EXPLAINED: France's unique regional identities and the languages that shape them
French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced his support for greater autonomy in Corsica, but the island is not the only part of France seeking greater independence. The Local dives into the unique history, language and culture among France's regions.
Despite being a highly centralised state, France's regions maintain their distinct cultural and linguistic identities, and some of them want more freedom from Paris.
From independence movements to language revivals, via traditional culture and food, here's a look at some of France's regions.
Corsica
The Mediterranean island of Corsica, also known as Île de Beauté, has the most militant and - on occasion - violent pro-autonomy movement, while Corsica also has a special status within France, a "collectivity with a particular status".
Executive power on issues like foreign policy and defence rests in Paris, but the Corsican Assembly can make policy decisions on things like taxation, energy and education.
Hear the team at The Local discuss regional autonomy on this week's Talking France podcast - download here or listen on the link below
Corsica is also expected to gain more autonomy in the coming months, after president Emmanuel Macron told the island's parliament: "We should have the courage to establish a form of autonomy for Corsica within France."
Talks on this will start shortly and are expected to be focused on greater autonomous powers within France, rather than full independence. One of the demands from Corsican nationalists is recognition of the Corsican language as one of France's official languages - currently, French is the sole official language.
Corsica's history with France is turbulent and the island's addition into the French state was relatively late - in 1769.
At the time, Corsicans had already declared their own republic, and even though the French technically bought the island from the Genoese in 1767, many Corsicans saw the French arrival as an invasion.
Corsicans have their own language - a romance language, similar to Italian, which was the mother tongue of one of the most famous French people in history: Napoleon Bonaparte, who did not speak French at all until the age of 10.
The modern movement for Corsican independence emerged in the 1970s and 80s, coinciding with the formation of the FLNC (National Liberation Front of Corsica), a militant group advocating for Corsican independence. The group carried out several bombing campaigns and targeted French local officials, eventually leading to the assassination of the island's French Préfet in 1998.
The FNLC officially declared their armed struggle over in 2014, but in recent years there have been arson and bombing attacks many of them on second homes.
Most recently, around a dozen residences - the majority of which were second-homes - were targeted by explosions in the area around Ajaccio - the island's capital.
That being said, most political activity in recent years has been peaceful.
Brittany
Like Corsica, Brittany - the western-most part of France - is also home to its own language, as well as a decades-old independence movement.
The language, Breton, is one part of the Celtic language family, with over 200,000 speakers as of 2018.
As of 2018, more than 18,000 pupils in over 180 towns and 570 schools across Brittany learned in bilingual (Breton and French) schools.
The Breton people trace their ancestry back to Britons fleeing the south-west of Britain as the Anglo-Saxons arrived. By the 9th century, Brittany became its own kingdom, which would evolve into a Duchy. In the 1500s, Brittany was incorporated into the French kingdom following the marriage between Anne of Brittany and King Charles VIII.
After the French revolution, the new republicans sought to standardise French as the official language of France, which had been the language of the aristocracy. Many revolutionaries saw the maintenance of regional languages as a tool to keep the lower classes uninformed.
By 1925 there were still efforts to decrease the use of regional languages. The minister of education at the time, Anatole de Monzie, even said that "for the linguistic unity of France, the Breton language must disappear."
It was around this same time that Breton separatist movements began to gain traction, with the Breton Nationalist Party created in 1911.
Over the years, the movement has been largely non-violent, though in the early 1980s, the FLB (Front de libération de la Bretagne) was responsible for numerous fires in second homes and other attacks on public buildings.
One of the most famous instances was the 1978 bombing of the Château de Versailles, which led to many pieces of art being damaged and one night guard being wounded.
As for support for separatism in Brittany and connection to the regional identity, a broad survey in 2012 found that only 18 percent of Bretons favoured independence.
Nevertheless, shortly after Macron made the Corsica announcement, the president of the regional council for Brittany said that he wanted the ‘same thing’ for Brittany. He said that the changes to the French constitution that Macron was proposing for Corsica should be extended to other parts of the country.
French Basque Country
In Spain, after years of struggle, the Basque country has the status of an autonomous community, with Basque (Euskadi) as an official language.
But part of the Basque country is in France - mostly within the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département. The 'Pays Basque' does not hold specific administrative powers when compared to other French départements, but in 2017 the 'Agglomerate Community of Basque country' was created.
It represents several communes that would have been part of the historic Basque country, and gives some powers for municipal governance, including regarding public transportation and tourism.
The Basque language is still spoken, with approximately one in five people living in the Pays Basque able to speak it. Other parts of Basque culture are also prevalent, including cultural festivals and cuisine.
As of 2021, according to France Bleu, only about six percent of people in French Basque Country reported feeling ‘only basque’, while almost 80 percent said they ‘feel French’.
Occitanie
The historic region that once ran from Italy and along the Mediterranean coast all the way to the Atlantic is home to the regional language of Occitan, a romance language and sounds a bit like a mix of Catalan and French.
In fact, Occitan is the most spoken regional language in French, with at least 600,000 speakers as of 2022, in addition to ongoing revival efforts and bilingual schools.
READ MORE: France's regional languages: How Occitan made our French household trilingual
While there is less of an appetite for separatism in Occitanie than other parts of French, Occitan identity and culture are still alive and well today.
In recent years, there has been a growing wave of musicians and singers choosing to perform in the Occitan language, in an effort to preserve it, as reported by UK newspaper The Guardian.
Song and poetry have always been a large part of the Occitan tradition, as it was the primary language of the Medieval Troubadours, or singing poets.
Alsace
Alsace - which sits along the border of France and Germany and now exists in the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin départements - has been passed back and forth between the two countries for centuries.
In the 1600s, France annexed Alsace, and later in 1870, it was annexed again - this time by Prussia - and fell back under German control until the end of World War I.
During the Second World War, it was occupied by German forces, and was returned to France following the war.
As such, language has always been a topic of conversation in Alsace. After France regained control of the area after WWI, France forced the majority German and Alsatian speaking population to use French in administration, public affairs and education.
The use of Alsatian, the regional tongue similar to Swiss German, as the go-to language in Alsatian homes been steadily declining. In 1971, 57 percent of Alsatians spoke the language consistently at home, and as of 2020 that number had dropped to 21 percent.
Alsace is also unique in having different laws to the rest of France - specifically French state secularism, laïcité, does not apply in the same way in Alsace, because the area was part of Germany when the 1905 law was introduced in France.
As such, religious education is permitted in public schools and state-funding is available to religious groups.
People in Alsace also get two extra public holidays: one day off for Good Friday and another for Saint Stephen’s day (December 26th).
READ MORE: 9 things that make Alsace different to the rest of France
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Despite being a highly centralised state, France's regions maintain their distinct cultural and linguistic identities, and some of them want more freedom from Paris.
From independence movements to language revivals, via traditional culture and food, here's a look at some of France's regions.
Corsica
The Mediterranean island of Corsica, also known as Île de Beauté, has the most militant and - on occasion - violent pro-autonomy movement, while Corsica also has a special status within France, a "collectivity with a particular status".
Executive power on issues like foreign policy and defence rests in Paris, but the Corsican Assembly can make policy decisions on things like taxation, energy and education.
Hear the team at The Local discuss regional autonomy on this week's Talking France podcast - download here or listen on the link below
Corsica is also expected to gain more autonomy in the coming months, after president Emmanuel Macron told the island's parliament: "We should have the courage to establish a form of autonomy for Corsica within France."
Talks on this will start shortly and are expected to be focused on greater autonomous powers within France, rather than full independence. One of the demands from Corsican nationalists is recognition of the Corsican language as one of France's official languages - currently, French is the sole official language.
Corsica's history with France is turbulent and the island's addition into the French state was relatively late - in 1769.
At the time, Corsicans had already declared their own republic, and even though the French technically bought the island from the Genoese in 1767, many Corsicans saw the French arrival as an invasion.
Corsicans have their own language - a romance language, similar to Italian, which was the mother tongue of one of the most famous French people in history: Napoleon Bonaparte, who did not speak French at all until the age of 10.
The modern movement for Corsican independence emerged in the 1970s and 80s, coinciding with the formation of the FLNC (National Liberation Front of Corsica), a militant group advocating for Corsican independence. The group carried out several bombing campaigns and targeted French local officials, eventually leading to the assassination of the island's French Préfet in 1998.
The FNLC officially declared their armed struggle over in 2014, but in recent years there have been arson and bombing attacks many of them on second homes.
Most recently, around a dozen residences - the majority of which were second-homes - were targeted by explosions in the area around Ajaccio - the island's capital.
That being said, most political activity in recent years has been peaceful.
Brittany
Like Corsica, Brittany - the western-most part of France - is also home to its own language, as well as a decades-old independence movement.
The language, Breton, is one part of the Celtic language family, with over 200,000 speakers as of 2018.
As of 2018, more than 18,000 pupils in over 180 towns and 570 schools across Brittany learned in bilingual (Breton and French) schools.
The Breton people trace their ancestry back to Britons fleeing the south-west of Britain as the Anglo-Saxons arrived. By the 9th century, Brittany became its own kingdom, which would evolve into a Duchy. In the 1500s, Brittany was incorporated into the French kingdom following the marriage between Anne of Brittany and King Charles VIII.
After the French revolution, the new republicans sought to standardise French as the official language of France, which had been the language of the aristocracy. Many revolutionaries saw the maintenance of regional languages as a tool to keep the lower classes uninformed.
By 1925 there were still efforts to decrease the use of regional languages. The minister of education at the time, Anatole de Monzie, even said that "for the linguistic unity of France, the Breton language must disappear."
It was around this same time that Breton separatist movements began to gain traction, with the Breton Nationalist Party created in 1911.
Over the years, the movement has been largely non-violent, though in the early 1980s, the FLB (Front de libération de la Bretagne) was responsible for numerous fires in second homes and other attacks on public buildings.
One of the most famous instances was the 1978 bombing of the Château de Versailles, which led to many pieces of art being damaged and one night guard being wounded.
As for support for separatism in Brittany and connection to the regional identity, a broad survey in 2012 found that only 18 percent of Bretons favoured independence.
Nevertheless, shortly after Macron made the Corsica announcement, the president of the regional council for Brittany said that he wanted the ‘same thing’ for Brittany. He said that the changes to the French constitution that Macron was proposing for Corsica should be extended to other parts of the country.
French Basque Country
In Spain, after years of struggle, the Basque country has the status of an autonomous community, with Basque (Euskadi) as an official language.
But part of the Basque country is in France - mostly within the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département. The 'Pays Basque' does not hold specific administrative powers when compared to other French départements, but in 2017 the 'Agglomerate Community of Basque country' was created.
It represents several communes that would have been part of the historic Basque country, and gives some powers for municipal governance, including regarding public transportation and tourism.
The Basque language is still spoken, with approximately one in five people living in the Pays Basque able to speak it. Other parts of Basque culture are also prevalent, including cultural festivals and cuisine.
As of 2021, according to France Bleu, only about six percent of people in French Basque Country reported feeling ‘only basque’, while almost 80 percent said they ‘feel French’.
Occitanie
The historic region that once ran from Italy and along the Mediterranean coast all the way to the Atlantic is home to the regional language of Occitan, a romance language and sounds a bit like a mix of Catalan and French.
In fact, Occitan is the most spoken regional language in French, with at least 600,000 speakers as of 2022, in addition to ongoing revival efforts and bilingual schools.
READ MORE: France's regional languages: How Occitan made our French household trilingual
While there is less of an appetite for separatism in Occitanie than other parts of French, Occitan identity and culture are still alive and well today.
In recent years, there has been a growing wave of musicians and singers choosing to perform in the Occitan language, in an effort to preserve it, as reported by UK newspaper The Guardian.
Song and poetry have always been a large part of the Occitan tradition, as it was the primary language of the Medieval Troubadours, or singing poets.
Alsace
Alsace - which sits along the border of France and Germany and now exists in the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin départements - has been passed back and forth between the two countries for centuries.
In the 1600s, France annexed Alsace, and later in 1870, it was annexed again - this time by Prussia - and fell back under German control until the end of World War I.
During the Second World War, it was occupied by German forces, and was returned to France following the war.
As such, language has always been a topic of conversation in Alsace. After France regained control of the area after WWI, France forced the majority German and Alsatian speaking population to use French in administration, public affairs and education.
The use of Alsatian, the regional tongue similar to Swiss German, as the go-to language in Alsatian homes been steadily declining. In 1971, 57 percent of Alsatians spoke the language consistently at home, and as of 2020 that number had dropped to 21 percent.
Alsace is also unique in having different laws to the rest of France - specifically French state secularism, laïcité, does not apply in the same way in Alsace, because the area was part of Germany when the 1905 law was introduced in France.
As such, religious education is permitted in public schools and state-funding is available to religious groups.
People in Alsace also get two extra public holidays: one day off for Good Friday and another for Saint Stephen’s day (December 26th).
READ MORE: 9 things that make Alsace different to the rest of France
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