Sournia (; ca, Sornià; oc, Sornhan) is a commune in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean ...

department in the

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

region of south-western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Its inhabitants are known as Sourniannais.

Geography

Sournia is a town of the

Fenouillèdes Fenouillèdes (; oc, Fenolhedés/Fenolheda; ca, Fenolledès/Fenolleda) is a French comarca and a traditional Occitan-speaking area in the ''département'' of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet (''Sant ...

, the

languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximatel ...

ienne part of the

, in the

canton of La Vallée de l'Agly The canton of La Vallée de l'Agly is an administrative division of the Pyrénées-Orientales department, in southern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Rivesaltes. It c ...

and in the

arrondissement of Prades The arrondissement of Prades is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department ( Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 123 communes. Its population is 59,828 (2016), and its area is . Composition The communes ...

. The river Désix runs through the village. Sournia is 22 km from

Ille-sur-Têt Ille-sur-Têt (; Catalan: ''Illa'' or ''Illa de Tet'') is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales département in southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Illois''. Geography The commune is situated in the Ribéral region along the route n ...

and from

Vinça Vinça (; ca, Vinçà) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Vinça is located in the canton of Le Canigou and in the arrondissement of Prades. Population Transport The N116 road passes ...

, 24 km from Prades and from

Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet (; Languedocien: ''Sant Pau de Fenolhet'') is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet is located in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arron ...

, 30 km from

Latour-de-France Latour-de-France (; ca, La Tor de França) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Latour de France is situated by the original frontier between France and Catalonia. Its military significance ended with the Tr ...

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. Map commune FR insee code 66198

Administration

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

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as ...

Population

The population of Sournia in 2017 was 498 people. 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 The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...

, even though this fact was not clearly verified. Fabricio Cardenas
Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, ''Record de longévité à Sournia en 1897 ''
3 January 2015

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.

References

Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales Fenouillèdes {{PyrénéesOrientales-geo-stub

Geography

Administration

Population

Places of interest

See also

References