Coligny, Ain

Coligny

Town hall
Coligny
Administration
Country France
Region Rhône-Alpes
Department Ain
Arrondissement Bourg-en-Bresse
Canton Coligny
Intercommunality Coligny
Mayor Jean Bernadac
(2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation 199–575 m (653–1,886 ft)
(avg. 293 m/961 ft)
Land area1 16.87 km2 (6.51 sq mi)
Population2 1,150  (2008)
 - Density 68 /km2 (180 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 01108/ 01270
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coligny is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.

Contents

Geography

The commune lies near Bourg-en-Bresse; the Solnan forms its southwestern border.

Celtic background

Coligny is famed for its Celtic lunisolar calendar, the "Coligny calendar". The calendar, which dates from the turn of the 1st century, has been key in the understanding of the knowledge of astronomy among the Gauls, and also supplied interesting information about their language (e.g., their names for months and the words for "lucky" and "unlucky"). It was an engraved bronze tablet originally discovered as fragments in 1897.[1] It is written in the Latin alphabet and it represents a five-year cycle composed of three years having twelve lunar months and two years (the first and third) having thirteen lunar months.

At the end of the 19th century a bronze statue was discovered in the town and has been christened the Dieu de Coligny (God of Coligny).

Population

Historical population of Coligny, Ain
Year 1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1836 1841 1846 1851 1856
Population 1672 1658 1660 1755 1764 1686 1697 1739 1737 1646
Year 1861 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896 1901 1906
Population 1655 1668 1650 1707 1754 1680 1698 1716 1662 1674
Year 1911 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954 1962 1968 1975
Population 1644 1403 1331 1239 1202 1173 1131 1083 1111 1077
Year 1982 1990 1999 2008
Population 1132 1117 1091 1150

Personalities

Coligny was the birthplace of Joseph Darnand (1897–1945), a French pro-Nazi traitor and leader of the Vichy French Milice.

See also

References

External links