Picardy (Picardie) Region and former province of n France, on the English Channel; it includes Somme, and parts of Pas-de-Calais, Oise and Aisne departments. It was a French province from 1477 until the French Revolution, when it was replaced by a smaller department. Picardy was the scene of heavy fighting during World War I. The area is made up of the plateau to the n of Paris, where wheat and sugar beet are grown; the valley of the Somme, where industrial centres such as Amiens are located; and the coast, where fishing is important. Area: 19,399sq km (7488sq mi) Pop. (1999) 1,857,834.

Picardy a region and former province of northern France, centred on the city of Amiens, which was the scene of heavy fighting in the First World War. One of the soldiers' songs of the First World War was entitled ‘Roses of Picardy’ (1916).