Limousin

Limousin was an administrative region in southwest-central France, created in 1960 and named for the historic province that preceded it. It included three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. As of 1 January 2016, it was merged into the larger region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Covering roughly 17,000 square kilometers, it had about 742,770 residents in 2010, making it the least populated region in mainland France.

The region sat mostly on the western side of the south-central Massif Central. It bordered Centre-Val de Loire to the north, Auvergne to the east, Midi-Pyrénées to the south, Aquitaine to the southwest, and Poitou-Charentes to the west. Limousin was also part of the broader historical area of Occitania.

Its population was aging and, until 1999, had been shrinking. The department of Creuse had the oldest average age of any French department. Between 1999 and 2004, the population saw a slight increase, the first reversal of decline in decades. Major communities included Brive-la-Gaillarde, Guéret, Limoges, Panazol, Saint-Junien, Tulle, and Ussel.

Historically, Limousin was one of France’s traditional provinces. Its name comes from the Lemovices, a Celtic tribe whose capital was at Saint-Denis-des-Murs. In 2004, their main sanctuary was discovered at Tintignac, yielding unique objects—including carnyces, which are unparalleled in the Celtic world—making the site important for Celtic studies. A notable medieval ruler was Viscount Aimar V of Limoges (c. 1135–c. 1199).

Until the 1970s, Occitan was the main language in rural areas. Several Occitan dialects were still spoken in Limousin, though their use was quickly declining. These included the Limousin dialect itself, the Auvergnat dialect in the east and northeast, the Languedocien dialect in the southern fringe of Corrèze, and in the north, the Crescent transition zone between Occitan and French—sometimes treated as a separate dialect called Marchois.

The word *limousine* comes from the region’s name. It originally referred to a type of carriage hood that resembled the raised hood of the cloaks worn by local shepherds.