Sournia

Sournia Sornià Sornhan
Commune
A general view of Sournia
Coat of arms
Location of Sournia
Sournia Location within France Show map of France Sournia Location within Occitanie Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 42°43′43″N 2°26′34″E / 42.7286°N 2.4428°E / 42.7286; 2.4428
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Prades
Canton	La Vallée de l'Agly
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Yvon Crambes
Area 1	29.99 km2 (11.58 sq mi)
Elevation	500 m (1,600 ft)
Highest elevation	1,234 m (4,049 ft)
Lowest elevation	380 m (1,250 ft)
Population  (2023)	478
• Density	15.9/km2 (41.3/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	66198 /66730
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Sournia (French pronunciation: [suʁnja] ^ⓘ; Catalan: Sornià; Occitan: Sornhan) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the Occitanie region of south-western France. Its inhabitants are known as Sourniannais.

Geography

Sournia is a town of the Fenouillèdes, the languedocienne part of the Pyrénées-Orientales, in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Prades. The river Désix runs through the village. Sournia is 22 km from Ille-sur-Têt and from Vinça, 24 km from Prades and from Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, 30 km from Latour-de-France and 34 km from Axat.
The commune is covered by the quality wine standard AOC 'Côtes-du-Roussillon'.
Sournia is crossed by the long-distance footpath, GR 36.

Administration

The current mayor of Sournia is Paul Blanc, a senator, of the centre-right and right wing party UMP founded by Jacques Chirac.

Population

For some reason at the end of the 19th century, the population of Sournia seemed to have a reputation for having one of the longest longevity in France, even though this fact was not clearly verified.

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 761 —     1800 814 +0.97% 1806 812 −0.04% 1821 882 +0.55% 1831 929 +0.52% 1836 957 +0.60% 1841 933 −0.51% 1846 945 +0.26% 1851 1,073 +2.57% 1856 1,006 −1.28% 1861 950 −1.14% 1866 921 −0.62% 1872 885 −0.66% 1876 850 −1.00% 1881 765 −2.09% 1886 725 −1.07% 1891 686 −1.10% 1896 634 −1.56% 1901 604 −0.96%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1906 604 +0.00% 1911 583 −0.71% 1921 463 −2.28% 1926 410 −2.40% 1931 424 +0.67% 1936 389 −1.71% 1946 382 −0.18% 1954 347 −1.19% 1962 351 +0.14% 1968 339 −0.58% 1975 296 −1.92% 1982 339 +1.96% 1990 376 +1.30% 1999 367 −0.27% 2007 419 +1.67% 2012 494 +3.35% 2017 498 +0.16% 2023 478 −0.68%
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968–2023)

Places of interest

• Ruins of the former church of Saint-Michel from the tenth century.
• The ancient church of Sainte-Félicité from the tenth and eleventh centuries.
• Church of Arsa from the twelfth century.

• 
  Saint-Michel
• 
  Sainte-Félicité
• 
  Saint-Laurent d'Arsa
• 
  The apse, Saint-Laurent d'Arsa

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department

References

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