Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Nòva Aquitània or Novèla Aquitània ; Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: Novéle-Aguiéne) is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014 through the merger of three regions: Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes. It covers 84036 km2 – or 1⁄8 of the country – and has 5,956,978 inhabitants (municipal population on 1 January 2017). The new region was established on 1 January 2016, following the regional elections in December 2015.
It is the largest region in France by area (including overseas regions such as French Guiana), with a territory slightly larger than that of Austria. Its prefecture and largest city, Bordeaux, together with its suburbs and satellite cities, forms the seventh-largest metropolitan area of France, with 850,000 inhabitants. The region has 25 major urban areas, among which the most important after Bordeaux are Bayonne (288,000 inhabitants), Limoges (283,000), Poitiers (255,000), Pau (241,000) and La Rochelle (206,000), as well as eleven major clusters.
New Aquitaine has five universities (Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Limoges, Poitiers and Pau) and several Grandes Écoles. It has three of the four historic resorts on the French Atlantic coast: Arcachon, Biarritz and Royan, as well as several ski resorts (most notably Gourette).
Its economy is based on agriculture and viticulture (vineyards of Bordeaux and Cognac), tourism, a powerful aerospace industry, digital economy and design, parachemical and pharmaceutical industries, financial sector (Niort) and industrial ceramics (Limoges). The new region includes major parts of Southern France ("Midi de la France"), marked by Basque, Occitan, Poitevin and Saintongeais cultures. Historically, it is the "indirect successor" to medieval Aquitaine; it extends over a large part of the former Duchy of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
* For the recent history of each former administrative regions and departments before 2016,
* For the history of past entities covering much of the area of the region before the French revolution,
It is the largest region in France by area (including overseas regions such as French Guiana), with a territory slightly larger than that of Austria. Its prefecture and largest city, Bordeaux, together with its suburbs and satellite cities, forms the seventh-largest metropolitan area of France, with 850,000 inhabitants. The region has 25 major urban areas, among which the most important after Bordeaux are Bayonne (288,000 inhabitants), Limoges (283,000), Poitiers (255,000), Pau (241,000) and La Rochelle (206,000), as well as eleven major clusters.
New Aquitaine has five universities (Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Limoges, Poitiers and Pau) and several Grandes Écoles. It has three of the four historic resorts on the French Atlantic coast: Arcachon, Biarritz and Royan, as well as several ski resorts (most notably Gourette).
Its economy is based on agriculture and viticulture (vineyards of Bordeaux and Cognac), tourism, a powerful aerospace industry, digital economy and design, parachemical and pharmaceutical industries, financial sector (Niort) and industrial ceramics (Limoges). The new region includes major parts of Southern France ("Midi de la France"), marked by Basque, Occitan, Poitevin and Saintongeais cultures. Historically, it is the "indirect successor" to medieval Aquitaine; it extends over a large part of the former Duchy of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
* For the recent history of each former administrative regions and departments before 2016,
* For the history of past entities covering much of the area of the region before the French revolution,
Map - Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Map
Country - France
Flag of France |
Inhabited since the Palaeolithic era, the territory of Metropolitan France was settled by Celtic tribes known as Gauls during the Iron Age. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture that laid the foundation of the French language. The Germanic Franks formed the Kingdom of Francia, which became the heartland of the Carolingian Empire. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia becoming the Kingdom of France in 987. In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but highly decentralised feudal kingdom. Philip II successfully strengthened royal power and defeated his rivals to double the size of the crown lands; by the end of his reign, France had emerged as the most powerful state in Europe. From the mid-14th to the mid-15th century, France was plunged into a series of dynastic conflicts involving England, collectively known as the Hundred Years' War, and a distinct French identity emerged as a result. The French Renaissance saw art and culture flourish, conflict with the House of Habsburg, and the establishment of a global colonial empire, which by the 20th century would become the second-largest in the world. The second half of the 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Huguenots that severely weakened the country. France again emerged as Europe's dominant power in the 17th century under Louis XIV following the Thirty Years' War. Inadequate economic policies, inequitable taxes and frequent wars (notably a defeat in the Seven Years' War and costly involvement in the American War of Independence) left the kingdom in a precarious economic situation by the end of the 18th century. This precipitated the French Revolution of 1789, which overthrew the Ancien Régime and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
EUR | Euro | € | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
EU | Basque language |
BR | Breton language |
CA | Catalan language |
CO | Corsican language |
FR | French language |
OC | Occitan language |