Sansan () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Gers Gers (; oc, Gers or , ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southwestern France. Named after the Gers River, its inhabitants are called the ''Gersois'' and ''Gersoises'' in French. In 2019, it had a population of 191,377.

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The vicinity of Sansan is known for its Miocene fossil deposits where geologist Edouard Lartet unearthed the jaw of the primate '' Pliopithecus antiquus'' in 1837.

Geography

Localisation

Sansan is located 14 km south of

Auch Auch (; oc, label= Gascon, Aush ) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony. Geography Localization Hydrography The Riv ...

and 4 km north of

Seissan Seissan (; oc-gsc, Sheishan) is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. Geography Population See also *Communes of the Gers department The following is a list of the 461 communes of the Gers department of France. The ...

, along the

river.

Toponymy

Sansan finds its origin in the Latin patronymic name ''Sancianus'' or ''Santius'', followed by the suffix ''-anum'', designing a property of which a man by this name must have been the owner in the times of

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacient parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century ...

.Valdegers.fr
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