France, Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the Garonne River, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With close to 1.1 million inhabitants in 2006, the Toulouse metropolitan area is the fifth-largest in France and the fastest growing in Europe.

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 région, the largest région in metropolitan France.

Population

The population of the city proper (French: commune) was 390,350 (as of the 1999 census), with 964,797 inhabitants in the metropolitan area (French: aire urbaine) (as of 1999 census). As of February 2004 estimates, the population of the city proper reached 426,700 inhabitants, which means a record 1.8% population growth per year between 1999 and 2004 for the city proper.

Economy

The main industries are aeronautics, space, electronics, information technology and biotechnology. Toulouse hosts the Airbus headquarters and assembly-lines of Airbus A300 A310 A320 A330 A340 and A380. The others (A318, A319, A321 and A380 interior furnishing) being in Hamburg, Germany.

Culture

Toulouse, known as the Ville Rose ("Pink City") for its distinctive brick architecture, is host to a rich and diverse culture. It has a thriving scene of unusually beautiful graffitis, with the painter Miss Van at its forefront.

The city's gastronomic specialties include Saucisses de Toulouse, a type of herb sausage, cassoulet Toulousain, a bean and pork stew, and garbure, a cabbage soup with poultry.

Sports

The city will be hosting games at the 2007 Rugby World Cup as well. The city also has a football (soccer) team in Toulouse FC and a rugby league team, Toulouse Olympique, who have won the French championship on four occasions.. The city also hosted games during the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Transport

In addition to an extensive bus system, the Toulouse Metro system is a VAL (Véhicule Automatique Léger) metro system made up of driverless (automatic) rubber-tired trains. The existing line A runs for 12.5km.