Melrand (; ) is a commune in the

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

department of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in north-western France.

Population

Inhabitants of Melrand are called in French ''Melrandais''. Melrand's population peaked at 3,712 in 1921 and declined to 1,520 in 2020. This represents a 59% decrease in total population since the peak census figure.

Geography

The village centre is located southwest of

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. ...

and northeast of

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

. Historically, the village belongs to the

Vannetais Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

. The

Blavet The Blavet (; ) river flows from central Brittany and enters the Atlantic Ocean on the south coast near Lorient. It is long. The river is canalised for most of its length, forming one of the links in the Brittany canal system. It connects with t ...

river forms the eastern border of the commune. The Sarre river, a tributary of the Blavet river, flows through Melrand.

Neighbouring communes

Melrand is border by

Bubry Bubry (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Bubry are called in French ''Bubryates''. Internat ...

to the west, by Guern to the north, by

Pluméliau-Bieuzy Pluméliau-Bieuzy (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany, north-western France. It was established on 1 January 2019 by merger of the former communes of Pluméliau (the seat) and Bieuzy.Quistinic Quistinic (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. Its sister city is the rural village of Loughshinny, which is in County Dubl ...

to the south.

Map

Breton language

In 2008, 31.4% of children in the commune attended schools taught in Breton and French for their primary education. ''Ofis ar Brezhoneg''
''Enseignement bilingue''

History

In September 1592, the Spanish mercenaries in the service of the Duke of Mercœur plundered all the neighboring parishes of Guémené, including Melrand.

References

External links

Cultural Heritage

Mayors of Morbihan Association
Communes of Morbihan {{Morbihan-geo-stub