Toulouse (pronounced in standard
French, and locally with Toulouse accent) (in
Occitan:
Tolosa, pronounced , primarily
Tholoza) is a
city in southwest
France on the banks of the
River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the
Atlantic Ocean and the
Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan. 1, 2006,
the Toulouse metropolitan area is the fifth-largest in France.
Toulouse is the home base of the European
aerospace industry, with the headquarters of
Airbus,
Galileo positioning system, the
SPOT satellite system, and
CNES's Toulouse Space Centre (CST), the largest space center in Europe.
Thales Alenia Space, Europe's largest
satellite manufacturer, and
EADS Astrium Satellites,
EADS's satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. Its world renowned
university is one of the oldest in
Europe (founded in 1229) and, with more than 97,000 students, is with
Lille the third-largest university campus of
France after
Paris and
Lyon[[pdf] Consulté le 11/09/2007].
Toulouse was the capital of the former
province of
Languedoc (provinces were abolished during the
French Revolution). It is now the main city of the
Midi-Pyrénées region, the largest region in metropolitan France. It is also the main city of the
Haute-Garonne department.
History
Toulouse is an old and ornate city in France with a long and rich history.
Demographics
The population of the city proper (French:
commune) was 437,715 at the Jan. 1, 2006 census, with 1,102,882 inhabitants in the metropolitan area (French:
aire urbaine) at the Jan. 1, 2006 census, up from 964,797 at the March 1999 census, which means a record 1.98% population growth per year between 1999 and 2006 for the metropolitan area.
Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France, after
Paris,
Marseille and
Lyon, and the fifth-largest metropolitan area after Paris, Lyon, Marseille and
Lille.
Fueled by booming aerospace and high-tech industries, population growth of 1.5% a year in the metropolitan area in the 1990s (compared with 0.37% for
metropolitan France), and a record 1.98% a year in the 2000s (0.69% for metropolitan France), means the Toulouse metropolitan area hit the 1,000,000 inhabitants mark in 2000 or 2001. Boasting the highest population growth of any French metropolitan area larger than 500,000 inhabitants, Toulouse is on its way to overtake Lille as the fourth-largest metropolitan area of France (if the Belgian part of the Lille metropolitan area is not included).
Geography
Climate
Toulouse has a
temperate climate, though a plausible argument can be made that under the
Köppen climate classification, Toulouse has a
humid subtropical climate.
Hydrography
The town is traversed by the
Canal de Garonne, the
Canal du Midi and the rivers
Garonne,
Touch.
Government and politics
Community of the Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse
The Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse (
Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Toulouse) was created in 2001 to better coordinate transport, infrastructure and economic policies between the city of Toulouse and its immediate independent suburbs. It succeeds a previous district which had been created in 1992 with less powers than the current council. It combines the city of Toulouse and 24 independent
communes, covering an area of 380 km² (147 sq. miles), totaling a population of 583,229 inhabitants (as of 1999 census), 67% of whom live in the city of Toulouse proper. As of February 2004 estimate, the total population of the Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse was 651,209 inhabitants, 65.5% of whom live in the city of Toulouse. Due to local political feuds, the Community of Agglomeration only hosts 61% of the population of the metropolitan area, the other independent suburbs having refused to join in.
Local politics
One of the major political figures in Toulouse was
Dominique Baudis, the mayor of Toulouse between 1983 and 2001, member of center-right
UDF. First known as a journalist famous for his coverage of the war in
Lebanon, 36 year-old Dominique Baudis succeeded his father
Pierre Baudis in 1983 as mayor of Toulouse. (Pierre Baudis was mayor from 1971 to 1983.) The Baudis dynasty succeeded in turning Toulouse into a center-right stronghold, whereas historically the city had been left-leaning since the 19th century. Dominique Baudis is also known as a writer who wrote historical novels about the ancient
counts of Toulouse, their crusade in the
Middle East, and the
Albigensian Crusade.
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Wilson Square
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Augustins cloister
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thumb|200px|The Capitol (Town hall) by night|}
During his time as mayor, Toulouse's economy and population boomed. He tried to strengthen the international role of Toulouse (such as its
Airbus operations), as well as revive the cultural heritage of the city. The Occitan cross, flag of
Languedoc and symbol of the counts of Toulouse, was chosen as the new flag of the city, instead of the traditional coat of arms of Toulouse (which included the
fleur de lis of the French monarchy). Many cultural institutions were created, in order to attract foreign expatriates and emphasise the city's past. For example, monuments dating from the time of the
counts of Toulouse were restored, the city's symphonic concert hall (
Halle aux Grains) was refurbished, a city theater was built, a Museum of Modern Art was founded, the
Bemberg Foundation (European paintings and
bronzes from the
Renaissance to the 20th century) was established, a huge
pop music concert venue (
Zénith, the largest in France outside Paris) was built, the space museum and educational park
Cité de l'Espace was founded, etc.
To deal with growth, major housing and transportation projects were launched. Perhaps the one for which Baudis is most famous is the
Toulouse Metro: line A of the
underground was opened in 1993, and Baudis succeeded in having work started on line B (which opened in 2007), despite strong local opposition to the anticipated costs. The creation of a system of underground car parking structures in Toulouse city centre was sharply criticised by the
Green Party.
Despite all these massive undertakings, the city's economy proved so strong that Dominique Baudis was able to announce, in 1999, that the city had finished repaying its debt, making it the only large city in France ever to achieve solvency. In Europe, typical per capita city debt for a city the size of Toulouse is around 1,200
euros. Achieving solvency was a long-standing goal for Baudis, who had said that he would extinguish city debt before leaving office. Local opposition, however, has criticised this achievement, saying that the task of governments is not to run zero-deficit, but to ensure the well-being of citizens, through social benefits, housing programs for poor people, etc.
In 2000, Dominique Baudis was at the zenith of his popularity, with approval rates of 85%. He announced that he would not run for a fourth (6-year) term in 2001. He explained that with 3 terms he was already the longest-serving mayor of Toulouse since the
French Revolution; he felt that change would be good for the city, and that the number of terms should be limited. He endorsed
Philippe Douste-Blazy, then
UDF mayor of
Lourdes as his successor. Baudis has since been appointed president of the CSA (
Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel) in
Paris, the French equivalent of the American
FCC.
Philippe Douste-Blazy narrowly won in the 2001 elections, which saw the left making its best showing in decades. Douste-Blazy had to deal with a reinvigorated political opposition, as well as with the dramatic explosion of the
AZF plant in late 2001.
In March 2004 he entered the national government, and left Toulouse in the hands of his second-in-command
Jean-Luc Moudenc, elected mayor by the municipal council. In March 2008, Moudenc was defeated by the Socialist Party's candidate
Pierre Cohen.
Sights
Hôtel d'Assézat
Religious buildings
Economy
The main industries are
aeronautics, space, electronics, information technology and
biotechnology. Toulouse hosts the Airbus headquarters and assembly-lines of
Airbus A320,
A330,
A340, and
A380. The others (
A318,
A319,
A321 and
A380 interior furnishing) being in
Hamburg,
Germany. Airbus intends to relocate Toulouse A320 final assembly activity to Hamburg, with A350 and A380 production going in the opposite direction as part of its
Power8 organization plan begun under ex-CEO
Christian Streiff.
["." Forbes. 15 January 2007.]According to
Newsweek Toulouse ranked as the fifth most dynamic city in the world in 2006.
Colleges and universities
Toulouse has the third-largest student population in France after Lyon and Paris with 97000 students.
The
University of Toulouse (
Université de Toulouse), established in 1229, is located here (now split into three separate universities). Like the universities in
Oxford and
Paris, the University of Toulouse was established at a time when Europeans were starting to translate the writings of Arabs of Andalus and Greek philosophers. These writings challenged European ideology - inspiring scientific discoveries and advances in the arts - as society began seeing itself in a new way. These colleges were supported by the Church in hopes to reconcile Greek Philosophy and Christian Theology.
and its engineering schools :
The most well known high schools in Toulouse are
Lycée Pierre de Fermat and
Lycée Saint-Sernin.
Transport
In addition to an extensive bus system, the
Toulouse Metro system is a
VAL (Véhicule Automatique Léger)
metro system made up of driverless (automatic)
rubber-tired trains. Line A runs for 12.5 km from Balma-Gramont to Basso Cambo. Line B, which opened in June 2007, adds 20 stations and intersects line A at Jean Jaurès. Line E (tramway) is going to be finished in 2009, and will roll from Beauzelle to Toulouse passing through Blagnac. Line C has existed since line A was completed. It is not VAL but a classical railway line with
SNCF trains; it connects to line A at Arènes. Another oft-used commuter train line (D) runs to the city of Muret.
Airports include:
Railway stations include:
Communications
Toulouse is home to Bonhoure Radio Tower, a 61-metre high lattice tower used for FM and TV transmission. In 2001 a large (100 km)
optical fiber (symmetric 360Gb/s) network named
Infrastructure Métropolitaine de Télécommunications has been deployed around the city and suburbs .
Culture
A "Pink City" apartment at sunset
Toulouse, known as the
Ville Rose ("
Pink City") for its distinctive brick architecture , is host to a rich and diverse culture. It has a thriving scene of unusually beautiful
graffiti, with the painter
Miss Van at its forefront.
It is the seat of the
Académie des Jeux Floraux, the equivalent of the
French Academy for the Occitan-speaking regions of southern France, making Toulouse the unofficial capital of
Occitan culture. The traditional
Occitan cross was adopted as the symbol of both the City of Toulouse and the newly-founded Midi-Pyrénées
région.
The city's gastronomic specialties include
Saucisses de Toulouse, a type of herb
sausage,
cassoulet Toulousain, a bean and pork
stew, and
garbure, a cabbage soup with poultry. Also,
foie gras, the liver of an overfed duck or goose, is a delicacy mainly made in the Midi-Pyrénées.
Sport
In sports, it boasts a highly respected
rugby union team,
Stade Toulousain, which has been a five-time finalist, three-time winner in Europe's top club competition in the sport, the
Heineken Cup and 17 times
French champions. Toulouse hosted games at the
2007 Rugby World Cup. The city also has a professional
football team
Toulouse FC who play in ligue 1, the top level of football in
France.
Toulouse Olympique represents the city in
rugby league's
Co-operative Championship.
The city also hosted games during the
1998 FIFA World Cup and the
EuroBasket 1999.
Notable births and deaths in Toulouse
- Claude Nougaro, parolier, writer and singer, passionate of jazz and language.
- Solène Jambaqué, hemiplegic skier, multi-medal winner at the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games in Turin.
Twin towns
Toulouse also has accords of cooperation with the following towns:
In addition, Toulouse has an adoption city:
See also
