ABSTRACT
IT has been France’s lot, since the Middle Ages, to bind together by evercloser ties of national unity-like the Rhône receiving the Durance, as Mistral finely says-a cluster of societies originally separated by strong contrasts. Everyone knows or is instinctively aware of this; yet no study has been more neglected than that of this social geography. It is therefore only possible here to offer a little guidance to students.
