime province of Roussillon, owning its name to the largest and most populous of the five pays, Roussillon. "Province of Roussillon and adjacent lands of Cerdagne" was indeed the name that was officially used after the area became French in 1659, based on the historical division of the five pays between the county of Roussillon (Roussillon and Vallespir) and the county of Cerdagne (Cerdagne, Capcir, and Conflent).

[edit] Politics

At the regional elections in March 2004, the socialist mayor of Montpellier Georges Frêche, a maverick in French politics, conquered the region, defeating its center-right president. Since then, Georges Frêche has embarked on a complete overhaul of the region and its institutions. The flag of the region, which displayed the cross of Languedoc as well as the Flag of Roussillon (the "Senyera"), was changed for a new nondescript flag with no reference to the old provinces, except in terms of the colors (red and yellow), which are the colors of both Languedoc and all the territories from the former Crown of Aragon.

In the same spirit, Georges Frêche also wanted to change the name of the region, wishing to erase its duality (Languedoc vs. Roussillon) and strengthen its unity. Thus, he wanted to rename the region "Septimanie" (Septimania). Septimania was the name created by the Romans at the end of the Roman Empire for the coastal area corresponding quite well to present day Languedoc-Roussillon (including Roussillon, but not including Gévaudan), and used in the early Middle Ages for the area. This name, however, has not been in use since the 9th century, and it sounded quite odd to French people^{[citation needed]}. A strong opposition of the population led to Georges Frêche giving up on his idea. He declared that he still believed in it but could not go ahead without a mandate.

Regional Council in Montpellier, designed by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill

Actually, Catalan nationalism in Roussillon would like the Pyrénées-Orientales department to secede from Languedoc-Roussillon and become a region in its own right, which they wish to name "Catalunya Nord" (i.e. Northern Catalonia), but the public is not demanding it and the French government opposes it anyway.

On the other hand, in the current debate over the reform of French political divisions, which focuses on the fact that there exist too many small regions in France, there are some who would like to merge the Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées regions, thus reunifying the old province of Languedoc, and creating a large region able to compete at the European level. It seems probable that Georges Frêche, with his idea of a "Septimanie" region, would not support such plans, although political leaders in Béziers, Narbonne, and especially Nîmes, would probably support such a merger, hostile as they are to Montpellier, which was chosen as the capital of Languedoc-Roussillon instead of their own city, and which they accuse of hegemony^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Wine

Former flag of Languedoc-Roussillon.

The Languedoc-Roussillon region is dominated by 740,300 acres of vineyards, three times the combined area of the vineyards in Bordeaux. The region has been an important winemaking centre for centuries. Grapevines are said to have existed in the South of France since the Pliocene period - before the existence of Man. The first vineyards of Gaul developed around two towns: Béziers and Narbonne. The Mediterranean climate and plentiful land with soil ranging from rocky sand to thick clay was very suitable for the production of wine, and it is estimated that one in ten bottles of the world's wine was produced in this region during the 20th century (Robinson 1999:395). Despite this enormous quantity, the area's significance was often overlooked by scholarly publications and commercial journals, largely due to the fact that very little of the wine being produced was classified under an appellation contrôlée until the 1980s (Joseph 2005:190).

Several entrepreneurs like Robert Skalli and James Herrick drastically changed the face of the region, planting more commercially viable grape varieties and pushing for new AOC classifications. While the AOC system has origins in the 15th Century, the Languedoc-Roussillon has some appellations like the Cabardes which have only existed by law since 1999 (Joseph 2005:190).