Quercy

Quercy is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auvergne.

Today, Quercy is divided between the département of Lot and the northern half of the département of Tarn-et-Garonne. The traditional capital of Quercy is Cahors, now préfecture of the Lot département. The largest town of Quercy is Montauban, préfecture 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. Also distinct from the rest of the region is the Quercy Blanc lying between Cahors and the southern boundary of the Lot, characterised by its white limestone buildings.

Quercy has a land area of 6,987 km². 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. 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. 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.