This article first makes a distinction amongst regions that are mainly ,rural between «rurban» areas -and «deep» rural areas. An attempt is made to evaluate the coherence, the living particularities and the future of «deep» but not totally deserted rural areas, in other words of 50 % of France. In order to do this,, the winter begins with the historical region. A network of statistical indicators concerning social, economic and cultural problems is assembled, some of them worked out and collected specially for this study. These indicators are used in a method of automatic cartography and comparison. From the example chosen, which seems fairly generalisable, the survey brings to light the relative economic unity of the small region,, and a deterioration of amenities and of non-agricultural services and activities that is less serious than is often feared. But the fact that the modernization of farming inevitably leads to fewer rural inhabitants and the devitalization of the countryside, to a decline in the population, the subordination of the region to the central authority and the break up of local culture, do not encourage one to be optimistic with with regard to the future.
