title: Sournia
text: # Sournia
  
  Sournia (French pronunciation: (listen); Catalan: Sornià; Occitan: Sornhan) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the Occitanie region of south-western France. Its inhabitants are known as Sourniannais.
  
  ## Geography
  
  Sournia is a town of the Fenouillèdes, the languedocienne part of the Pyrénées-Orientales, in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Prades. The river Désix runs through the village. Sournia is 22 km from Ille-sur-Têt and from Vinça, 24 km from Prades and from Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, 30 km from Latour-de-France and 34 km from Axat. The commune is covered by the quality wine standard AOC 'Côtes-du-Roussillon'. Sournia is crossed by the long-distance footpath, GR 36.
  
  ## Administration
  
  The current mayor of Sournia is Paul Blanc, a senator, of the centre-right and right wing party UMP founded by Jacques Chirac.
  
  ## Population
  
  The population of Sournia in 2017 was 498 people. For some reason at the end of the 19th century, the population of Sournia seemed to have a reputation for having one of the longest longevity in France, even though this fact was not clearly verified.
  
  | Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1793 | 761 | — |
  | 1800 | 814 | +0.97% |
  | 1806 | 812 | −0.04% |
  | 1821 | 882 | +0.55% |
  | 1831 | 929 | +0.52% |
  | 1836 | 957 | +0.60% |
  | 1841 | 933 | −0.51% |
  | 1846 | 945 | +0.26% |
  | 1851 | 1,073 | +2.57% |
  | 1856 | 1,006 | −1.28% |
  | 1861 | 950 | −1.14% |
  | 1866 | 921 | −0.62% |
  | 1872 | 885 | −0.66% |
  | 1876 | 850 | −1.00% |
  | 1881 | 765 | −2.09% |
  | 1886 | 725 | −1.07% |
  | 1891 | 686 | −1.10% |
  | 1896 | 634 | −1.56% |
  | Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
  | 1901 | 604 | −0.96% |
  | 1906 | 604 | +0.00% |
  | 1911 | 583 | −0.71% |
  | 1921 | 463 | −2.28% |
  | 1926 | 410 | −2.40% |
  | 1931 | 424 | +0.67% |
  | 1936 | 389 | −1.71% |
  | 1946 | 382 | −0.18% |
  | 1954 | 347 | −1.19% |
  | 1962 | 351 | +0.14% |
  | 1968 | 339 | −0.58% |
  | 1975 | 296 | −1.92% |
  | 1982 | 339 | +1.96% |
  | 1990 | 376 | +1.30% |
  | 1999 | 367 | −0.27% |
  | 2007 | 419 | +1.67% |
  | 2012 | 494 | +3.35% |
  | 2017 | 498 | +0.16% |
  
  Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. :
  
  Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2017) :
  
  ## Places of interest
  
  * Ruins of the former church of Saint-Michel from the tenth century.
  * The ancient church of Sainte-Félicité from the tenth and eleventh centuries.
  * Church of Arsa from the twelfth century.
  