Balan, Ardennes

Balan is a commune in the Ardennes department in the Grand Est region of northern France.

Balan
Commune
War memorial and town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Balan
Balan
Balan
Coordinates: 49°41′23″N 4°57′40″E
CountryFrance
RegionGrand Est
DepartmentArdennes
ArrondissementSedan
CantonSedan-3
IntercommunalityCharleville-Mézières / Sedan
Government
 • Mayor (1995–2020) André Drouard
Area
1
4.65 km2 (1.80 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
1,618
 • Density350/km2 (900/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
08043 /08200
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Balanais or Balanaises.[2]

The commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.[3]

Geography

Balan is located just east of Sedan and north-east of Bazeilles. Access to the commune is by the D8043A road from Sedan which continues south-east to Bazeilles. The D17 also passes through the town and continues east to Rubécourt-et-Lamécourt. The Route nationale N43 (E46) highway passes through the commune with the nearest exit being Exit  3  just south-east of the commune. Much of the central area of the commune is urban with the northern part farmland and some forest.[4]

The Meuse river forms the south-western border of the commune as it flows north through Sedan.

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

From 1560 to 1642 Balan was part of the Principality of Sedan.

Heraldry
Arms of Balan
 Blazon:

Party per pale, first Azure a chevron of Or; second Argent, a fess of Gules charged with a mullet of Or between 2 martlets of Sable.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors[5]

Mayors from the 16th century to 1935
FromToName
15601574Robert de la Tour
1574Jean Foulon
17271730Nicolas Gouveno
17301738Noizet
17381739Louis Halma
17391757Jean Halma
17571759Servais Godfroi
17591767Henri Beuvart
17671786Jean-Baptiste Thiéry
17861790Claude Pierret
17901802Gibou Valdory
18021812Jacques Rognon
18121816Branchu
18161821de Bovier
18211837Hourbette Malicet
18371848Renard Maissin
18481850Hourbette
18501852Thiriet
18521856Branchu
18561867Lambert Plaisance
18671875Martin Gourdet
18751890Jean-Baptiste Somveille
18901891Appolon Gombo
18911895Onézime Crepel
18951898Charles François Bonhomme
1898Eugène Oudet
1913Emile Bonneville
1913Jules Michaux
1919André Bazeille
19341935Edouard Taltasse
Mayors from 1995
FromToNamePartyPosition
19952020André Drouard

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 1,616 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.[Note 1]

Population change (See database)
1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1836 1841 1846 1851
632 646 662 811 1,068 1,196 1,115 1,245 1,274
1856 1861 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896
- - 1,510 1,545 1,736 1,676 1,693 1,606 1,496
1901 1906 1911 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954
1,458 1,432 1,400 1,299 1,335 1,351 1,410 1,214 1,344
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2010 -
1,518 1,461 1,419 1,376 1,568 1,612 - 1,616 -
Population of Balan, Ardennes

Culture and heritage
The Bonhomme Spinning Mill

Civil heritage

The commune has several buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:

  • The Bonhomme Spinning Mill (Now a Community Hall) (19th century)[6]
  • The Godchaux Weaving Mill (Now a Warehouse) (20th century)[7]
  • The Stackler Textile Works (Now a Business incubator) (19th century)[8]
  • The Bazaille Chard Plant (1906)[9]

Notable people linked to the commune
  • Jean-Baptiste Herbin-Dessaux (1765-1832): French General of the Revolution and the Empire, died at Balan.
  • Élisabeth Lion (1904-1988), French aviator, born at Balan.
gollark: Lots of money spent on fancy engineering and/or wizardry?
gollark: There actually is a 60GHz WiFi standard which I bet requires much dark sorcery. 802.11ad.
gollark: I wonder what sort of nonmicrowave uses there are. Extremely overpowered WiFi?
gollark: I think the advantage was that it could be controlled better.
gollark: There are some microwaves which generate 2.4GHz using something something transistors. But it's MORE expensive than magnetrons.

See also

Notes
  1. At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by Law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002 Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" allows, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For communes with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these communes is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Inhabitants of Aredennes (in French)
  3. Balan, Ardennes in the Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom Archived December 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in French)
  4. Google Maps
  5. List of Mayors of France (in French)
  6. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA08000321 Bonhomme Spinning Mill (in French)
  7. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA08000322 Godchaux Weaving Mill (in French)
  8. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA08000323 Stackler Textile Works (in French)
  9. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA08000324 Bazaille Chard Plant (in French)
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