Sarpourenx

Sarpourenx
Sarpourenx
Location within Aquitaine region Sarpourenx
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Lagor
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes de Lagor
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Emmanuelle Lacroix Chague
Area1	3.35 km2 (1.29 sq mi)
Population (2007)2	269
• Density	80/km2 (210/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	64505 / 64300
Elevation	59–78 m (194–256 ft) (avg. 71 m or 233 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.

Sarpourenx (Béarnese: Sarporens) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France, notable for once having forbidden death by mayoral decree. The demonym is Sarpourenois.

History

Never a large community, the population of Sarpourenx was reported as 25 households in 1385. The town was then part of the bailiwick of Larbaig.

French historian and archivist Paul Raymond (1833–1878) recorded the existence in Sarpourenx of an abbaye laïque (a small, independent parish operated for the profit of an influential local), administered by the viscounts of Béarn.

The name "Sarpourenx" is also historically attested in the variant forms "Sarporencx" (1385 Béarn census), "Sarporencxs", and "Sarporenxs" (from the 1538 and 1546 redistrictings of Béarn, respectively).

Geography

Sarpourenx is located in the historic former province of Béarn, on the left bank of the river Gave de Pau. Its territory includes at least one small hamlet, Le Gave, and a tributary stream of the Gave de Pau, Géu Mort. Neighboring communes include Castétis (north), Argagnon (east), Biron (west), Castetner (west), Maslacq (south), and Orthez (southeast). Via road, Sarpourenx is accessible by Departmental Route 9, near exit 8 of Autoroute A64.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	241	—
1800	229	−5.0%
1806	258	+12.7%
1821	313	+21.3%
1831	327	+4.5%
1836	319	−2.4%
1841	303	−5.0%
1846	302	−0.3%
1851	310	+2.6%
1856	298	−3.9%
1861	287	−3.7%
1866	257	−10.5%
1872	236	−8.2%
1876	255	+8.1%
1881	228	−10.6%
1886	215	−5.7%
1891	220	+2.3%
1896	207	−5.9%
1901	206	−0.5%
1906	214	+3.9%
1911	203	−5.1%
1921	173	−14.8%
1926	168	−2.9%
1931	157	−6.5%
1936	150	−4.5%
1946	151	+0.7%
1954	156	+3.3%
1962	199	+27.6%
1968	205	+3.0%
1975	199	−2.9%
1982	208	+4.5%
1990	220	+5.8%
1999	240	+9.1%
2006	270	+12.5%
2007	269	−0.4%

Economy

Sarpourenx is part of the appellation zone for production of Ossau-Iraty, a sheep's milk cheese.

Government

Mayors of Sarpourenx

Term	Name
1971–2008	Gérard Lalanne
2008–	Emmanuelle Lacroix Chague (term ending 2014)
This list is not yet complete.

On 13 February 2008, then-mayor Gérard Lalanne issued a municipal order forbidding death within the commune's jurisdiction, threatening severe punishment for offenders. His action was a symbolic protest — Sarpourenx's small cemetery was becoming crowded, and a judge's decision had rejected the commune's request to expropriate private farmland for burial ground. Lalanne himself died ten months later.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
• Cugnaux — another French commune with an anti-death ordinance

External links

• http://www.sarpourenx.fr/ — Official site (in French)