| Joyeux | |
| Commune Status: | Commune |
| Arrondissement: | Belley |
| Canton: | Meximieux |
| Insee: | 01198 |
| Postal Code: | 01800 |
| Mayor: | Joël Mathy[1] |
| Term: | 2020 - 2026 |
| Intercommunality: | Plaine de l'Ain |
| Coordinates: | 45.9619°N 5.1108°W |
| Elevation M: | 285 |
| Elevation Min M: | 272 |
| Elevation Max M: | 298 |
| Area Km2: | 16.58 |
Joyeux (in French pronounced as /ʒwajø/) is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.
Joyeux lies less than 5km (03miles) from the wildlife park at Villars-les-Dombes and 40km (30miles) from Lyon in the natural region of the Dombes, a wide extent of middle and upper Pleistocene moraine left near the margin of the Alpine ice sheets. The commune includes some thirty lakes which together represent some 4 square kilometres of water. The land between them is of gravel, sand and clay.
The fief of Joyeux was mentioned in the twelfth century. In the fifteenth century, it was in the possession of the Villars family.
On 13 February 2006, a wild duck was found dead on the fen. It was the first attested case of the presence of the bird flu virus H5N1 in France.
| Period | Name | Party | Background | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-2020 | Marius Brocard | Farmer | ||
| Since 2020 | Joël Mathy |
Old farms typical of the region. The nineteenth century Château de Joyeux.