Rouergue

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Rouergue was turned into a "département" in 1790, which was called Aveyron, after the main river flowing through it. When the Tarn-et-Garonne "département" was created in 1808, Aveyron had to relinquish the extreme west of its territory, which became part of Tarn-et-Garonne, so that today most of Rouergue is the Aveyron "département", while a small part of Rouergue is the extreme east of Tarn-et-Garonne.

The province of Rouergue has a land area of 9,007 km² (3,478 sq. miles). At the 1999 census there were 269,774 inhabitants on the territory of the province of Rouergue, which means a density of only 30 inh. per km² (78 inh. per sq. mile). The largest urban areas are Rodez, with 38,458 inhabitants in 1999, Millau, with 22,840 inhabitants in 1999, Decazeville, with 17,044 inhabitants in 1999, and Villefranche-de-Rouergue, with 12,561 inhabitants in 1999.

Rouergue included the county of Rodez, and was divided between the dioceses of Rodez and Vabres.

During the Middle Ages, Rouergue changed hands a number of times, its rulers including England (due to the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360), Armagnac, and Languedoc.

ee also

*Counts of Rouergue
*Counts of Toulouse