The city is on the banks of the River Garonne , kilometres 93 miles from the Mediterranean Sea , km mi from the Atlantic Ocean and km mi from Paris. It is the fourth-largest city in France after Paris , Marseille and Lyon , with , inhabitants within its municipal boundaries ; [ 5 ] its metropolitan area has a population of 1. Between the and censuses, its metropolitan area was the third fastest growing among metropolitan areas larger than , inhabitants in France.
The air route between Toulouse—Blagnac and the Parisian airports is the busiest in France, transporting 3. Founded by the Romans, the city was the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom in the 5th century and the capital of the province of Languedoc in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period provinces were abolished during the French Revolution , making it the unofficial capital of the cultural region of Occitania Southern France. It is now the capital of the administrative region of Occitania , the second largest region in Metropolitan France.
The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest in Europe founded in Toulouse is also the home of prestigious higher education schools, notably in the field of aerospace engineering. Together with the university, they have turned Toulouse into the fourth-largest student city in France, with a university population of nearly , students. The city's unique architecture made of pinkish terracotta bricks has earned Toulouse the nickname La Ville rose "The Pink city".
Toulouse is in the south of France, north of the department of Haute-Garonne, on the axis of communication between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is about 80 km from the Pyrenees and the borders with Andorra and Spain.
Too much precipitation during the summer months prevents the city from being classified in the Mediterranean climate zone. Tolosa enters the historical period in the 2nd century BC, when it became a Roman military outpost. After the conquest of Gaul , it was developed as a Roman city in Gallia Narbonensis.
