Editing Pyrenees (section)

== Demographics and culture ==
[[File:Bovins estive Pic du Midi Ossau.jpg|thumb|Some [[Blonde d'Aquitaine]] on summer pasture near the [[Pic du Midi d'Ossau]]]]
The Pyrenean region possesses a varied ethnology, [[folklore]] and history: see [[Andorra]]; [[Aragon]]; [[Ariège (department)|Ariège]]; [[Basque Country (historical territory)|Basque Country]]; [[Béarn]]; [[Catalonia]]; [[Navarre]]; [[Roussillon]]. For their history, see also [[Almogavars]], [[Marca Hispanica]].

The principal languages spoken in the area are Spanish, French, [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]] (in [[Andorra]] and in [[Northern Catalonia|Northern]] and [[Southern Catalonia]]), and [[Basque language|Basque]]. Also spoken, to a lesser degree, is the [[Occitan language]], consisting of the [[Gascon language|Gascon]] and [[Languedocien]] dialects in France and the [[Aranese]] dialect in the [[Aran Valley]].

An important feature of rural life in the Pyrenees is '[[transhumance]]', the moving of livestock from the farms in the valleys up to the higher grounds of the mountains for the summer.<ref name=ariegecom>{{cite web |url=http://www.ariege.com/en/discover-ariege/agro-pastoralism/the-transhumance |title=The Transhumance |publisher=Ariege.com |access-date=1 February 2016 |archive-date=3 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103003130/https://www.ariege.com/en/discover-ariege/agro-pastoralism/the-transhumance |url-status=live }}</ref> In this way the farming communities could keep larger herds than the lowland farms could support on their own. The principal animals moved were [[cows]] and [[sheep]], but historically most members of farming families also moved to the higher pastures along with their animals, so they also took with them [[pigs]], [[horses]]<ref name=chevalEnPyrenees>{{cite web |url=http://www.cheval-en-pyrenees.com/EN/rando-11.html |title=The traditional transhumance of pyrenean horses |access-date=1 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207175134/http://www.cheval-en-pyrenees.com/EN/rando-11.html |archive-date=7 February 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[chickens]].<ref name=ariegecom/> Transhumance thus took the form of a mass biannual migration, moving uphill in May or June<ref name=guide2midipyrenees>{{cite web |url=http://www.guide2midipyrenees.com/information/10939/Transhumance--in--the--Midi-Pyrenees--region--of--south--west--France |title=Transhumance in the Midi-Pyrenees region of south west France |access-date=1 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008013739/http://www.guide2midipyrenees.com/information/10939/Transhumance--in--the--Midi-Pyrenees--region--of--south--west--France |archive-date=8 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and returning to the farms in September or October. During the summer period, the families would live in basic stone cabins<ref name=ariegecom/> in the high mountains.

Nowadays, industrialisation and changing agriculture practices have diminished the custom. However, the importance of transhumance continues to be recognised through its celebration in popular festivals.<ref name=chevalEnPyrenees/><ref name=guide2midipyrenees/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2014/06/05/1894535-transhumances-un-peu-de-civisme-svp.html |title=Transhumances dans les Hautes-Pyrénées : un peu de civisme, SVP ! |language=fr |access-date=1 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007042103/http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2014/06/05/1894535-transhumances-un-peu-de-civisme-svp.html |archive-date=7 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>