Limousin

Limousin
Lemosin (Occitan)
Flag of Limousin
Coat of arms of Limousin
Coordinates: 45°41′17″N 1°37′14″E / 45.68795°N 1.620483°E / 45.68795; 1.620483
Country France
Dissolved2016-01-01
PrefectureLimoges
Departments
Government
 • PresidentGérard Vandenbroucke (PS)
Area
INSEE
 • Total16,942 km2 (6,541 sq mi)
Population
(2010-01-01)
 • Total742,770
 • Density44/km2 (110/sq mi)
Gross Regional Product
 • Total€19.771 billion
 • Per capita€27,000
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeFR-L
NUTS RegionFR6
Website(in French)cr-limousin.fr

Limousin (French pronunciation: [limuzɛ̃] ; Occitan: Lemosin [lemuˈzi]) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne.

Situated mostly in the west side of south-central French Massif Central, Limousin had (in 2010) 742,770 inhabitants spread out on nearly 17,000 km2 (6,600 square miles), making it the least populated region of metropolitan France.

Forming part of the southwest of the country, Limousin is bordered by the regions of Centre-Val de Loire to the north, Auvergne to the east, Midi-Pyrénées to the south, Aquitaine to the southwest, and Poitou-Charentes to the west. Limousin is also part of the larger historical Occitania region.

Population

The population of Limousin is aging and, until 1999, was declining. The department of Creuse has the oldest population of any in France. Between 1999 and 2004 the population of Limousin increased slightly, reversing a decline for the first time in decades.

Major communities

Limoges, half-timbered house by the bridge Saint Martial
Small river in Creuse, Limousin

History

Coat of Arms of Limousin

Limousin is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its name derives from that of a Celtic tribe, the Lemovices, who had their capital at Saint-Denis-des-Murs and whose main sanctuary in 2004 was found in Tintignac, a site which became a major site for Celtic studies thanks to unique objects which were found – such as the carnyces, unique in the whole Celtic world.

Viscount Aimar V of Limoges (c. 1135c. 1199) was a notable ruler of the region.

Language

Until the 1970s, Occitan was the primary language of rural areas. There remain several different Occitan dialects in use in Limousin, although their use is rapidly declining. These are:

Transportation

  • The word limousine is derived from the name of the region. A particular type of carriage hood or roof physically resembled the raised hood of the cloak worn by the shepherds there.

Notable residents

From Corrèze

From Creuse

From Haute-Vienne

See also

Footnotes

External links


This page was last updated at 2023-11-12 19:22 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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