Katalánok Franciaországban: Ki kicsoda Occitanie régióban?
Catalans in France: Who Is Who in the Region of Occitanie?

Summary/Abstract: This article centres on the issues facing the Catalan regional language community living in France. Starting from the fact that France is one of Europe’s most centralised states, the article explores the milestones in French history that have had the greatest influence not only on the Catalans and the Occitans present in the south-west of the country’s territory but also on other non-majority groups historically part of the French state. Following that, this paper attempts to give an overview of what France’s territorial management looks like, touching upon the specificities of its regionalisation and the characteristics of the territorial government of the state. It addresses how the country is decentralised and deconcentrated at the same time in its public administration. Most importantly, the article discusses the region of Occitanie in depth — not only the circumstances that determined its creation in 2015–2016, but also the effect this has had on the regional communities living there: the Catalans at length, but also the Occitans. The paper concludes that while the population base suitable for language revitalisation in the area is in constant decline, thanks to positive changes in education policy, there seems to remain a shred of hope for the survival of the Catalan language in France, in particular.

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