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In French, the region's residents were known asPicto-Charentais. In 2003, the region ranked 15th out of 26 in population. In area it ranked 12th in size.
At first, these French immigrants from the rural areas of Poitou-Charentes settled in what is now eastern Canada, and established an agricultural and maritime economy (farming and fishing). This area of the New World was dubbed "Acadia" by the French, after the GreekArcadia – the idyllic part of thePeloponnesian peninsula in Greece. As an alternate theory, some historians suggest that the name is derived from the indigenous CanadianMi'kmaq language, in which Cadie means "fertile land".[4] It was renamedNova Scotia (New Scotland) in the aftermath of the1755 expulsion of most of the Acadians by the English.
Poitou is a historic region in west central France.Poitiers, the capital of the region, is its chief city, although the port ofLa Rochelle, capital of the province ofAunis, rivals it in economic importance. Farming is important to the economy; wheat, corn and cattle are farmed. Industries produce machinery, chemicals and dairy products.
The region's first known inhabitants, thePictavi, a Gallic tribe, were conquered in 56 BC by the Romans, who then incorporated the area into Gaul as part of the province ofAquitania, with theAquitani tribes. TheVisigoths seized the region in 418 AD, but it passed to theFranks in 507. In 732 or 733,Charles Martel brought the Muslim invasion of Western Europe to a standstill by his victory in theBattle of Poitiers. From the 10th to the mid-12th century, the counts of Poitou were also thedukes of Aquitaine, and the city ofPoitiers grew in importance.
In 1152, Poitou came under English control through the marriage ofEleanor of Aquitaine toHenry II (later king of England). The region was reunited with the French crown in 1416 and was a province of France until theRevolution (1789–1795), when it was divided into three departments,Vienne, Deux-Sèvres, and Vendée.
