Poitou-Charentes is an administrative region in central western France comprising four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. The regional capital is Poitiers.
The regional council is composed of 56 members. The region is the home of France's losing presidential candidate Socialist Ségolène Royal in the election of 2007.
In French its residents are known as Picto-Charentais. In 2003, the region ranked 15th out of 26 in ...
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Poitou-Charentes is an administrative region in central western France comprising four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. The regional capital is Poitiers.
The regional council is composed of 56 members. The region is the home of France's losing presidential candidate Socialist Ségolène Royal in the election of 2007.
In French its residents are known as Picto-Charentais. In 2003, the region ranked 15th out of 26 in population. In area it ranked 12th in size.
Three regional languages, Poitevin, Saintongeais and Limousin are spoken by a minority of people in the region.
Poitou is believed to be the region of origin of most of the Acadian and Cajun populations of North America (now found chiefly in New Brunswick and Louisiana, respectively). Their ancestors emigrated from the region in the 17th and 18th centuries.
At first, these French immigrants from Poitou settled in eastern Canada, and established an agricultural and maritime economy (farming and...
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