Southern France

Southern France (or the south of France), colloquially known as le Midi, is defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin, Spain, the Mediterranean, and Italy. The Midi includes:

  • Aquitaine
  • Midi-Pyrénées
  • Languedoc-Roussillon
  • Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
  • Corsica
  • Rhône-Alpes (the Southern parts)
  • Poitou-Charentes (the Southern parts)

This area corresponds in large part to Occitania; that to say, the territory in which Occitan (French: langue d'oc) — as distinct from the langues d'oïl of northern France — was historically the dominant language. The regions of Auvergne and Limousin are also a part of Occitania but are not normally referred to as southern France.

The term Midi derives from mi (middle) and di (day) in Old French; compare Mezzogiorno, the south of Italy. The time of midday was synonymous with the direction of south because in France, as in all of the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is in the south at noon. The synonymy existed in Middle French as well, where meridien can refer to both midday and south.

Read more about Southern France:  Films Set in The South of France

Famous quotes containing the words southern and/or france:

    Archaeologists have uncovered six-thousand-year-old clay tablets from southern Babylonia that describe in great detail how the adults of that community found the younger generation to be insolent and disobedient.
    Lawrence Kutner (20th century)

    The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets or steal bread.
    —Anatole France (1844–1924)