Editing Toulouse (section)

===20th and 21st centuries===
[[File:Lignes_Aeriennes_Latécoére_(Latécoére-Toulouse).jpg|thumb|The epic of l'[[Aéropostale (aviation)|Aéropostale]] has written some of the most beautiful pages in the history of aviation in Toulouse.]]
[[World War I]] brought to Toulouse (geographically sheltered from enemy attacks) chemical industries as well as aviation workshops ([[Pierre-Georges Latécoère|Latécoère]], [[Dewoitine]]), which launched the city's aeronautical construction tradition and gave birth after the war to the famous ''[[Aéropostale (aviation)|Aéropostale]]'', a pioneering airmail company based in Toulouse and whose epics were popularised by the novels of writers such as [[Joseph Kessel]] and [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]] (himself an ''Aéropostale'' pilot).<ref>Benoît Heimermann and Olivier Margot: ''L'aéropostale: la fabuleuse épopée de Mermoz, Saint-Exupéry, Guillaumet'', Arthaud editor, 1994.</ref><ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse">Jean-Marie Pailler, Annick Thomas and Jack Thomas: ''Petite Histoire de Toulouse'', Éditions Cairn, 2017.</ref>

In the 1920s and 1930s the rise of the Toulouse population was increased by the arrival of Italians and Spaniards fleeing the fascist regimes of their country. Then, in the early 1960s, [[Pieds-noirs|French repatriates]] from [[Algerian War|Algeria]] swelled the city's population.<ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse"/>

In 1963, Toulouse was chosen to become one of the country's eight "balancing Metropolis", regaining a position among the country's major cities that it had always had, but lost in the 19th century. The French state then encouraged the city's specialisation in aeronautics and space activities, sectors that had experienced strong growth in recent decades, fueling economic and population growth.<ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse"/>

On 21 September 2001, an [[Toulouse chemical factory explosion|explosion]] occurred at the AZF fertiliser factory, causing 31 deaths, about 30 seriously wounded and 2,500 light casualties. The blast measured 3.4 on the [[Richter scale]] and the explosion was heard {{convert|80|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} away.<ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse"/><ref>{{Citation | first = Pascal | last = Barbier | title = Urban Growth Analysis Within a High Technological Risk Area: Case of AZF Factory Explosion in Tolouse (France) | year = 2003 | publisher = Ecole Nationale des Sciences Géographiques | url = http://www.adpc.net/casita/Case_studies/Technological%20hazard%20and%20risk%20assessment/AZF_CASE_STUDY_REPORT_v2.doc | access-date = 9 March 2022 | archive-date = 3 August 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200803092848/http://www.adpc.net/casita/Case_studies/Technological | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In 2016, a territorial reform made Toulouse the regional [[Prefectures in France|prefecture]] of [[Occitania (administrative region)|Occitanie]], the second largest region in metropolitan France, giving it a role commensurate with its past as a provincial capital among the most important in France.<ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse"/>