Ballon (French pronunciation: [balɔ̃] ) is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.

Ballon is located some 12 km north of Rochefort and 6 km south of Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis. Access to the commune is by the D111 road from Thairé in the west which passes through the village and continues to Ciré-d'Aunis in the east. The D266 goes south-west from the village then west to join the D110 west of the commune. The commune is entirely farmland.

The Canal de Charras forms the south-eastern border of the commune with the Canal des Roseaux joining it on the southern border and forming part of the south western border. In most of the commune – especially the south – there is an extensive network of canals including the Canal de Ceinture du Marais de Moullepieds and the Canal de Lileau.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (April 2021)

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name
2001	2014	Noël Gaynet
2014	2020	Emmanuel Devaud
2020	2026	Emmanuel Jobin

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Ballonais or Ballonaises in French.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 638 —     1800 581 −1.33% 1806 572 −0.26% 1821 700 +1.36% 1831 669 −0.45% 1836 674 +0.15% 1841 658 −0.48% 1846 627 −0.96% 1851 628 +0.03% 1856 659 +0.97% 1861 659 +0.00% 1866 657 −0.06% 1872 596 −1.61% 1876 663 +2.70% 1881 647 −0.49% 1886 610 −1.17% 1891 581 −0.97% 1896 534 −1.67%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 481 −2.07% 1906 487 +0.25% 1911 479 −0.33% 1921 453 −0.56% 1926 417 −1.64% 1931 396 −1.03% 1936 370 −1.35% 1946 322 −1.38% 1954 349 +1.01% 1962 366 +0.60% 1968 345 −0.98% 1975 378 +1.31% 1982 432 +1.93% 1990 482 +1.38% 1999 526 +0.98% 2007 647 +2.62% 2012 768 +3.49% 2017 795 +0.69%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

The population of the town is younger than the departmental average.

Percentage Distribution of Age Groups in Ballon and Charente-Maritime Department in 2017

	Ballon		Charente-Maritime
Age Range	Men	Women	Men	Women
0 to 14 Years	24.0	22.9	16.3	14.3
15 to 29 Years	11.6	13.0	15.4	13.1
30 to 44 Years	27.9	24.3	16.7	16.1
45 to 59 Years	18.0	18.3	20.2	19.9
60 to 74 Years	14.5	15.3	21.1	22.0
75 to 89 Years	4.1	5.2	9.4	12.3
90 Years+	0.0	1.0	1.0	2.4

Source: INSEE

• Communes of the Charente-Maritime department

• Ballon on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
• Ballon on the 1750 Cassini Map