Occitania

Occitania (Occitan: Occitània) is the historic country and the cultural area of southwestern Europe where Occitan is the autochthonous language. Is is politically located in southern France, part of Italy (Occitan Valleys), part of Spain (Aran Valley) and Monaco. Occitania is often referred to as the Midi (i.e. the 'South' in French), although this term lacks of linguistic precision.

Occitania comprises the following cultural regions, from west to east: Bearn, Gascony (including Aran Valley), Limousin, southern Bourbonnais, Auvergne, Guyenne, Languedoc, southern Dauphiné, the Occitan Valleys, Provence, the County of Nice and Monaco.

Since the Middle Ages, Occitania has always existed as a cohesive, cultural area with a certain counsciousness of its unity, as the literary development of the Occitan language shows (and the usual term Midi). Nonetheless it has never been a political entity. Several political attemps of unification existed, especially between the 11th and the 13th centuries, carried on by the Duchy of Aquitania, the County of Toulouse and the Kingdom of Aragon. Since the 19th century, several movements have tried to improve the social use of Occitan and to achieve the public recognition of Occitan culture. Part of the Occitan movement expresses political claims ranging from regional autonomy to full independence. In 1990, Occitan was recognized as an official language in Aran Valley (Spain) and in 1999, it became a protected languague in a large part of the Occitan Valleys (Italy).