It is also the préfecture (capital) of the
Haute-Garonne département. It 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.
City of Toulouse
The new mayor of Toulouse since May 6, 2004 is Jean-Luc
Moudenc (center-right, member of the UMP party), who succeeded
Philippe Douste-Blazy, appointed minister of Health in the
French government on March 31, 2004. Philippe Douste-Blazy
remains president of the Community of Agglomeration of Greater
Toulouse.
Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse
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.
Credits
: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the
Wikipedia article
"Toulouse".
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