Southern France, Le Midi, Satellite picture (NASA World Wind)

Southern France (or the South of France), colloquially known as le Midi[1][2] is a loosely defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Gironde, Spain, the Mediterranean, Italy, and Switzerland south of the Jura Mountains. Le Midi includes[3]

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

[edit] Films set in the South of France

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lyons, Declan (18 February 2009). Cycling guide to the Canal du Midi, Languedoc, France, Europe. Midpoint Trade Books. ISBN 978-1852845599. 
  2. ^ Passy, Paul (1904). International French-English and English-French dictionary. Hinds, Noble & Eldredge. http://books.google.com/books?id=yKBiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA388&lpg=PA388&dq=Le+Midi+mi+middle+and+di+day&source=bl&ots=ZPeHLqzY0O&sig=K16UDycphGigtJnYQb5sOwjZ10U&hl=en&ei=lhZzSsrSKor8MKPQhLEM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#v=onepage&f=false. 
  3. ^ "The Regions of France - Midi (from the Pyrenees to the Riviera)". about-france.com. http://about-france.com/regions.htm#6. Retrieved 2009-09-18. 

[edit] See also