Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nouvelle-Aquitaine (French pronunciation: [nuvɛl akitɛn] (listen); Occitan: Nòva Aquitània [ˈnɔβɔ akiˈtanjɔ] or Novèla Aquitània [nuˈβɛlɔ akiˈtanjɔ]; Basque: Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: Novéle-Aguiéne) or New Aquitaine, is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014 through the merger of three regions: Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes. It covers 84,036 km2 (32,446 sq mi) – or 1⁄8 of the country – and has 5,956,978 inhabitants (municipal population on 1 January 2017). The new region was established on 1 January 2016, following the regional elections in December 2015.It is the largest region in France by area (including overseas regions such as French Guiana), with a territory slightly larger than that of Austria and the Chinese Municipality of Chongqing. Its prefecture and largest city, Bordeaux, together with its suburbs and satellite cities, forms the seventh-largest metropolitan area of France, with 850,000 inhabitants. The region has 25 major urban areas, among which the most important after Bordeaux are Bayonne (288,000 inhabitants), Limoges (283,000), Poitiers (255,000), Pau (241,000) and La Rochelle (206,000), as well as eleven major clusters. The growth of its population, particularly marked on the coast, makes this one of the most attractive areas economically in France; the new region outperforms Île-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in demographic dynamism.
After Île-de-France, New Aquitaine is the premier French region in research and innovation, with five universities (Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Limoges, Poitiers and Pau) and several Grandes Écoles. The agricultural region of Europe with the greatest turnover, it is the French region with the most tourism jobs, as it has three of the four historic resorts on the French Atlantic coast: Arcachon, Biarritz and Royan, as well as several ski resorts (most notably Gourette). It is the fifth French region for business creation (all sectors).
Its economy is based on agriculture and viticulture (vineyards of Bordeaux and Cognac), tourism, a powerful aerospace industry, digital economy and design, parachemical and pharmaceutical industries, financial sector (Niort is the fourth-largest financial center in the nation, specialising in mutual insurance companies) and industrial ceramics (Limoges). The new region includes major parts of Southern France ("Midi de la France"), marked by Basque, Occitan, Poitevin and Saintongeais cultures. Historically, it is the "indirect successor" to medieval Aquitaine; it extends over a large part of the former Duchy of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
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