Plouray

Commune in Brittany, France

Plouray Plourae
Commune
The church of Saint-Yves, in Plouray
Coat of arms
Location of Plouray
(2020–2026)		Michel Morvant^[1]
Area ¹	39.09 km² (15.09 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	1,033
• Density	26/km² (68/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	56170 /56770
Elevation	170–296 m (558–971 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Plouray (French pronunciation: [pluʁɛ]; Breton: Plourae) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France.^[3] Inhabitants of Plouray are called in French Plouraysiens.

Population

Plouray's population peaked at 1,991 in 1936 and declined to 1,046 in 2020. This represents a 47% decrease in total population since the peak census figure.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1793	1,480	—
1800	1,328	−1.54%
1806	1,370	+0.52%
1821	1,287	−0.42%
1831	1,453	+1.22%
1836	1,581	+1.70%
1841	1,571	−0.13%
1846	1,639	+0.85%
1851	1,662	+0.28%
1856	1,487	−2.20%
1861	1,470	−0.23%
1866	1,558	+1.17%
1872	1,454	−1.14%
1876	1,547	+1.56%
1881	1,605	+0.74%
1886	1,644	+0.48%
1891	1,603	−0.50%
1896	1,671	+0.83%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1901	1,719	+0.57%
1906	1,853	+1.51%
1911	1,988	+1.42%
1921	1,969	−0.10%
1926	1,967	−0.02%
1931	1,978	+0.11%
1936	1,991	+0.13%
1946	1,890	−0.52%
1954	1,684	−1.43%
1962	1,501	−1.43%
1968	1,406	−1.08%
1975	1,358	−0.49%
1982	1,301	−0.61%
1990	1,200	−1.01%
1999	1,144	−0.53%
2009	1,104	−0.36%
2014	1,136	+0.57%
2020	1,046	−1.37%

Source: EHESS^[4] and INSEE (1968–2020)^[5]

Geography

Plouray is located in the northwestern part of Morbihan, 12 km (7.5 mi) southwest of Rostrenen, 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Pontivy and 44 km (27 mi) north of Lorient. Historically, the village belongs to Vannetais. Plouray is border by Glomel and Mellionnec to the north, by Ploërdut to the east, by Saint-Tugdual and Priziac to the south and by Langonnet to the west.

Map

Topographic map

Environment

Planning a base for automotive recycling by the French company GDE, a subsidiary of the industrial group Trafigura, which sent the ship Probo-Koala to Abidjan in 2006 (see 2006 Ivory Coast toxic waste spill). The proposal was defeated and no longer applies, however recent pollution of the rivers has destroyed a mature fish population and is expected to take several years to recover (article in the Telegram July 2017).

Gallery

The town hall
Manor of Penguilly
Manor of Restromar
Dolmen of Guidfoss

References

^ "Maires du Morbihan" (PDF). Préfecture du Morbihan. 7 July 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ INSEE commune file
^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Plouray, EHESS (in French).
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE