Toulouse

"Toulouse, pronunciado en francés [tuluz] (en occitano y antiguamente en español: Tolosa [tuluz]), y también nombrada como Ciutat Mondina, del occitano, en referencia a la dinastía de los Condes de la ciudad llamados Raymond en su mayoría, es una ciudad del sur de Francia, la cuarta en población después de París, Marsella y Lyon, en 2013 contaba con 458 298 habitantes en el municipio, en una superficie de 118,3 km². Su área urbana, con 1 291 517 habitantes, es también la cuarta mayor de Francia y la primera en crecimiento demográfico. Es la capital del departamento del Alto Garona y de la región de Occitania, así como la capital histórica de la provincia del Languedoc. Es atravesada por el río Garona (en francés: Garonne) y en su casco urbano (Port de l'Embouchure) se produce la confluencia de los canales de Midi, Brienne y lateral de la Garona. Está localizada al suroeste del país , entre el Mediterráneo (Gruissan) y el océano Atlántico (Capbreton), a 90 km de los Pirineos españoles. Recibe el apodo de Ciudad Rosa por el color dominante en los edificios antiguos, hechos con ladrillos caravista. Su altitud promedio es de 141 metros, el relieve es poco accidentado."

"Toulouse (UK /tuluz/; French pronunciation: [tu.luz] locally: [tuluz] ; Occitan: Tolosa [tuluz], Latin: Tolosa) is the capital city of the southwestern French department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Occitanie region. It lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the Mediterranean Sea, 230 km (143 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean, and 680 km (420 mi) from Paris. It is the fourth-largest city in France with 458,298 inhabitants in January 2013. Moreover, with 1,291,517 inhabitants at the January 2013 census, the Toulouse metropolitan area is also the fourth-largest in France, after Paris (12.3 million), Lyon (2.2 million) and Marseille (1.7 million). Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, the Airbus Group (former EADS), ATR and the Aerospace Valley. The city also hosts the European headquarters of Intel and CNES's Toulouse Space Centre (CST), the largest space centre in Europe. Thales Alenia Space, and Astrium Satellites, Airbus Group's satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. Its world-renowned university is one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1229) and, with more than 103,000 students, is the fourth-largest university campus of France after Paris, Lyon and Lille. The air route between Toulouse Blagnac and Paris Orly is the busiest in Europe, transporting 2.4 million passengers in 2014. According to the rankings of L'Express and Challenges, Toulouse is the most dynamic French city. The city was the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom in the 5th century and the capital of the province of Languedoc in the late Middle Ages and early modern period (provinces were abolished during the French Revolution), making it the unofficial capital of the cultural region of Occitania (Southern France). It is now the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées region, the largest region in metropolitan France. A city with unique architecture made of pinkish terracotta bricks, which earned it the nickname la Ville Rose ("the Pink City"), Toulouse counts two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Canal du Midi (designated in 1996 and shared with other cities), and the Basilica of St. Sernin, the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe, designated in 1998 because of its significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route."