Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère, 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Valence. There are more than 50,000 inhabitants in the urban area (if the neighboring town of Bourg-de-Péage is included). Romans is close to the Vercors.
Population
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
5,742
—
1800
6,473
+1.73%
1806
6,997
+1.31%
1821
8,837
+1.57%
1831
9,285
+0.50%
1836
9,972
+1.44%
1841
9,471
−1.03%
1846
9,958
+1.01%
1851
10,869
+1.77%
1856
11,219
+0.64%
1861
11,257
+0.07%
1866
11,524
+0.47%
1872
12,674
+1.60%
1876
12,923
+0.49%
1881
13,806
+1.33%
1886
14,733
+1.31%
1891
16,545
+2.35%
1896
16,702
+0.19%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1901
17,140
+0.52%
1906
17,622
+0.56%
1911
17,201
−0.48%
1921
17,054
−0.09%
1926
17,596
+0.63%
1931
18,957
+1.50%
1936
19,489
+0.56%
1946
22,171
+1.30%
1954
22,559
+0.22%
1962
26,377
+1.97%
1968
31,545
+3.03%
1975
33,030
+0.66%
1982
33,152
+0.05%
1990
32,734
−0.16%
1999
32,667
−0.02%
2007
33,234
+0.22%
2012
33,701
+0.28%
2017
33,160
−0.32%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Historian Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie wrote Carnaval de Romans (1980) a microhistorical study, based on the only two surviving eyewitness accounts, of the 1580 massacre of about twenty artisans at the annual carnival in the town. He treats the massacre as a microcosm of the political, social and religious conflicts of rural society in the latter half of the 16th century in France.
On 18 July 2017, the town was the end point for Stage Sixteen of the Tour De France.
On 4 April 2020, two people were killed and five wounded in a knife attack, in what the interior minister called a terrorist incident. Prosecutors said the suspect was a Sudaneserefugee in his 30s who lived in the town.