Limousin (; ) is a former

administrative region Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of southwest-central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

Creuse Creuse (; or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the east, Cor ...

, and

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; , ; Upper Vienne) is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture an ...

. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

. Situated mostly in the west side of south-central French Massif Central, Limousin had (in 2010) 742,770 inhabitants spread out on nearly , making it the least populated region of

metropolitan France Metropolitan France ( or ), also known as European France (), is the area of France which is geographically in Europe and chiefly comprises #Hexagon, the mainland, popularly known as "the Hexagon" ( or ), and Corsica. This collective name for the ...

. Forming part of the southwest of the country, Limousin was bordered by the regions of

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (; ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior ...

to the north,

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

to the east,

Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; or ; ) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark. ...

to the south,

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

to the southwest, and

Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ) was an administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It comprised four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. It included the historical provinces of Angoumo ...

to the west. Limousin was also part of the larger historical

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

region.

Population

The population of Limousin was aging and, until 1999, was declining. The department of Creuse had the oldest population of any in France. Between 1999 and 2004 the population of Limousin increased slightly, reversing a decline for the first time in decades.

Major communities

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

Guéret Guéret (; Occitan: ''Garait'') is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography Guéret is a light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland a ...

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

Panazol Panazol (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. It is an eastern suburb of Limoges. Panazol is the third largest town in the department (by population), after Limoges and Saint-J ...

Saint-Junien Saint-Junien (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. Its sister city is Jumet, Belgium. History The history of Saint-Junien began in AD 500, when an ascetic of Hungarian orig ...

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Corrèze, in the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle- ...

* Ussel

History

Limousin was one of the traditional

provinces of France Under the Ancien Régime, the Kingdom of France was subdivided in multiple different ways (judicial, military, ecclesiastical, etc.) into several administrative units, until the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into ...

. Its name derived from that of a

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic tribe, the

Lemovices The Lemovīcēs (Gaulish: *''Lēmouīcēs'', 'those who vanquish by the elm') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Limousin region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Lemovices'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. ...

, who had their capital at

Saint-Denis-des-Murs Saint-Denis-des-Murs (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. It is situated in the Limousin region (now part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region), in the southern-centre of France at ...

and whose main sanctuary in 2004 was found in

Tintignac Tintignac is a hamlet near Naves in the Corrèze region of France. It is primarily known for the archaeological remains of a sanctuary where Gallic and Gallo-Roman artefacts have been found, including seven carnyces (war trumpets) and ornamente ...

, a site which became a major site for Celtic studies thanks to unique objects which were found – such as the carnyces, unique in the whole Celtic world. Viscount

Aimar V of Limoges Aimar V(c. 1135 – c. 1199) was a Viscount of Limoges and a nobleman in the Duchy of Aquitaine. Life Born in Limoges around 1135, his family named him Boson; he later adopted the traditional name for the previous viscounts, Aimar. He was orp ...

( – ) was a notable ruler of the region.

Language

Until the 1970s,

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

was the primary language of rural areas. There remained several different Occitan dialects in use in Limousin, although their use was rapidly declining. These were: *

Limousin Limousin (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...

() dialect *

Auvergnat (; ) or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rath ...

() dialect in the East/North-East *

Languedocien Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian, or Lengadocian () is an Occitan language, Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Lang ...

() in the Southern fringe of

* in the North, the Crescent transition area between Occitan and French is sometimes considered as a separate (basically Occitan) dialect called Marchois ().

Transport

* The word

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

is derived from the name of the region. A particular type of carriage hood or roof physically resembled the raised hood of the cloak worn by the shepherds there.

Notable residents

From Corrèze

From Creuse

From Haute-Vienne

Footnotes

External links

Limousin : the “château d'eau”
- Official French website (in English) *
Limousin regional council website
with a presentation video in English. *
Art in the Limousin region
*
History and Geography (University of Limoges)
{{Authority control Massif Central History of Nouvelle-Aquitaine History of Corrèze History of Dordogne History of Haute-Vienne Former regions of France NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union 1956 establishments in France States and territories established in 1956 2015 disestablishments in France States and territories disestablished in 2015 France geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia