Nébouzan

At the 1999 French census there were 29,218 inhabitants on the territory of the former province of Nébouzan, which means a density of 63 inh.

In the second part of the 14th century, the famous count Gaston III Fébus of Foix, who was trying to join his domains of Béarn and Foix together, managed to acquire Lannemezan (30 km./19 miles west of Saint-Gaudens), and then the fortified castle of Mauvezin, a key position near Lannemezan.

Eventually, the House of Foix-Béarn also managed to acquire Bigorre, and there remained only Comminges and Couserans, united to the French crown in the 1450s, which prevented them from creating a continuous territory from Foix to Béarn.

In 1607, he united to the French crown those of his personal fiefs that were under French sovereignty (i.e. County of Foix, Bigorre, Quatre-Vallées, and Nébouzan, but not Béarn and Lower Navarre, which were sovereign countries outside of the kingdom of France), and so Nébouzan became part of the royal domain.

Before the French Revolution, Nébouzan was made part of the gouvernement (military area) of Guienne-Gascony, whereas for general matters it depended from the généralité of Auch like the rest of Gascony (although for a certain period of time it depended from the généralité of Pau, like Béarn, Bigorre, County of Foix, and the Basque provinces).

Most other provinces, although no longer on the administrative map, still exist as cultural or economic areas, with people frequently referring to them.

Saint-Gaudens under the clouds, with the Pyrenees in the background