Carqueiranne

Carqueiranne

*Carcairana* (Occitan)
Carqueiranne Carcairana (Occitan)
Commune
	An aerial view of the town
	Coat of arms
	Location of Carqueiranne
	Carqueiranne Carqueiranne
	Coordinates: 43°05′45″N 6°04′27″E / 43.0958°N 6.0742°E
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Var
Arrondissement	Toulon
Canton	La Garde
Intercommunality	Métropole Toulon Provence Méditerranée
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Arnaud Latil
Area 1	14.48 km2 (5.59 sq mi)
Population (2021)	9,417
• Density	650/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Carqueirannais, Carqueirannaise (French)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	83034 /83320
Elevation	0–305 m (0–1,001 ft) ; (avg. 26 m or 85 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Carqueiranne (French: [kaʁkeʁan], locally [kaʁkɛˈʁanə]; Occitan: Carcairana [kaɾkajˈɾanɔ] or Carqueirana [kaɾkejˈɾanɔ]) is a commune in the Var department, administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (historically Provence), Southeastern France.

It is known now as a tourist seaside resort with good windsurfing nearby, at Almanarre Beach.

Demographics

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	4,449	—
1975	5,131	+2.06%
1982	6,199	+2.74%
1990	7,118	+1.74%
1999	8,436	+1.91%
2007	9,630	+1.67%
2012	9,899	+0.55%
2017	9,700	−0.41%
Source: INSEE^[3]

Saint-Exupéry

The town has a literary claim to fame as well. In early August 1944, an unidentifiable body wearing French military colours was found near here, which was long believed^{[by whom?]} to be that of famous novelist Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince.

In 1998, a bracelet known to be his, with a fragment of cloth still attached, was found in the sea east of Riou Island (south of Marseille). In 2000, a crashed P-38 Lightning was found in the seabed off the coast of Marseille, near where the bracelet was found, and it was confirmed to be the one that Saint-Exupéry was flying.

However, it remains plausible that ocean currents could have carried the body from the crash site to Carqueiranne - a distance less than 80 kilometres (50 mi) by sea - over the course of several days, which is the time difference between the crash on 31 July 1944, and the discovery of the body.