Situated to the north of the Ile-de-France, Picardy is made up of three departments (Oise, Aisne and the Somme) and one small city, Amiens, of 160 000 inhabitants.

The population remains fairly young, but is one of the worst affected by unemployment. As this suggests, the area is not thriving economically, except in the agricultural sector. The agriculture of Picardy (sugarbeet, wheat and potatoes) is among the most productive in France. It consists of large, highly mechanised farms.

Apart from Amiens and Beauvais, both historic towns with superb gothic cathedrals, the region consists of a very large number of small towns and villages lost amidst vasts plains and plateaux.