Poil
Commune in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Poil (French pronunciation: [pwal] ⓘ) is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France.[3]
Poil | |
|---|---|
 General view with the church Saint-Romain. | |
 Location of Poil | |
  Poil  Poil | |
| Coordinates: 46°52′04″N 4°04′28″E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté |
| Department | Nièvre |
| Arrondissement | Château-Chinon |
| Canton | Luzy |
| Intercommunality | Bazois Loire Morvan |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Christian Courault[1] |
Area 1 | 27.02 km2 (10.43 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 152 |
| • Density | 5.63/km2 (14.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 58211 /58170 |
| Elevation | 297–522 m (974–1,713 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
History
The name of the locality was first recorded as Picti in the 10th century, then Poiz in 1281, Poys in the 14th century, Poy in 1414, and finally Poil in 1592. This development reflects a regular change from the root Picti- to Poi(z)-, similar to other Celtic place names. The root "Pict-" probably relates to the Picts, a people from Scotland, possibly in theme with foreign Roman legions stationed there (compare e.g. Mortagne and Sermaise, from Mauretania and Sarmatia respectively). The final "-l" was added later, influenced by the common noun "poil", a homophone (common in French) with Pois.
Geography
The commune is part of the parc naturel régional du Morvan. The river Alène has its source in the south-western part of the commune.
