Puéchabon

Puéchabon (French pronunciation: [pɥeʃabɔ̃]; Occitan: Puèg-Abon, [pɥɛt͡ʃ.a'bu]) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in Southern France.

Puéchabon Puèg-Abon (Occitan)
Commune
A general view of Puéchabon
Coat of arms
Location of Puéchabon
Puéchabon Show map of France Puéchabon Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 43°42′55″N 3°37′06″E
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Hérault
Arrondissement	Lodève
Canton	Gignac
Intercommunality	Vallée de l'Hérault
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Xavier Peyraud[1]
Area 1	31.26 km2 (12.07 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	507
• Density	16/km2 (42/sq mi)
Demonym	Puéchabonais
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	34221 /34150
Elevation	54–483 m (177–1,585 ft) (avg. 110 m or 360 ft)
Website	communedepuechabon.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Map

The commune borders Causse-de-la-Selle to the north, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert to the north and west, Aniane to the south, and La Boissière to the southeast.

Climate

In 2010, the climate of the commune is classified as a frank Mediterranean climate, according to a study based on a dataset covering the 1971-2000 period.^[3] In 2020, Météo-France published a typology of climates in mainland France in which the commune is exposed to a Mediterranean climate and is part of the Provence, Languedoc-Roussillon climatic region, characterized by low rainfall in summer, very good sunshine (2,600 h/year), a hot summer 21.5 °C (71 °F), very dry air in summer, dry conditions in all seasons, strong winds (with a frequency of 40 to 50% for winds > 5 m/s), and little fog.^[4]

For the 1971-2000 period, the average annual temperature was 14 °C (57 °F) with an annual atmospheric temperature of 16 °C (61 °F). The average annual total rainfall during this period was 931 mm, with 6.9 days of precipitation in January and 3.1 days in July.^[3] For the subsequent period of 1991 to 2020, the average annual temperature observed at the nearest weather station, located in the commune of Saint-André-de-Sangonis, 12 kilometres (7 mi) away as the crow flies,^[5] is 15.5 °C (60 °F), and the average annual total rainfall is 652.4 mm.^[6][7]

For the future, climate parameters for the commune projected for 2050, based on different greenhouse gas emission scenarios, can be consulted on a dedicated website published by Météo-France in November 2022.^[8]

Urbanism

Typology

As of January 1, 2024, Puéchabon is classified as a ‘commune rurale à habitat dispersé’ (rural commune with dispersed settlement) according to the new seven-level commune density grid established by Insee in 2022.^{[l 1]} The commune is located outside of any urban unit.^{[l 2]} Additionally, Puéchabon belongs to the Montpellier attraction area, where it is designated as a commuter town.^{[Note 1][l 2]} This area, encompassing 161 communes, falls under the category of areas with 700,000 inhabitants or more (excluding Paris).^{[l 3]}

Land Use

The land use in the commune, as recorded in the European biophysical land use database, Corine Land Cover (CLC), is characterized by a high proportion of forests and semi-natural habitats, accounting 90.8 % in 2018, an approximately equivalent proportion compared to that of 1990, 91.2%. The detailed distribution in 2018 was as follows: shrub and/or herbaceous vegetation environments (67.4%), forests (20.3%), permanent crops (7%), open spaces, with little or no vegetation (3.1%), urban areas (1.1%), heterogeneous agricultural areas (1.1%).^[9] Changes in the commune’s land use and infrastructure can be observed on various cartographic representations of the area: the Cassini map (18th century), the military topographic map (1820–1866), and IGN maps or aerial photographs from 1950 to the present day.^{[Map 1]}

Map of Infrastructure and Land Use in the Commune in 2018 (CLC)

Population

In 2022, the commune had a population of 507.^[10]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 647 —     1800 669 +0.48% 1806 741 +1.72% 1821 835 +0.80% 1831 901 +0.76% 1836 837 −1.46% 1841 872 +0.82% 1846 909 +0.83% 1851 893 −0.35% 1856 860 −0.75% 1861 862 +0.05% 1866 851 −0.26% 1872 792 −1.19% 1876 863 +2.17% 1881 826 −0.87% 1886 747 −1.99% 1891 647 −2.83% 1896 732 +2.50% 1901 651 −2.32%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1906 588 −2.02% 1911 532 −1.98% 1921 515 −0.32% 1926 415 −4.23% 1931 378 −1.85% 1936 371 −0.37% 1946 315 −1.62% 1954 270 −1.91% 1962 239 −1.51% 1968 200 −2.93% 1975 221 +1.44% 1982 255 +2.07% 1990 273 +0.86% 1999 346 +2.67% 2007 445 +3.20% 2012 454 +0.40% 2017 485 +1.33% 2022 507 +0.89%
Source: Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1999,[11] and INSEE since 2007.[12][10]

See also

• Communes of the Hérault department