Ascou

Ascou (French pronunciation: [asku]; Occitan: Ascon) is a commune in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region of south-western France.

Ascou
Commune
The Étang de Goulours
Location of Ascou
Ascou Show map of France Ascou Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 42°43′20″N 1°51′45″E
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Ariège
Arrondissement	Foix
Canton	Haute-Ariège
Intercommunality	CC Haute-Ariège
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Sabine Carrière[1]
Area 1	35.59 km2 (13.74 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	115
• Density	3.2/km2 (8.4/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	09023 /09110
Elevation	879–2,360 m (2,884–7,743 ft) (avg. 1,005 m or 3,297 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Ascou is an alpine commune located some 40 km south-east of Foix and immediately east of Ax-les-Thermes. The northern border of the commune is the border between the departments of Ariège and Aude. Access to the commune is by the D 25 road which branches off the D 613 east of Ax-les-Thermes and continues through the village and the length of the commune to Mijanès over the mountains to the east. The D 258 road branches off the D 25 in the commune and goes north-east changing to the D 107 at the border and continuing to La Fajolle. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of Goulours, Lavail, and Pujal. The commune is entirely alpine in nature with no farmland.^[3]

The Ruisseau de l'Adorre rises in the east of the commune and flows west gathering tributaries and changing to the Lauze river before passing the village and continuing west to join the Ariège at Ax-les-Thermes. The Ruisseau de l'Eycherque rise in the north-east of the commune and flows south-west to join the Lauze at the D 25 road. The Riu Caud flows from the north to join the Lauze at the Étang de Goulours^[3]

Neighbouring communes and villages

^[3]

Administration

List of Successive Mayors^[4]

From	To	Name	Party
2001	2020	Claude Carrière	PS
2020	2026	Sabine Carrière

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Ascounais in French.^[5]

Pailhères ski station in summer

The Col de Pailhères on the D25

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 776 —     1800 613 −3.31% 1806 851 +5.62% 1821 914 +0.48% 1831 925 +0.12% 1836 1,001 +1.59% 1841 837 −3.52% 1846 842 +0.12% 1851 805 −0.89% 1856 686 −3.15% 1861 710 +0.69% 1866 695 −0.43% 1872 664 −0.76% 1876 641 −0.88% 1881 565 −2.49% 1886 620 +1.88% 1891 521 −3.42% 1896 521 +0.00%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 469 −2.08% 1906 456 −0.56% 1911 453 −0.13% 1921 363 −2.19% 1926 310 −3.11% 1931 266 −3.02% 1936 250 −1.23% 1946 274 +0.92% 1954 158 −6.65% 1962 136 −1.86% 1968 114 −2.90% 1975 120 +0.74% 1982 81 −5.46% 1990 96 +2.15% 1999 102 +0.68% 2007 127 +2.78% 2012 153 +3.80% 2017 121 −4.58%
Source: EHESS[6] and INSEE[7]

Sites and monuments

The Parish church in Ascou. Next to the church is a small memorial for those who fell in the First World War

The Parish Church contains a Statue of the Virgin and child which is registered as a historical object.^[8]

Notable people linked to the commune

• Michel Naudy, journalist and politician.

See also

• Communes of the Ariège department