Poitou-Charentes or Nouvelle Aquitaine?

Increasingly, you will see our region no longer being referred to as Poitou-Charentes, but instead as Nouvelle-Aquitaine.  What is behind this change?  In 2014, a territorial reform was undertaken across France and, with effect from 1 January 2016, the old regions of Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes were merged to become Nouvelle-Acquitaine.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine is now the largest administrative region in France, covering one-eight of the 'hexagon' (as mainland France is nicknamed).  The new region has around 5.8m inhabitants and its capital is Bordeaux.  

The departments  - Charente Maritime, Charente, Deux Sevres, Vienne, etc - will still bear their existing names. 

For the time being, we shall continue to use 'Poitou-Charentes' not least because of the many legacy maps and publications, but over the next few years you can expect to see the new region's name becoming more and more prominent.