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Frontignan
Frontignan la Peyrade
Town hall
Town hall
Coat of arms of Frontignan
Location of Frontignan
Map
Frontignan is located in France
Frontignan
Frontignan
Frontignan is located in Occitanie
Frontignan
Frontignan
Coordinates: 43°26′54″N 3°45′22″E / 43.4483°N 3.7561°E / 43.4483; 3.7561
CountryFrance
RegionOccitania
DepartmentHérault
ArrondissementMontpellier
CantonFrontignan
IntercommunalityCA Sète Agglopôle Méditerranée
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Michel Arrouy[1] (PS)
Area
1
31.72 km2 (12.25 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
23,808
 • Density750/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
34108 /34110
Elevation0–223 m (0–732 ft)
(avg. 2 m or 6.6 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Frontignan (French pronunciation: [fʁɔ̃tiɲɑ̃]; Occitan: Frontinhan) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.

Frontignan is renowned for its AOC wine, the Muscat de Frontignan, a sweet wine made solely from the Muscat grape variety.

Map

Geography

View from La Gardiole Mountain.

Frontignan is located in the Languedoc coastal plain between the towns of Sète and Montpellier.

The town is surrounded by the Gardiole hills to the north, the Ingril lagoon in the east, the Étang de Thau to the west and the Mediterranean shore (including the beach resort Frontignan-Plage) to the south.

The Rhône-Sète canal separates the inland town centre and Frontignan-Plage. Frontignan station has rail connections (TER Occitanie) to Narbonne, Montpellier and Avignon.

History

Population

In 1800, Frontignan was home to around 1400 individuals. Until the 20th century, Frontignan had a population of less than 4000. In 2007, there were over 23,000.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 1,100—    
1800 1,416+3.67%
1806 1,398−0.21%
1821 1,491+0.43%
1831 1,877+2.33%
1836 1,844−0.35%
1841 1,966+1.29%
1846 1,926−0.41%
1851 2,129+2.02%
1856 2,077−0.49%
1861 2,574+4.38%
1866 3,000+3.11%
1872 3,225+1.21%
1876 3,537+2.34%
1881 3,164−2.20%
1886 3,326+1.00%
1891 3,603+1.61%
1896 3,902+1.61%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 4,470+2.76%
1906 4,668+0.87%
1911 5,174+2.08%
1921 5,283+0.21%
1926 5,483+0.75%
1931 5,859+1.34%
1936 6,243+1.28%
1946 6,096−0.24%
1954 6,998+1.74%
1962 8,309+2.17%
1968 11,141+5.01%
1975 12,238+1.35%
1982 14,951+2.90%
1990 16,245+1.04%
1999 19,145+1.84%
2007 23,068+2.36%
2012 22,728−0.30%
2017 22,762+0.03%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Source: EHESS[4] and INSEE (1968-2017)[5]

Sights

The beach at Frontignan-Plage.

Economy

Les Crozets neighbourhood, seen from Les Salins

Until the early 20th century the local economy was based on the production of marine salt and wine. Later petro-chemical and chemical industries predominate with a steady decline in the 1980s. The oil refinery that opened in 1900 was converted to a simple depot in 1986.

Since the end of the 20th century, modern fisheries and high-tech plastics take over. Seasonal tourism is a dominant part of the local economy.

Important businesses in Frontignan include:

Culture

International relations

Frontignan is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ "L'accident de Paul Reynaud (2)". www.lagglorieuse.info. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  4. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Frontignan, EHESS (in French).
  5. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE