Cournonterral

Cournonterral
Tower and Sainte-Croix church
Coat of arms
Cournonterral
Location within Languedoc-Roussillon region Cournonterral
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées
Department	Hérault
Arrondissement	Montpellier
Canton	Pignan
Intercommunality	Montpellier
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Thierry Breysse
Area1	28.62 km2 (11.05 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	5,664
• Density	200/km2 (510/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	34088 / 34660
Elevation	29–320 m (95–1,050 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Cournonterral is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.

Map

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	1,887	—
1968	2,088	+10.7%
1975	2,460	+17.8%
1982	3,062	+24.5%
1990	4,095	+33.7%
1999	5,069	+23.8%
2008	5,664	+11.7%

Residents are known as Cournonterralais.

Festival

The town is known for an annual festival known as Pailhasses. The festival has taken place in Cournonterral every Ash Wednesday since 1346. In that year, residents held off rivals from their neighbouring village, thus putting an end to a long dispute over gathering firewood. Since that time, Cournonterral residents have relived the event every year. The Paillasses (people in straw-stuffed tops) chase 'the white men' through the streets of the town with old rags and tissue soaked in wine sediment. The 'white men' come from the town of Aumelas. [1]

See also

• Communes of the Hérault department

References

• INSEE