Ur (; , ) is a commune in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ; ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spain, Spanish ...

department in southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Toponymy

The name of the village is attested in the form ''Hur'' as early as 839 AD, and is of pre-Indo-European origin, coming from the ''Ur-Or-Ar'' root - quite common in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

- which designates a place where there is a spring or a river; the

pre-Celtic The European Bronze Age is characterized by bronze artifacts and the use of bronze implements. The regional Bronze Age succeeds the Neolithic and Copper Age and is followed by the Iron Age. It starts with the Aegean Bronze Age in 3200 BC and spans ...

root ''*Ur-'' still means "water" in

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

. Despite local folklore, there is no known relation to the city-state of Ur which is mentioned in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

Geography

Ur is located in the

canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes The canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes is an administrative division of the Pyrénées-Orientales department, in Southern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Prades. ...

and in the

arrondissement of Prades The arrondissement of Prades is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department (Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 123 communes. Its population is 60,536 (2021), and its area is . Composition The communes ...

. Ur-Les Escaldes station has rail connections to Villefranche-de-Conflent and Latour-de-Carol. Map commune FR insee code 66218

Population

References

Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales {{PyrénéesOrientales-geo-stub

Toponymy

Geography

Population

See also

References