ARIèGE

'Ariège' (Occitan: ''Arièja'') is a department in southwestern France named after the Ariège River.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Culture

See also

External links

History

Ariège is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the counties of Foix and Couserans.

Geography

The department is part of the current region of Midi-Pyrénées and is surrounded by the French departments of Haute-Garonne, Aude, and Pyrénées-Orientales, as well as Spain and Andorra on the south.
The geography is dominated by the Pyrenees mountains, which form the border between France and Spain.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called ''Ariégeois''.

Culture

The region was originally part of Aquitaine and has retained many hallmarks of the Gascon culture and Gascon language. It voted at more than 59% for the left-wings during the first turn of the 2007 presidential election.

See also

★ Cantons of the Ariège department

★ Communes of the Ariège department

★ Arrondissements of the Ariège department

External links

★ Conseil general website

★ Prefecture website

★ http://www.ariegenews.com/

★ http://www.ariege.com/