Southern France

Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as le Midi, is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin, Spain, the Mediterranean Sea and Italy. It includes southern Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the west, Occitania in the centre, the southern parts of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the northeast, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in the southeast, as well as the island of Corsica in the southeast. Southern France is generally considered part of southern Europe because of its association with the Mediterranean Sea.

The colloquial French name for the region, le Midi, is derived from an Old French compound composed of mi ("middle") and di ("day"), meaning literally "midday". Thus, the term is comparable in both origin and meaning to Mezzogiorno, which indicates southern Italy, and Romanian Miazăzi which is a synonym for south.