| Commune status | Commune |
|---|---|
| Arrondissement | Castellane |
| Canton | Riez |
| Insee | 04030 |
| Postal code | 04330 |
| Mayor | Gérard Collomp[1] |
| Term | 2020–2026 |
| Coordinates | 43.8733°N 6.3717°E |
| Elevation m | 950 |
| Elevation min m | 831 |
| Elevation max m | 1921 |
| Area km 2 | 56.8 |
Blieux (blijø; Occitan: Blieus) is a rural commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France.
History
The commune of Blieux first appeared on maps in 1100.[2]
Much later, during the French Revolution, records show that the residents of Blieux had created a political club (patriotic society), which was very common at the time. (See Jacobin Club).[3]
Name of the commune
According to Ernest Nègre, the first recorded name for the commune, Bleus, was derived from the Occitan word bleusse, meaning 'dry'. This was likely a reference to the local soil.[4] By contrast, Charles Rostaing argues that the name derives from the pre-Indo-European root word, *BL, meaning 'mountain in the form of a spur'.[5]
La Melle, the name of a nearby hamlet, comes from the Celtic word, mello, meaning an elevated location.[6]
Economy
Historically, Blieux was a pastoral community, with a yearly alpine grazing cycle known as transhumance. As with much of Provence, tourism the primary source of economic activity today[citation needed].
Geography
The village is located at an altitude of 950m,[2] in the valley formed by a tributary of the river Asse, known as the 'Asse de Blieux'.
Hamlets
- le Bas-Chadoul
- la Melle
- la Tuilière
- Thon
- La Castelle
Summits and passes
- Mont Chiran (1905 m)
- le Grand Mourre (1898 m)
- Crête de Montmuye (Montmuye ridge) (Highest point: 1621 m)
- Le Mourre de Chanier ( 1930 m)
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 59 | — |
| 1975 | 54 | −8.5% |
| 1982 | 59 | +9.3% |
| 1990 | 57 | −3.4% |
| 1999 | 59 | +3.5% |
| 2007 | 57 | −3.4% |
| 2012 | 56 | −1.8% |
| 2017 | 60 | +7.1% |
| 2023 | 60 | +0.0% |
INSEE[7]
With the exception of those that have been totally abandoned, Blieux is one of the communities in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department that has experienced the greatest population decline from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries.
Inhabitants are known as Blieuxois (masculine) and Blieuxoises (feminine) in French.
See also
References
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 2 December 2020.
- ^ de La Torre, Michel (1989). Alpes-de-Haute-Provence : le guide complet des 200 communes (in French). Deslogis-Lacoste (ed.). Paris. p. 72. ISBN 2-7399-5004-7.
- ^ Patrice Alphand, « Les Sociétés populaires», La Révolution dans les Basses-Alpes, Annales de Haute-Provence, bulletin de la société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, no. 307, 1989, pp. 296-298
- ^ Ernest Nègre, Toponymie générale de la France : étymologie de 35 000 noms de lieux, Genève : Librairie Droz, 1990. Volume II : Formations dialectales. Notice 23793, p 1281
- ^ Charles Rostaing, Essai sur la toponymie de la Provence (depuis les origines jusqu’aux invasions barbares), Laffite Reprints, Marseille, 1973, p. 85
- ^ Rostaing, p. 206
- ^ Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE