Occitan nationalism

Flag of Occitania

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

Demonstration in Barcelona in 2012
Nationalist graffiti. Reads "Occitania free!"

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.[1] 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:

Country
Territory
claimed
 Area
(km²)		 Population
Spain
Spain		 Aran Valley (Catalonia) 634 10,000
France
France		 Aquitaine (except French Basque Country) 38,366 2,800,000
Auvergne (except north of Allier) 26,013 1,327,000
Languedoc-Roussillon (except Pyrénées-Orientales) 23,260 2,098,000
Limousin 16,942 712,000
Midi-Pyrénées 45,348 2,687,000
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 31,400 4,666,000
Italy
Italy		 Guardia Piemontese (Calabria) 21 2,000
Occitan Valleys (Liguria) 4,500 200,000
Occitan Valleys (Piamonte) 4,500 200,000
Monaco Monaco 2 33,000
Occitania 190,986 14,735,000

Political parties

See also

References

  1. ↑ Contreras Romero, Valente A. (2006), Volem viure: nacionalisme occità en el sud francès (We want to live: Occitan nationalism in southern France). (25), Politics and Culture, ISSN 0188-7742
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