Midi-Pyrénées is the largest région of metropolitan France, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark, twice larger than Massachusett, and half the size of Indiana. It covers a total of
45,348 km² and contains the departments
Ariège,
Aveyron,
Gers,
Haute-Garonne,
Hautes-Pyrénées,
Lot,
Tarn and
Tarn-et-Garonne.
Midi-Pyrénées is best known worldwide for three local "products" that have achieved world fame: Airbus aircrafts, Roquefort cheese, and the Catholic pilgrimage center of Lourdes. This goes a long way into unveiling the extreme contrasts and diversity that exist within the very heterogeneous of Midi-Pyrénées.
Indeed, Midi-Pyrénées has no historical or geographical unity. It is one of these régions of France created artificially in the late 20th century to serve as an hinterland and zone of influence for its capital, Toulouse, one of a handful so-called "balancing metropolises" (métropoles d'équilibre).
The name chosen for the new région was decided by the French central government without reference to the historical provinces (too many of them inside the région) and based purely on geography: Midi (i.e. "southern regions", in a Parisian perspective) - Pyrénées Pyrenees mountains that are the southern limit of the région). The French adjective and name of the inhabitants of the région is: Midi-Pyrénéen.
