Midi-Pyrénées is ome of the administrative regions of France, comprising the departments of Ariège, Aveyron, Gers, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, Lot, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne.
Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.
It is one of the regions of France created artificially in the late 20th century to serve as a hinterland for its capital, Toulouse. Another example of this is the region of Rhône-Alpes, which was created as the region for Lyon.
Unlike most regions in France, the name chosen for the new region was decided by the French central government without reference to the historical provinces it contains, but based purely on geography: the Pyrenees mountains on the southern limit of the region that form a natural border with Spain.
Midi-Pyrénées has a very contrasted landscape, with the mountains reaching more than 3000m in the south, and fertile plains further to the North.