Located at the southwestern part of France, Toulouse is a city which situated at the banks of Garonne River. The city is the fifth largest one in France and is half way in between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The population of the city stood to 1,117,000 till 2007 which is one of the fastest developing reasons in Europe. With headquarters of Galileo positioning system, SPOT satellite systems and Airbus, Toulouse also comprise of the CNES’s Toulouse Space Center (CST) the largest space center of Europe. Headquarters of all the above major giants make Toulouse the center of European aerospace industry. Some of the other major satellite manufacturers like EADS satellite system subsidiary, EADS Astrium Satellite and Thales Alenia Space, Europe’s largest satellite manufacturer also has presence in Toulouse.
Toulouse also showcases one of the most popular universities of the world which houses more than 120,000 students. The university was founded in 1229 and has the reputation of being the third largest campus of France. Previously, the capital of Languedoc province at present Toulouse is the capital of Midi Pyrenees region and Haute Garonne department.
History of Toulouse
Toulouse was founded during reign of the Romans, and was once the biggest metropolis area of the entire Western Europe. With the fall of the Roman Empire the city took serious setbacks and completely missed the industrial revolution. The city came back to life in the 20th century with the upcoming of several aerospace and military industries in the area. One of the greatest benefits of skipping industrial revolution came by the way of environmental and socio economic restructuring.
With the increasing popularity of the city and after gaining the statues center of aerospace industry of Europe, the population has almost doubled from 1960 to 2000. Toulouse is expected to continue its growth with favorable condition for biotech and aerospace industry. Today, Toulouse is step by step gaining back its former status as the European metropolis.
Government and politics
Community of the Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse: The community was created in 2001 with the main task of coordinating economics, politics, infrastructure and the transport facilities in Toulouse and its suburbs. The community has succeeded a district which was founded in 1992 but had much less powers than the current council. With a population of about 583,229 inhabitants, the city covers an area of about 147sq miles.
Politics at the local level: Dominique Baudis is one of the most well known political figures in Toulouse. He was the mayor of Toulouse from 1983 to 2001 and was also the member of the center right UDF. Dominique Baudis started off with journalism and gained the limelight for coverage of Lebanon war. It was in 1983 that he succeeded with father Pierre Baudis and became the mayor. The Baudis family was instrumental in shaping the future of Toulouse and turning it into a strong region. During the reign of Dominique Baudis as the mayor the economy of Toulouse gained new heights and glory.
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