This region has five departments (Lozère, Gard, Hérault, Aude, and the Pyrénées orientales) and its population has grown the most of any region in recent years, especially around its capital, Montpellier. This is a splendid city combining ancient and modern, which has experienced a spectacular rate of economic development, with a number of hi-tech research centres. It also has a big university, with a student population of 65,000.

Saint-Martin-du-Canigou Abbey (Languedoc-Roussillon)

Wine-growing is the main agricultural activity in the region; and vineyards cover 350,000 hectares of the plain of Languedoc which stretches as far as the Mediterranean, with its long sandy beaches and many seaside resorts.

Further south, the plain of Roussillon shelters vineyards, market gardens and orchards. In the traditionally Protestant north, the mountain asserts its rights and the villages get smaller and sparser.