Plouguerneau

Commune in Brittany, France

Plouguerneau Plougerne
Commune
Sunset at Plouguerneau
Coat of arms
Location of Plouguerneau
(2020–2026)		Yannig Robin^[1]
Area ¹	43.33 km² (16.73 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	6,682
• Density	150/km² (400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	29195 /29880
Elevation	0–79 m (0–259 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Plouguerneau (French pronunciation: [pluɡɛʁno]; Breton: Plougerne) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.

Geography

A municipality located between the right bank of the coastal river Aber-Wrac'h and the English Channel, Plouguerneau is made up of three towns: Plouguerneau in the center of the municipality, Lilia to the west facing the sea and Le Grouanec to the east facing land. It is located in the heart of the Pays pagan and the Pays des Abers.

Plouguerneau has 45 kilometers of coastline, islands included (it is the town in France with the longest coastline); it is also the capital of seaweed harvesters.^{[clarification needed]}

International relations

Edingen-Neckarhausen

Since 14 July 1967 the commune has been twinned with Neckarhausen, and from 1975 Edingen-Neckarhausen, in Baden-Württemberg. Considered one of the most exemplary twinnings between French and German communities, it earned Plouguerneau the 1990 Europe Prize, awarded by the Council of Europe.^[3]

The commune is twinned with a number of villages in South East Cornwall, England, including:

St Germans, UK
Tideford, UK

Population

Inhabitants of Plouguerneau are called in French Plouguernéens.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1793	3,367	—
1800	3,725	+1.45%
1806	5,168	+5.61%
1821	5,518	+0.44%
1831	5,546	+0.05%
1836	5,550	+0.01%
1841	5,311	−0.88%
1846	5,902	+2.13%
1851	6,246	+1.14%
1856	5,922	−1.06%
1861	5,868	−0.18%
1866	6,033	+0.56%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1872	5,778	−0.72%
1876	5,951	+0.74%
1881	5,852	−0.33%
1886	5,832	−0.07%
1891	5,724	−0.37%
1896	5,603	−0.43%
1901	5,631	+0.10%
1906	5,824	+0.68%
1911	5,826	+0.01%
1921	5,688	−0.24%
1926	5,784	+0.34%
1931	5,937	+0.52%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1936	5,782	−0.53%
1946	6,180	+0.67%
1954	6,010	−0.35%
1962	6,066	+0.12%
1968	5,750	−0.89%
1975	5,467	−0.72%
1982	5,317	−0.40%
1990	5,255	−0.15%
1999	5,628	+0.76%
2007	6,162	+1.14%
2012	6,352	+0.61%
2017	6,607	+0.79%

Source: EHESS^[4] and INSEE (1968-2017)^[5]

Breton language

In 2008, 12.52% of primary-school children attended bilingual schools, where Breton language is taught alongside French.^[6]

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ "Conseil de l'Europe 1990 - Plouguerneau" (in French).
^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Plouguerneau, EHESS (in French).
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
^ (in French) Ofis ar Brezhoneg: Enseignement bilingue

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Plouguerneau.

Official website (in French)
Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
Mayors of Finistère Association (in French)