Laz, Finistère

Commune in Brittany, France

Laz Laz
Commune
The church of Saint-Germain and Saint-Louis, in Laz
Coat of arms
Location of Laz
(2020–2026)		Annick Barré^[1]
Area ¹	34.44 km² (13.30 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	685
• Density	20/km² (52/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	29122 /29520
Elevation	31–295 m (102–968 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Laz (French pronunciation: [laz]) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.

Geography

The commune is situated at the heart of a hilly and forest-covered region called the Montagnes Noires (black mountains) which extends for approximately 30 kilometres between the communes of Gourin to the east and Gouezec in the west.

The population of the commune is quite scattered, forming small settlements that could be considered as hamlets. Laz offers outlooks over the valley of the Odet to the south and the canalized Aulne river and its locks to the north.

Map

Topographic map

Economy

Agricultural development was held back by the French Revolution and the subsequent royalist revolt, combined with poor soil conditions. The commune started to grow in the middle of the 19th century, when the use of fertiliser and other new techniques allowed the land to be brought into full agricultural use.

Population

Inhabitants of Laz are called in French Laziens.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1793	1,280	—
1800	1,383	+1.11%
1806	1,133	−3.27%
1821	1,291	+0.87%
1831	1,358	+0.51%
1836	1,429	+1.02%
1841	1,404	−0.35%
1846	1,555	+2.06%
1851	1,433	−1.62%
1856	1,242	−2.82%
1861	1,251	+0.14%
1866	1,250	−0.02%
1872	1,201	−0.66%
1876	1,209	+0.17%
1881	1,238	+0.48%
1886	1,245	+0.11%
1891	1,203	−0.68%
1896	1,313	+1.77%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1901	1,389	+1.13%
1906	1,412	+0.33%
1911	1,464	+0.73%
1921	1,383	−0.57%
1926	1,384	+0.01%
1931	1,370	−0.20%
1936	1,290	−1.20%
1946	1,211	−0.63%
1954	1,115	−1.03%
1962	1,025	−1.05%
1968	996	−0.48%
1975	863	−2.03%
1982	786	−1.33%
1990	706	−1.33%
1999	694	−0.19%
2007	767	+1.26%
2012	685	−2.24%
2017	661	−0.71%

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Source: EHESS^[3] and INSEE (1968-2017)^[4]

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Laz, EHESS (in French).
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laz.

Official website (in French)
Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
Laz Comité d'Animation (events committee) (in French)
Mayors of Finistère Association (in French)