| Blieux | |
| Commune Status: | Commune |
| Image Coat Of Arms: | Blason Blieux.svg |
| Arrondissement: | Castellane |
| Canton: | Riez |
| Insee: | 04030 |
| Postal Code: | 04330 |
| Mayor: | Gérard Collomp[1] |
| Term: | 2020 - 2026 |
| Coordinates: | 43.8733°N 6.3717°W |
| Elevation M: | 950 |
| Elevation Min M: | 831 |
| Elevation Max M: | 1921 |
| Area Km2: | 56.8 |
Blieux (in French pronounced as /blijø/; Occitan (post 1500);: Blieus) is a rural commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France.
The commune of Blieux first appeared on maps in 1100.[2]
Much later, during the French Revolution, records show that the residents of Blieux had created a political club (patriotic society), which was very common at the time. (See Jacobin Club).[3]
According to Ernest Nègre, the first recorded name for the commune, Bleus, was derived from the Occitan word bleusse, meaning 'dry'. This was likely a reference to the local soil.[4] By contrast, Charles Rostaing argues that the name derives from the pre-Indo-European root word, *BL, meaning 'mountain in the form of a spur'.[5]
La Melle, the name of a nearby hamlet, comes from the Celtic word, mello, meaning an elevated location.[6]
Historically, Blieux was a pastoral community, with a yearly alpine grazing cycle known as transhumance. As with much of Provence, tourism the primary source of economic activity today.
The village is located at an altitude of 950m,[2] in the valley formed by a tributary of the river Asse, known as the 'Asse de Blieux'.
With the exception of those that have been totally abandoned, Blieux is one of the communities in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department that has experienced the greatest population decline from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries.
Inhabitants are known as Blieuxois (masculine) and Blieuxoises (feminine) in French.