Occitania

Lore & Background

Occitania is a historical and cultural region in southern Europe defined by the historic presence of the Occitan language. Its territory roughly encompasses the southern third of France, excluding the French Basque Country and French Catalonia, along with the Aran Valley in Spain, Monaco, and the Occitan Valleys in Italy. The region covers approximately 190,000 square kilometers and had a population of about fifteen million in 1999, though the number of Occitan speakers is imperfectly known, with estimates ranging between 200,000 and 800,000 native or proficient speakers. The area was united in Roman times as the Seven Provinces and later in the Early Middle Ages as Aquitanica or the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse. The name "Occitania" likely originated as a portmanteau of the Occitan word for "yes" (*òc*) and "Aquitània," blending language and land. Dante Alighieri used the Italian form *Lingua d'òc* in the late 13th century. Occitan culture flourished in the High Middle Ages, with troubadours using the language for works featuring courtly love and ideas of religious and social tolerance. The modern Occitan linguistic territory, as surveyed at the end of the 19th century, defines the most common current boundaries, though the term can also be applied historically to a larger area extending north to the Loire. Since 2006, Occitan has been an official language in Catalonia, which includes the Aran Valley, where it gained official status in 1990.

Reader's Guide

Occitania’s significance is rooted in its linguistic and cultural identity, which reached a peak during the High Middle Ages. In this period, troubadours writing in Occitan produced works centered on courtly love and often promoted ideas of religious and social tolerance. The region’s boundaries are not fixed and depend on the criteria applied. A geolinguistic definition follows the area where Occitan was spoken at the end of the 19th century, excluding formerly Occitanophone regions. A broader historical and anthropological definition extends north to the Loire River, encompassing areas that were once Occitan-speaking, such as Aguiaine, Boischaut, and Bourbonnais. Occitanian culture also influenced northern Italy and the Catalan Countries, where troubadours used a literary Occitan koiné, and led to the emergence of an Occitan dialect south of the Pyrenees. The name “Occitania” itself appeared in the Middle Ages, designating the part of the French royal domain where the langue d’oc was spoken. Today, the term is most commonly used for the territory where Occitan has persisted, covering roughly 190,000 square kilometers across southern France, the Alpine valleys of western Piedmont in Italy, the Val d’Aran in Spain, and Monaco. This area had about fifteen million inhabitants in 1999, though the number of Occitan speakers remains imprecisely known due to the lack of a linguistic census.

Did You Know?

• Occitania has been recognized as a linguistic and cultural concept since the Middle Ages.
• The seven-pointed star emblem of the Felibritge symbolized the seven provinces of Occitania, one of which was Catalan.