Saint-Girons, Ariège

Saint-Girons

General view of the town

Coat of arms
Saint-Girons

Coordinates: 42°59′09″N 1°08′48″E / 42.9858°N 1.1467°E / 42.9858; 1.1467Coordinates: 42°59′09″N 1°08′48″E / 42.9858°N 1.1467°E / 42.9858; 1.1467
Country France
Region Occitanie
Department Ariège
Arrondissement Saint-Girons
Canton Saint-Girons
Intercommunality Saint-Girons
Government
  Mayor (2008–2014) François Murillo
Area1 19.13 km2 (7.39 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 6,579
  Density 340/km2 (890/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 09261 / 09200
Elevation 387–1,200 m (1,270–3,937 ft)
(avg. 391 m or 1,283 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.

Saint-Girons (French: [sɛ̃.ʒi.ʁɔ̃]; Occitan: Sent Gironç) is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.

History

Antiquity

Funerary cippus to a Pompeia

Unlike its close neighbour Saint-Lizier, Saint-Girons isn't an ancient city; there was however a lucus on its present territory where some Roman finds were made during the construction of the train station in the beginning of the twentieth century. Modern-days district Le Luc is considered to owe its name to this ancient lucus.

Foundation

St Girons' Church by the Salat river
St Girons' Church by the Salat river

The city is named after Saint Girons, a saint from fifth-century Landes who evangelized Novempopulania. In the ninth century some of his relics were supposedly buried in Saint Girons' Church, around which the city later developed.

Climate

Saint-Girons has a moderate but warm oceanic climate, that is quite prone to temporary vast extremes in temperature as a result of its inland position.

Climate data for Saint-Girons, Ariège (1981–2010 averages)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 22.4
(72.3)
31.2
(88.2)
29.0
(84.2)
29.0
(84.2)
32.1
(89.8)
38.9
(102)
38.2
(100.8)
38.6
(101.5)
36.5
(97.7)
33.3
(91.9)
26.4
(79.5)
25.0
(77)
38.9
(102)
Average high °C (°F) 10.3
(50.5)
11.3
(52.3)
14.2
(57.6)
16.0
(60.8)
19.5
(67.1)
22.9
(73.2)
25.5
(77.9)
25.6
(78.1)
23.0
(73.4)
19.0
(66.2)
13.7
(56.7)
10.9
(51.6)
17.7
(63.9)
Average low °C (°F) 0.3
(32.5)
1.1
(34)
3.3
(37.9)
5.2
(41.4)
8.9
(48)
12.5
(54.5)
14.5
(58.1)
14.3
(57.7)
11.2
(52.2)
8.0
(46.4)
3.5
(38.3)
0.9
(33.6)
7.0
(44.6)
Record low °C (°F) −18.7
(−1.7)
−16.5
(2.3)
−12.8
(9)
−4.2
(24.4)
−1.1
(30)
2.2
(36)
5.2
(41.4)
4.7
(40.5)
1.3
(34.3)
−4.0
(24.8)
−10.2
(13.6)
−12.3
(9.9)
−18.7
(−1.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 83.3
(3.28)
61.6
(2.425)
80.2
(3.157)
104.6
(4.118)
101.8
(4.008)
77.4
(3.047)
52.2
(2.055)
72.6
(2.858)
73.0
(2.874)
80.1
(3.154)
82.0
(3.228)
83.4
(3.283)
952.2
(37.488)
Average precipitation days 10.4 9.2 10.7 12.0 12.2 9.3 7.2 8.9 8.6 10.5 9.8 10.0 118.9
Average snowy days 3.1 3.4 2.7 1.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 1.4 3.1 15.1
Average relative humidity (%) 79 77 74 75 78 78 76 78 78 81 81 80 77.9
Mean monthly sunshine hours 119.3 130.5 169.2 168.7 179.4 189.3 204.6 207.2 190.1 152.4 117.2 108.7 1,936.3
Source #1: Météo France[1][2]
Source #2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity and snowy days, 1961–1990)[3]

Population

Inhabitants of Saint-Girons are called Saint-Gironnais.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
17932,749    
18003,054+11.1%
18063,348+9.6%
18213,868+15.5%
18314,381+13.3%
18364,282−2.3%
18413,901−8.9%
18464,142+6.2%
18513,981−3.9%
18564,005+0.6%
18614,576+14.3%
18664,745+3.7%
18724,690−1.2%
18764,953+5.6%
18815,191+4.8%
18865,459+5.2%
18915,448−0.2%
18965,915+8.6%
19016,018+1.7%
19065,990−0.5%
19115,929−1.0%
19215,749−3.0%
19266,178+7.5%
19316,120−0.9%
19366,406+4.7%
19467,026+9.7%
19546,841−2.6%
19627,368+7.7%
19687,971+8.2%
19758,130+2.0%
19827,260−10.7%
19906,596−9.1%
19996,254−5.2%
20086,579+5.2%
Hilly countryside
Countryside
Countryside, Pyrenees
Countryside

Sport

Stage 8 of the 2009 Tour de France finished in Saint-Girons, after travelling 176 km from Andorra la Vella.

State 9 of the 2013 Tour de France started here.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint-Girons, Ariège.
  1. "Données climatiques de la station de Saint-Girons" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  2. "Climat Midi-Pyrénées" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  3. "Normes et records 1961-1990: Saint-Girons - Antichan (09) - altitude 411m" (in French). Infoclimat. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.