Quercy

Quercy (pronounced in French; ) (Occitan: Carsin, pronounced , locally ) is a former province of France located in the southwest of France, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by P?rigord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auvergne.

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Today, Quercy is divided between the d?partement of Lot (which it makes up in its entirety) and the northern half of the d?partement of Tarn-et-Garonne. The traditional capital of Quercy is Cahors, now pr?fecture (capital) of the Lot d?partement. The largest town of Quercy is Montauban, pr?fecture of Tarn-et-Garonne. However, Montauban lies at the traditional border between Quercy and Languedoc, in an area very different from the rest of Quercy, and it is closer historically and culturally to Toulouse and the rest of Languedoc, therefore it should be considered a special case, not totally part of Quercy.

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Like P?rigord, the area is noted for its cuisine, more particularly its products related to ducks and geese.

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Quercy has a land area of 6,987 km² (2,698 sq. miles). At the 1999 census there were 275,984 inhabitants on the territory of the former province of Quercy, which means a density of 40 inh. per km² (102 inh. per sq. mile). However, if Montauban is not included inside Quercy, then the total population of Quercy in 1999 was 224,129 inhabitants, and the density was only 33 inh. per km² (85 inh. per sq. mile). The largest urban areas in Quercy are Montauban, with 51,855 inhabitants in 1999, Cahors, with 23,128 inhabitants in 1999, Moissac, with 12,321 inhabitants in 1999, and Figeac, with 9,991 inhabitants in 1999.

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