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There are five departments within this region, which are the
Gard, Lozere, Herault, Aude and Pyrenees-Orientales.
The Languedoc-Roussillon region is dominated by
absolutely thousands of acres of vineyards, which are around three times the combined area
of the Bordeaux vineyards.
The Mediterranean climate and land with soil ranging from rocky sand to thick clay is very
suitable for the production of wine, and it is
estimated that during the 20th century around one in ten bottles of the world's wine was
produced in this region.
Three principal communes are Nimes, Montpellier and Perpignan and each department has its
own major city, as follows..
Aude has the city of Carcassonne
Gard has the city of Nimes
Herault has the city of Montpellier
Lozere has the city of Mende
And the Pyrenees-Orientales has the city of Perpignan
Not including the places mentioned above, the Languedoc-Roussillon region has some
truly romantic and picture postcard villages and towns, as well as vibrant cities and
historical, fortified medieval towns such as Collioure, Ceret and Aigues-Mortes.
It is one of the least industrialised regions in France but agriculture with milk
production from goats, sheep and cows is important and the major crops are apricots,
peaches, melon, nectarines and rice.
The wine industry, which produces some excellent wines such as Corbieres, has always been
a major part of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, although in the past they used to go for
quantity rather than quality, but in more recent years this has changed
considerably.
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