Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot (, literally ''Sainte-Livrade on
Lot
Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to:
Common meanings Areas
* Land lot, an area of land
* Parking lot, for automobiles
*Backlot, in movie production
Sets of items
*Lot number, in batch production
*Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...
'';
Languedocien
Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian or Lengadocian (), is an Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennai ...
: ''Senta Liurada'') 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
Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne (, oc, Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.department in south-western
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 ...
.
Geography
Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot is located along the banks of the river
Lot
Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to:
Common meanings Areas
* Land lot, an area of land
* Parking lot, for automobiles
*Backlot, in movie production
Sets of items
*Lot number, in batch production
*Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...
.
History
Human inhabitation has been present around the area since the early
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
. The commune of Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot itself was founded in 1289 as ''Sainte-Livrade d'Olt'', ''Olt'' being the
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language
Occitan (; o ...
and former name of the Lot River. The current name was adopted in December 1919.
Despite its small size, Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot is a multicultural town that has been host to numerous immigrant communities since the 20th century. The first prominent immigrant community to the town were
Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
who escaped the fascist regime of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
during the 1920s and 1930s. They were soon followed by Spanish immigrants, also escaping fascism in their homeland under Francisco Franco.
Following the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
in 1954, in which
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
won its independence from France, Vietnamese troops who fought alongside the French were brought to metropolitan France as a recognition for their loyalty to the country and for fear that they would be persecuted by the new independent government. The troops, along with their families, were housed at camps designated as ''Centre d'accueil des Français d'Indochine'', of which Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot hosted the largest of three.
Later immigrant communities to the town included
Pied-Noir
The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French people, French and other White Africans of European ancestry, European descent who were born in Algeria during the French Algeria, period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the v ...
s from the newly independent former French colony of
following the Algerian War in 1962. Immigrants from the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
, especially Algeria, also began arriving in the 1970s and 1980s.
Demographics
In 2019, the population of the commune was 6,456.
Refugee camp
After France's defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and Vietnam's independence from France in 1954, roughly five thousand Vietnamese troops who fought for France, as well as their families and Vietnamese married to French colonists, were repatriated to the country. Their arrival led to the creation of refugee camps designated as '' Camps d'accueil des rapatriés d'Indochine'' (Center for the Reception of the French of Indochina), of which Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot hosted the largest, containing nearly 1,500 people at its height. The camp was converted into barracks from a World War II munitions factory, in which residents lived in rudimentary conditions with a government sponsored hospital and school.
The population of the camp declined as children of the refugees moved away from the area after they grew up, due to limited education and employment opportunities. Today, residents largely consist of surviving refugees and some families descended from the migrants. As the war in Indochina was unpopular, the French government did not do much to improve the lives of the community's people until recently, when plans were underway to convert the barrack-like homes of the camp to social housing. Nevertheless, Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot hosts grocery stores and a Buddhist temple that serve the Vietnamese community.
Notable people
*
Philippe Ginestet
Philippe Ginestet (born 15 April 1954) is a French billionaire businessman, and the founder, chairman and owner of GiFi, a French discount chain.
Philippe Ginestet was born on 15 April 1954 in Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, France. Gi ...
(born 1954), French billionaire businessman, founder of
GiFi
GiFi is a French discount chain with nearly 500 stores, mostly in France.
It was founded in 1981 by Philippe Ginestet, who is the owner and chairman. His son Alexandre is the CEO.
In 2017, GiFi bought French discount chain Tati.
GiFi has an an ...