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Midi-Pyrenees region:

Midi-Pyrenees - a region of great diversity:

Midi-Pyrénées (Occitan: Miègjorn-Pirenèus; Gascon: Mieidia-Pirenèus) is the largest région of metropolitan France, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark, twice larger than Massachusetts, and half the size of Indiana.

Midi-Pyrénées is best known worldwide for three local "products" that have achieved world fame: Airbus aircrafts, Roquefort cheese, and the Catholic pilgrimage centre of Lourdes. This goes a long way into unveiling the extreme contrasts and diversity that exist within the very heterogeneous région of Midi-Pyrénées.

Midi-Pyrénées is a région of sharp contrasts. While the metropolitan area of Toulouse at the centre of the région is a highly densely populated area, with densities reaching 300 inh. per km² (115 inh. per sq. miles), the rest of the région is sparsely populated, with densities ranging from 25 to 60 inh. per km² (10 to 23 inh. per sq. miles), which are among the lowest densities in western Europe. Toulouse is often presented as an oasis in the middle of a desert. Driving a mere half-an-hour away from Toulouse, one goes from the hustle and bustle of the busy metropolitan area to the slow pace and timelessness of the hilly countryside of Gascony or Lauragais and their narrow winding roads with seldom any traffic.

Finally, Midi-Pyrénées is the only région in France where the largest city (Toulouse) is so much dominating the other towns and cities. The metropolitan area of Toulouse (1,000,000 inhabitants) far outweighs the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, Tarbes, with only 110,000 inhabitants.

Some information provided by Wikipedia