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Toulouse
Tolosa
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Motto: Per Tolosa totjorn mai.
(Occitan for "For Toulouse, always more")
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| Administration |
| Country |
France |
| Region |
Midi-Pyrénées |
| Department |
Haute-Garonne |
| Arrondissement |
Toulouse |
| Intercommunality |
Grand Toulouse |
| Mayor |
Pierre Cohen (PS)
(2008–2014) |
| Statistics |
| Land area1 |
118.3 km2 (45.7 sq mi) |
| Population2 |
439,553 (Jan. 2008[1]) |
| - Ranking |
4th in France |
| - Density |
3,716 /km2 (9,620 /sq mi) |
| Urban area |
811.6 km2 (313.4 sq mi) (2008) |
| - Population |
864,936[2] (1 January 2008) |
| Metro area |
5,381 km2 (2,078 sq mi) (2008) |
| - Population |
1,202,889[3] (1 January 2008) |
| Website |
http://www.toulouse.fr/ |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
| 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
Coordinates: 43°36′16″N 1°26′38″E / 43.6045°N 1.444°E / 43.6045; 1.444
Toulouse (French pronunciation: [tuluz] (
listen), locally: [tuˈluzə] ( listen); Occitan: Tolosa [tuˈluzɔ], medieval Tholoza) is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. It lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and 590 km (366 mi) away from Paris. With 1,202,889 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008,[3] the Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in France, after Paris (12.1 million), Lyon (2.1 million), and Marseille (1.7 million).[4]
Toulouse is the centre 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 centre in Europe.[5] Thales Alenia Space, and 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.[6]
Toulouse was the capital of the former province of Languedoc (provinces were abolished during the French Revolution). It is now the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées region, the largest region in metropolitan France. It is also the capital of the Haute-Garonne department.
The city is traversed by the Canal de Brienne, the Canal du Midi and the rivers Garonne, Touch and Hers-Mort.
Toulouse has a temperate climate that is usually classified as oceanic (Cfb) under the Köppen climate classification, falling just short of a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) classification. Toulouse is located at the junction with the Mediterranean climate zone, but uniform precipitation prevents it from being classified this way.
| Toulouse |
| Climate chart (explanation) |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
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| Average max. and min. temperatures in °C |
| Precipitation totals in mm |
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| Imperial conversion |
| J |
F |
M |
A |
M |
J |
J |
A |
S |
O |
N |
D |
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| Average max. and min. temperatures in °F |
| Precipitation totals in inches |
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| Climate data for Toulouse |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Average high °C (°F) |
9.4
(48.9) |
11.2
(52.2) |
14.0
(57.2) |
16.2
(61.2) |
20.5
(68.9) |
24.2
(75.6) |
27.6
(81.7) |
27.5
(81.5) |
24.2
(75.6) |
18.9
(66.0) |
13.0
(55.4) |
10.1
(50.2) |
18.1
(64.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) |
5.8
(42.4) |
7.2
(45.0) |
9.3
(48.7) |
11.4
(52.5) |
15.4
(59.7) |
18.8
(65.8) |
21.7
(71.1) |
21.7
(71.1) |
18.6
(65.5) |
14.3
(57.7) |
9.1
(48.4) |
6.7
(44.1) |
13.3
(55.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) |
2.2
(36.0) |
3.2
(37.8) |
4.5
(40.1) |
6.5
(43.7) |
10.3
(50.5) |
13.3
(55.9) |
15.7
(60.3) |
15.9
(60.6) |
12.9
(55.2) |
9.6
(49.3) |
5.2
(41.4) |
3.3
(37.9) |
8.6
(47.5) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) |
51.7
(2.035) |
51.3
(2.02) |
53.8
(2.118) |
66.8
(2.63) |
77.2
(3.039) |
64.4
(2.535) |
45.4
(1.787) |
50.5
(1.988) |
52.2
(2.055) |
52.3
(2.059) |
50.7
(1.996) |
52.2
(2.055) |
668.5
(26.319) |
| Avg. precipitation days |
9.6 |
9 |
9.5 |
10.2 |
10.2 |
7.6 |
5.3 |
5.8 |
6.7 |
8 |
8.7 |
8.5 |
99.1 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours |
104 |
119 |
182 |
184 |
217 |
207 |
245 |
238 |
195 |
138 |
96 |
84 |
2,009 |
| Source no. 1: Météo France[7] |
| Source no. 2: World Meteorological Organisation[8] |
| Historical Population |
|
Urban Area |
Metropolitan
Area |
| 1695 |
43,000
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| 1750 |
48,000
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| 1790 |
52,863
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| 1801 |
50,171
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| 1831 |
59,630
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| 1851 |
95,277
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| 1872 |
126,936
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| 1911 |
149,000
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| 1936 |
213,220
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| 1946 |
264,411
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| 1954 |
268,865
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| 1962 |
329,044
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| 1968 |
439,764
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474,000
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| 1975 |
509,939
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585,000
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| 1982 |
541,271
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645,000
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| 1990 |
650,336
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797,373
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| 1999 |
761,090
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964,797
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| 2008 |
864,936
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1,202,889
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The population of the city proper (French: commune) was 439,553 at the 1 Jan. 2008 census,[1] with 1,202,889 inhabitants in the metropolitan area (French: aire urbaine) (within the 2008 borders of the metropolitan area),[3] up from 964,797 at the March 1999 census (within the 1999 borders of the metropolitan area).[9] Within its 2008 borders, the metropolitan area population has grown at the record rate of +1.87% per year between 1999 and 2008.[3]
Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France, after Paris, Marseille and Lyon, and the fourth-largest metropolitan area after Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.
Fueled by booming aerospace and high-tech industries, population growth of 1.49% a year in the metropolitan area in the 1990s (compared with 0.37% for metropolitan France), and a record 1.87% a year in the 2000s (0.68% for metropolitan France), which is the highest population growth of any French metropolitan area larger than 500,000 inhabitants, means the Toulouse metropolitan area has overtaken Lille as the fourth-largest metropolitan area of France in 2008.
A local Jewish group estimates there are about 2,500 Jewish families in Toulouse many of whom fled North Africa when Algeria stripped them of citizenship at independence and a series of anti-Semitic incidents drove most Jews form Morocco. A Muslim association has estimated there are some 35,000 Muslims in town.[10]
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. Since 2009, the Community of agglomeration has become an urban community (in French: communauté urbaine).
One of the major political figures in Toulouse was Dominique Baudis, the mayor of Toulouse between 1983 and 2001, member of the centrist 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.
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[weasel words] 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.[11]
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.[citation needed]
In 2000, Dominique Baudis was at the zenith of his popularity, with approval rates of 85%.[citation needed] 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.
- Capitole de Toulouse (mainly 18th century), housing the Hôtel de Ville, the Théâtre du Capitole (opera house), and the Donjon du Capitole (16th century), located on the Place du Capitole.
- Banks of the Garonne (mainly 18th century)
- Bazacle
- Jardin des Plantes, Grand-Rond, Jardin Royal
- Pont Neuf (16th century)
- Hôpital de la Grave, featuring a copper dome of the 18th century
- Hôpital Saint-Raymond, 16th century hospital
- Hôtel-Dieu Saint Jacques, former 16th and 17th century hospital on the banks of the Garonne
- Galerie du Château d'eau (19th century)
- Canal du Midi
- Many Hôtels particuliers (palaces), notably of the 16th century like the Hôtel d'Assézat, the Hôtel du Vieux-Raisin, the Hôtel de Bernuy and the Hôtel de Bagis.
- Saint-Pierre bridge, 19th century iron bridge
- Wilson Square
- Halle aux Grains (19th century)
- Gare de Toulouse Matabiau, railroad station
- Médiathèque José Cabanis
- Musée des Augustins, the fine arts museum of the city housed in a former gothic convent.
- Les Abattoirs, museum of modern and contemporary art.
- Fondation Bemberg, art museum housed in the 16th century Hôtel d'Assézat.
- Musée Saint-Raymond, a museum devoted to Antiquity housed in the former 16th century Saint-Raymond hospital.
- Musée Paul-Dupuy, houses a collection of decorative and graphic arts
- Le Château d'Eau, a gallery dedicated to contemporary photography.
- Musée Georges Labit, displaying Asiatic and far-eastern art.
- Musée du Vieux Toulouse, a museum presenting the history of the city.
- Cité de l'espace (City of Space), a theme park of space exploration.
- Muséum de Toulouse (Museum of Toulouse), a natural history museum.
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.[12] Airbus has its head office in Blagnac, near Toulouse.[13][14] Airbus's France division has its main office in Toulouse.[14]
Toulouse also hosts the headquarters of Airbus, ATR, or again Groupe Latécoère
According to Newsweek, Toulouse ranked as the fifth most dynamic city in the world in 2006.[15]
A typical "Pink City" street at sunset
Toulouse has the third-largest student population in France after Lyon and Paris with 97,000 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 of reconciling Greek philosophy and Christian theology.In 2012, a group of students decided to move on with this idea and created a major event “Live your dreams”. For the first year, they invited to the event the French Neil Armstrong, Philippe PERRIN, to create a new era of inspiration.
Toulouse is also the home of Toulouse Business School (ESC Toulouse), the Institut supérieur européen de gestion group (ISEG Group), the Institut supérieur européen de formation par l'action (ISEFAC) and several engineering schools:
- ICAM Toulouse (Institut catholique d'arts et métiers)
- INSA Toulouse
- ISAE SUPAERO (École Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace)
- ISAE ENSICA (École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de constructions aéronautiques)
- ENAC (École Nationale de l'Aviation Civile)
- INP ENSEEIHT (École Nationale Supérieure d'Électronique, d'Électrotechnique, d'Informatique, d'Hydraulique et des Télécommunications)
- INP ENSIACET (École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs en art chimique et technologique)
- INP ENSAT ('École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse)
- EPITECH (École pour l'informatique et les nouvelles technologies or European Institute of Information Technology)
- IPSA (Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées)
- EIPurpan (École d'ingénieurs de Purpan)
The most well known high schools in Toulouse are Lycée Pierre de Fermat, Lycée Saint-Joseph and Lycée Saint-Sernin. In 2012 a Jewish school was struck by an attack in which a rabbi, his two sons and the daughter of the school's director were murdered by Mohammed Merah.
In addition to an extensive bus system, the Toulouse Metro 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 in the north-east to Basso Cambo in the south-west. Line B, which opened in June 2007, serves 20 stations north to south and intersects line A at Jean Jaurès. Line C has existed since line A was completed. It is not VAL but an urban railway line operated by SNCF. It connects to line A at Arènes. Similarly, Line D runs south from Toulouse Matabiau to Muret. The tramway line T1 (operating since December 2010), runs from Beauzelle to Toulouse passing through Blagnac. All urban bus, metro and tram services are operated by Tisséo.
In 2007, a city-wide bicycle rental scheme called VélôToulouse was introduced, with bicycles available from automated stations for a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly subscription.
Airports include:
The main railway station, with regional and national services, is Toulouse-Matabiau.
Toulouse is the home of Bonhoure Radio Tower, a 61-metre high lattice tower used for FM and TV transmission.[16] In 2001 a large (100 km) optical fiber (symmetric 360Gbit/s) network named Infrastructure Métropolitaine de Télécommunications was deployed around the city and suburbs.[17]
The Théâtre du Capitole is the home of opera and ballet; there has been a theatre on the site since 1736.[18] The Orchestre National du Capitole, long associated with Michel Plasson, plays at the Halle aux Grains.[19]
Le Château d'Eau gallery,[20] an old nineteenth century water-tower was converted as a gallery in 1974 by Jean Dieuzaide, a French photographer from Toulouse and is now one of the oldest public places dedicated to photography in the world.
Toulouse 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 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.[citation needed]
Most notably, Toulouse is represented by Stade Toulousain, a rugby union club competing in the Top 14 competition. Stade Toulousain is considered the finest rugby union club in all of Europe, having been crowned the Heineken Cup champions four times since 1996.
Toulouse Olympique represents the city in Rugby League, they play in the Co-operative Championship.
Toulouse players in a Championship match against
Gateshead (June 2009).
The city also has a professional football team Toulouse FC who play in ligue 1, the top level of football in France.
Fenix Toulouse Handball who play in division 1, the top level of Handball in France.
Spacers Toulouse volleyball who play in division 1, the top level of volleyball in France.
The city also hosted games during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2007 rugby world cup and the EuroBasket 1999.
- Christine Albanel, politician
- Gael Clichy, footballer
- Jean de Coras (1515–1572), judge and humanist
- Antoine Crozat, first governor of Louisiana, and his brother Pierre Crozat.
- Jean-Louis Debré, politician
- Marine Delterme, actress
- Dilemn, DJ
- Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol, psychiatrist, father of the French psychiatric school.
- Pierre de Fermat, lawyer and mathematician
- Carlos Gardel, singer, composer
- Solène Jambaqué, alpine skier with hemiplegia, multi-medal winner at the Winter Paralympic Games
- Maxime Médard, rugby union player.
- Philippe Mexès, footballer
- Frédéric Michalak, rugby player
- Miss Van, street-artist
- Claude Nougaro, parolier, writer and singer, passionate about jazz and language
- Fabien Pelous, rugby player
- Marcus Antonius Primus, famous Roman general
- Lucas Puig, professional skateboarder
- Antony Rea, mixed martial artist
- Henry Russell (explorer) (1834–1909), explorer, Pyreneiste, author and founder member of Societe Ramond
- Pierre Seel, persecuted homosexual during the Holocaust
- David Skrela, rugby union player
- Bernard Werber, writer
- Laurent Wolf, DJ
Toulouse is twinned with:
 Atlanta, Georgia, United States Tripoli, Lebanon Bologna, Italy Bristol, England, United Kingdom Chongqing, China
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 Elche, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain Kiev, Ukraine Tel Aviv, Israel Rosario, Argentina
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Toulouse also has accords of cooperation with the following towns:
In addition, Toulouse has an adoption city:
Câmpia Turzii, Romania
- Le Stang, Anne (2006). Histoire de Toulouse illustrée. leperegrinateurediteur.com. ISBN 2-910352-44-7. (French)
- Kerrison, Helen & Jeremy (2008). The Practical Guide to Toulouse. leperegrinateurediteur.com. ISBN 2-910352-46-3.
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