Sarpourenx

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Sarpourenx
Sarpourenx
Coordinates: 43°27′27″N 0°42′39″W / 43.4575°N 0.7108°W / 43.4575; -0.7108Coordinates: 43°27′27″N 0°42′39″W / 43.4575°N 0.7108°W / 43.4575; -0.7108
Country France
Region Aquitaine
Department Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement Pau
Canton Lagor
Intercommunality Communauté de communes de Lagor
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Emmanuelle Lacroix Chague
Area
 • Land1 3.35 km2 (1.29 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 • Population2 269
 • Population2 Density 80/km2 (210/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 64505 / 64300
Elevation 59–78 m (194–256 ft)
(avg. 71 m or 233 ft)

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.

Sarpourenx (Béarnese: Sarporens) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France, notable for once having forbidden death by mayoral decree. The demonym is Sarpourenois.[1]

History

Never a large community, the population of Sarpourenx was reported as 25 households in 1385. The town was then part of the bailiwick of Larbaig.

French historian and archivist Paul Raymond (1833–1878) recorded the existence in Sarpourenx of an abbaye laïque (a small, independent parish operated for the profit of an influential local), administered by the viscounts of Béarn.[2]

The name "Sarpourenx" is also historically attested in the variant forms "Sarporencx" (1385 Béarn census), "Sarporencxs", and "Sarporenxs" (from the 1538 and 1546 redistrictings of Béarn, respectively).[2]

Geography

Sarpourenx is located in the historic former province of Béarn, on the left bank of the river Gave de Pau. Its territory includes at least one small hamlet, Le Gave, and a tributary stream of the Gave de Pau, Géu Mort.[3] Neighboring communes include Castétis (north), Argagnon (east), Biron (west), Castetner (west), Maslacq (south), and Orthez (southeast). Via road, Sarpourenx is accessible by Departmental Route 9, near exit 8 of Autoroute A64.

Historical population
Year Pop.  ±%  
1793 241—    
1800 229−5.0%
1806 258+12.7%
1821 313+21.3%
1831 327+4.5%
1836 319−2.4%
1841 303−5.0%
1846 302−0.3%
1851 310+2.6%
1856 298−3.9%
1861 287−3.7%
1866 257−10.5%
1872 236−8.2%
1876 255+8.1%
1881 228−10.6%
1886 215−5.7%
1891 220+2.3%
1896 207−5.9%
1901 206−0.5%
1906 214+3.9%
1911 203−5.1%
1921 173−14.8%
1926 168−2.9%
1931 157−6.5%
1936 150−4.5%
1946 151+0.7%
1954 156+3.3%
1962 199+27.6%
1968 205+3.0%
1975 199−2.9%
1982 208+4.5%
1990 220+5.8%
1999 240+9.1%
2006 270+12.5%
2007 269−0.4%

Economy

Sarpourenx is part of the appellation zone for production of Ossau-Iraty, a sheep's milk cheese.

Government

Mayors of Sarpourenx
Term Name
1971–2008 Gérard Lalanne
2008– Emmanuelle Lacroix Chague (term ending 2014)
This list is not yet complete.

On 13 February 2008, then-mayor Gérard Lalanne issued a municipal order forbidding death within the commune's jurisdiction, threatening severe punishment for offenders. His action was a symbolic protest — Sarpourenx's small cemetery was becoming crowded, and a judge's decision had rejected the commune's request to expropriate private farmland for burial ground.[4] Lalanne himself died ten months later.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Le Nom Des Habitants Des Pyrénées-Atlantiques" (in French). Patagos. Retrieved 27 February 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Raymond, Paul (1863). Pyremonde, ed. Dictionnaire topographique Béarn Pays Basque (in French) (1999 ed.). p. 240. ISBN 2-84618-230-2. 
  3. ↑ "Fiche cours d'eau Gave de Pau" (in French). Sandre. Retrieved 27 February 2012. 
  4. ↑ Dobbie, Andrew (5 March 2008). "Cemetery full, mayor tells locals not to die". Reuters. Retrieved 27 February 2012. 

External links


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