Toulouse - City of France

Toulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in France.

Toulouse is one of the centres of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, and CNES's Toulouse Space Centre , the largest space center in Europe. Thales Alenia Space, Europe's largest satellite manufacturer, and EADS Astrium Satellites, EADS's satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. Its world renowned university is one of the oldest in Europe and is the second largest university campus of France after Paris and in front of Lyon.

Born during the Roman Empire, Toulouse was once a major metropolis of western Europe, but it sank into a sleepy regional-level status in the 18th and 19th centuries, completely missing the Industrial Revolution. In the 20th century, relocation of key military and aerospace industries in Toulouse by the French central government have awakened the city again.

Toulouse has the second-largest student population in France after Paris .

The University of Toulouse , established in 1229, is located here . Like the universities in Oxford and Paris, the University of Toulouse was established at a time when Europeans were starting to translate the writings of Greek philosophers. These writings challenged European ideology - inspiring scientific discoveries and advances in the arts - as society began seeing itself in a new way. These colleges were supported by the Church in hopes to reconcile Greek Philosophy and Christian Theology. Today, Toulouse is the second largest university campus of France after Paris,université Paul Sabatier and its engineering schools.

Toulouse, known as the Ville Rose for its distinctive brick architecture, is host to a rich and diverse culture. It has a thriving scene of unusually beautiful graffiti, with the painter Miss Van at its forefront.

It is the seat of the Académie des Jeux Floraux, the equivalent of the French Academy for the Occitan-speaking regions of southern France, making Toulouse the unofficial capital of Occitan culture. The traditional Occitan cross was adopted as the symbol of both the City of Toulouse and the newly-founded Midi-Pyrénées région.

The city's gastronomic specialties include Saucisses de Toulouse, a type of herb sausage, cassoulet Toulousain, a bean and pork stew, and garbure, a cabbage soup with poultry. Also, foie gras, the liver of an overfed duck or goose, is a delicacy mainly made in the Midi-Pyrénées.