14 Facts About Occitania

Occitania is the historical region in Western and Southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, often as a second language.

Occitania has been recognized as a linguistic and cultural concept since the Middle Ages, but has never been a legal nor a political entity under this name.

Under Roman rule, most of Occitania was known as Aquitania, the earlier conquered territories were known as Provincia Romana, while the northern provinces of what is France were called Gallia .

The term "Occitania" becomes commonplace more and more in the vocabulary of scientists.

The term Occitania is a synonym for Languedoc and the Mediterranean coast in the Middle Ages.

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Occitania or Pays d'Oc are the most frequently used terms today.

Social characteristics of Occitania are not eternal and intangible because factors of endogenous mutations and European influences, especially of Northern France, can blur these social peculiarities.

In France, Occitania has been confronted with a problem of recognition of Occitan since 1992; the French is the only "language of the Republic".

Administrative regions covering Occitania are the following: Occitanie region, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur.

Occitania roughly covers a southern third of France, the Occitan Valleys and Guardia Piemontese, in Italy, as well as the Val d'Aran, in Spain.

Occitania was often politically united during the Early Middle Ages, under the Visigothic Kingdom and several Merovingian and Carolingian sovereigns.

Nonetheless, Occitania suffered a tangle of varying loyalties to nominal sovereigns: from the 9th to the 13th centuries, the dukes of Aquitaine, the counts of Foix, the counts of Toulouse and the Counts of Barcelona competed for control over the various pays of Occitania.

Deodat de Severac, another Romantic music composer, was born in the region, and, following his schooling in Paris, he returned to Occitania to compose; he sought to incorporate the music indigenous to the area into his compositions.

Occitania is home of a great variety of cheeses, and a great diversity of wines .