Pétanque (Peh-Tawnk) is a french word that originated from the Occitane language is a newer form of boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (jack). The game is normally played on hard dirt or gravel, but can also be played on any kind of surfaces. Similar games are bocce
and bowls. The current form of the game originated in 1907 in La Ciotat, a small village of Provence, in southern France. The French name pétanque comes from petanca in the Provencal dialect of the Occitan, deriving from the expression pès tancats [ˈpɛs taŋˈkats], meaning “feet together”or more exactly “feet anchored”. The casual form of the game of pétanque is played by about 17 million people in France, mostly during their summer vacations. It is also widely played in neighboring Countries. There are about 600,000 players licensed with the International Federation of Petanque and Provencal game in 88 countries, 375,000 in France with the Fédération Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (FFPJP)
