Picardie

Région Picardie
Region flag	Region logo
Location
Administration
Capital	Amiens
Regional President	Claude Gewerc (PS) (since 2004)
Departments	Aisne Oise Somme
Arrondissements	13
Cantons	129
Communes	2,292
Statistics
Land area1	19,399 km²
Population	(Ranked 12th)
- January 1, 2007 est.	1,890,000
- March 8, 1999 census	1,857,481
- Density (2007)	97/km²
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

Picardie (English: Picardy) is one of the 26 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.

History

The modern region of Picardie is larger than the historical province of Picardy. The south of the Aisne department and most of the Oise department were historically part of the province of Île-de-France, while the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department were the province of Picardy proper, with the Boulonais, that is now in Nord-Pas-de-Calais region (Pas-de-Calais departement).

As the historical Picardy was deemed too small to become a region, the French government decided to join it with the north of Île-de-France (specifically, the pays of Beauvaisis, Valois, Noyonnais, Laonnois, Soissonnais, Omois, to name only the most prominent). The name of the historical province of Picardy was given to this new region.

Geography

The Picardie region is considered by some to be an artificial region, with the south of the Oise department lying inside the metropolitan area of Paris. People in the south of Oise commute to Île-de-France for work, and hardly feel Picard (the local inhabitant and traditionally Picard language speakers) unlike those coming from the north of the region for whom the term is very meaningful.

The industrial area of Saint-Quentin in the north of Picardie has been hard hit by economic crisis, the south of the region, at the border with Île-de-France, is booming due to the increasing inflow of Parisians relocating to the distant and greener towns of the Oise department, in short thanks to what some call rurbanisation.

Between the 1990 and 1999 censuses, the population of Oise increased 0.61% per year (almost twice faster than France as a whole), while the Aisne department lost inhabitants, and the Somme barely grew with a 0.16% growth per year. Today, 41.3% of the population of Picardie live inside the Oise department, which historically was not part of Picardy.

Although Picardy proper is a vast flat plain of open fields, famed for the gruesome Battle of the Somme, the south of Picardie (historically part of Île-de-France) is a very scenic hilly area with large forests.

Administration

The president of the regional council is Claude Gewerc, a Socialist and has been in office since 2004 when he defeated longtime UDF incumbent Gilles de Robien.

The city of Amiens, the regional capital, is administered by Socialist Gilles Demailly since 2008, when he defeated longtime mayor Gilles de Robien (NC).

Major communities

• Abbeville
• Amiens
• Beauvais
• Compiègne
• Creil
• Laon
• Saint-Quentin
• Soissons

External links

• (French) Official regional council website
• (English) Pictures of Picardy
• (English) photos from Southern Picardie

Regions of France Alsace • Aquitaine • Auvergne • Bourgogne • Bretagne • Centre • Champagne-Ardenne • Corsica • Franche-Comté • Île-de-France • Languedoc-Roussillon • Limousin • Lorraine • Midi-Pyrénées • Nord-Pas de Calais • Basse-Normandie • Haute-Normandie • Pays de la Loire • Picardie • Poitou-Charentes • Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur • Rhône-Alpes Overseas regions: French Guiana • Guadeloupe • Martinique • Réunion

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