Balbigny

Balbigny is a commune in the Loire department in central France.

Balbigny
Commune
Town hall
Location of Balbigny
Balbigny
Balbigny
Coordinates: 45°49′09″N 4°11′17″E
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
DepartmentLoire
ArrondissementRoanne
CantonLe Coteau
IntercommunalityBalbigny
Government
 • Mayor (2014–2020) Gilles Dupin
Area
1
16.98 km2 (6.56 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
2,965
 • Density170/km2 (450/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
42011 /42510
Elevation314–482 m (1,030–1,581 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

Balbigny owes its name to a Roman general named Balbinius who based himself here in order to conduct a war. Nothing survives from this period. The earliest identified traces of Balbigny date from 1090.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, before the Loire was channelled, Balbigny was a village of boatmen, known for flat bottomed boats known as Rambertes which were used to transport the coal mined at Saint-Étienne. The loaded Rambertes arrived from Saint-Rambert and stopped off at Balbigny where the boat crews were changed, taking the boats to the next change-over point at Roanne. All this changed in August 1832 with the arrival of the third oldest railway line in France which connected Andrézieux-Bouthéon with Roanne, passing Balbigny en route. An extension of the rail network in 1913 saw Balbigny connected with Saint-Germain-Laval and Régny. The coal was therefore transported by rail, but the railway also gave farmers in the district access to a wider range of markets for their produce.

The road bridge crossing the Loire was destroyed in 1940 in order to hold back advancing German troops, and a ferry service was introduced to permit the river to be crossed. The bridge was rebuilt in 1950.

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±%
19621,840—    
19682,023+9.9%
19752,314+14.4%
19822,469+6.7%
19902,415−2.2%
19992,616+8.3%
20062,546−2.7%
20092,809+10.3%

Twin towns

Balbigny is twinned with:

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.


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