Rouergue

Rouergue (French: [ʁwɛʁɡ]; Occitan: Roergue [ruˈeɾɣe]) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez.^[1] It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan and on the west by Quercy.^[2]

Coat of arms of the county of Rouergue

Map of Rouergue, showing modern departments: Aveyron, Lot and Tarn-et-Garonne

During the Middle Ages Rouergue changed hands a number of times; its rulers included England (due to the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360), Armagnac and Languedoc.

Rouergue became a department in 1790, and was renamed Aveyron after the principal river flowing through it. Upon creation of the department of Tarn-et-Garonne in 1808, the canton of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val was detached from the western extremity of Aveyron and transferred to the new department.

The province of Rouergue had a land area of 9,007 km² (3,478 sq mi). At the 1999 census there were 269,774 inhabitants on the territory of the province of Rouergue, for a density of only 30 km² (12 sq mi). The largest urban areas are Rodez, with 38,458 inhabitants in 1999; Millau, with 22,840 inhabitants in 1999; Decazeville, with 17,044 inhabitants in 1999; and Villefranche-de-Rouergue, with 12,561 inhabitants in 1999.

See also

• Count of Rouergue
• Count of Toulouse