Picardy

This article is about the modern French region. For other uses, see Picardy (disambiguation).

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Picardie Picardie
—  Region of France  —
Country	France
Capital	Amiens
Government
- President	Claude Gewerc (PS)
Area
- Total	19,399 km2 (7,490 sq mi)
Population (2007-01-01)
- Total	1,890,000
- Density	97.4/km2 (252.3/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
NUTS Region	FR2
Website	cr-picardie.fr

Picardy (French pronunciation: [pikaʀˈdi]) is one of the 26 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.

History

The modern region of Picardy is larger than the historical province of Picardy. The south of the Aisne department and most of the Oise department were historically part of the province of Île-de-France, while the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department were the province of Picardy proper, with the Boulonais, that is now in Nord-Pas-de-Calais region (Pas-de-Calais departement).

As the historical Picardy was deemed too small to become a region, the French government decided to join it with the north of Île-de-France (specifically, the pays of Beauvaisis, Valois, Noyonnais, Laonnois, Soissonnais, Omois, to name only the most prominent). The name of the historical province of Picardy was given to this new region.

Geography

The region of Picardy is considered by some to be an artificial entity, with the south of the Oise department lying inside the metropolitan area of Paris. People in the south of Oise commute to Île-de-France for work, and hardly identify as Picard (the local inhabitant and traditionally Picard language speakers). Those who live in the north of the region have a stronger connection to the region.^{[citation needed]}

Between the 1990 and 1999 censuses, the population of Oise increased 0.61% per year (almost twice as fast as France as a whole), while the Aisne department lost inhabitants, and the Somme barely grew with a 0.16% growth per year. Today, 41.3% of the population of Picardy live inside the Oise department, which historically was not part of Picardy.

Picardy proper is a vast flat plain of open fields, famed for the gruesome Battle of the Somme during World War I. The south of Picardy (historically part of Île-de-France) is a scenic hilly area with large forests.

Administration

The president of the regional council is Claude Gewerc, a Socialist in office since 2004. That year he defeated longtime UDF incumbent Gilles de Robien.

Since 2008, the mayor of the city of Amiens, the regional capital, has been Socialist Gilles Demailly. He defeated longtime mayor Gilles de Robien of the New Centre party.

Major communities

Ourscamp Abbey (Oise)

• Abbeville
• Amiens
• Beauvais
• Compiègne
• Creil
• Laon
• Saint-Quentin
• Soissons

External links

• (French) Official regional council website
• (English) Picardy, brief guide to the region and attractions
• (English) Pictures of Picardy
• (English) photos from Southern Picardy

Coordinates: 49°30′N 2°50′E / 49.5°N 2.833°E / 49.5; 2.833

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