Bélesta-en-Lauragais

Commune in Occitania, France

Bélesta-en-Lauragais Bèl Estar (Occitan)
Commune
The town hall in Bélesta-en-Lauragais
Coat of arms
Location of Bélesta-en-Lauragais
(2020–2026)		Jean-Luc Gouxette^[1]
Area ¹	5.59 km² (2.16 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	110
• Density	20/km² (51/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	31060 /31540
Elevation	209–300 m (686–984 ft) (avg. 260 m or 850 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Bélesta-en-Lauragais (French pronunciation: [belɛsta ɑ̃ loʁaɡɛ], literally Bélesta in Lauragais; Occitan: Belestar de Lauragués) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	39	—
1968	74	+89.7%
1975	61	−17.6%
1982	72	+18.0%
1990	66	−8.3%
1999	84	+27.3%
2006	107	+27.4%
2007	110	+2.8%
2008	112	+1.8%
2012	108	−3.6%
2015	106	−1.9%
2017	115	+8.5%
2018	117	+1.7%

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bélestais and Bélestaises.

Astronomical observatory

A group of amateur astronomers formed the Association pour le Développement Amateur d’un Grand Instrument d’Observation (ADAGIO), which established the Bélesta Observatory in 1996. In 2019, the association donated the land from the Bélesta Observatory to the Société astronomique de France, with ADAGIO remaining the owner and operator of the telescopes.^[3]

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 9 August 2021.
^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ Société astronomique de France, “Les Observatoires et les lunettes.” https://saf-astronomie.fr/observatoires/