Massat
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{short description|Commune in Occitanie, France}}
{{Expand French|topic=geo|date=December 2008|Massat}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name = Massat
|commune status = Commune
|image = Étang de Lers (Ariège).jpg
|caption = Étang de Lers
|image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Massat (Ariège).svg
|arrondissement = Saint-Girons
|canton = Couserans Est
|INSEE = 09182
|postal code = 09320
|mayor = Michel Loubet dit Gajol{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/en/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|website=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=9 August 2021|language=fr}}
|term = 2020–2026
|intercommunality =
|coordinates = {{coord|42.8897|1.3486|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m = 651
|elevation min m = 598
|elevation max m = 1941
|area km2 = 44.71
|population = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
}}
Massat ({{IPA|fr|masat}}) is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.
It is situated on the former Route nationale 618, the "Route of the Pyrenees".
History
The area dates back to Paleolithic times, when tribes left some traces in painted caves in the Ker valleys of Massat. The village later became a territory used by the Lords of Lomagne to disperse the population to, overcoming a serious problem of overpopulation. Several charters dating from 1146 specify the reciprocal rights of the inhabitants and the lords. The valley was directed towards an industrial activity lasting almost seven centuries. This included the manufacture of charcoal and cast iron of iron ores in five forging mills operated by Catalan women. From 1820, with the discovery of the means of melting iron with coal, the industrial prosperity of the valley disappeared.
Later in the 19th century, agricultural, primarily pastoral farming became the main source for the Massat economy, particularly the production of butter. With a very strong rural migration, amplified by World War I, the valley depopulated quickly, falling dramatically from 17,000 inhabitants in 1800 to just 1700 in total today, and just 589 in the village.
Population
{{Historical populations
| align = none
| cols = 1
| percentages = pagr
| source = INSEE[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-09182#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE
| graph-pos = right
|1968 |746
|1975 |711
|1982 |598
|1990 |624
|1999 |589
|2007 |722
|2012 |689
|2017 |659
}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Commons category|Massat}}
{{Ariège communes}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Communes of Ariège (department)
Category:Ariège communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
{{Ariège-geo-stub}}