Aude

Aude is a department in Southern France, located in the Occitanie region and named after the Aude River. The departmental council also calls it "Cathar Country" after a group of religious dissidents active in the 12th century.

Its prefecture is Carcassonne and its subprefectures are Limoux and Narbonne. As of 2016, it had a population of 368,025. Aude is a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother of Eudo, brother of Saint Hubertus. Aude was the name of Roland's fiancée in the chansons de geste.