Occitan nationalism explained

Occitan nationalism is a social and political movement in Occitania. Nationalists seek self-determination, greater autonomy or the creation of a sovereign state of Occitania. The basis of nationalism is linguistic and cultural although currently the Occitan language is a minority status within the language area.

Current affairs

The Occitan political movement for self-government has existed since the beginning of the 20th century and particularly since post-war years. Occitan nationalism emerges as a sense of grievance of the southern regions of France caused by the economic and energy restructuring undertaken by the Gaullists during the 1960s, which would have given priority to the more prosperous northern regions.

Subsequently, from 1968 one Occitan cultural revival, combined with the economic protest, given the results in 1970 in a nationalist claim that it considered Occitania was an internal colony of the French state. The movement remains negligible in electoral and political terms. However, the regional Elections in 2010 allowed the Partit Occitan to enter the regional councils of Aquitaine, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Territorial claims

The following table shows the size and population of the territories claimed by the Occitan nationalism is as follows:

- bgcolor=silverCountryTerritory
claimed
Area
(km²)
Population (year)
Spain
Aran Valley (Catalonia) 6349,993 (2014)
France
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (except for Allier and former Rhône-Alpes, but includes Ardèche and Drôme)30,3721,829,328 (2013)
New Aquitaine (except French Basque Country and former Poitou-Charentes) 55,2833,755,705 (2013)
Occitania (except Pyrénées-Orientales)68,6085,221,173 (2013)
31,4004,953,675 (2013)
Italy
Guardia Piemontese (Calabria) 211,895 (2015)
(Liguria) (Piedmont) Occitan Valleys4,500 174,476 (2013)
Monaco238,400 (2015)
Occitania 190,82015,984,645

Political parties

See also