peuplé

Peuplé is a French adjective meaning inhabited or populated. It describes a place that has residents or a noticeable level of population. The term can apply to human settlements, such as une ville peuplée or un pays peuplé, and, in a broader sense, to ecosystems or habitats that host populations of organisms. It derives from the verb peupler (to populate), which itself comes from peuple (people) and ultimately from Latin roots related to population.

Grammatical forms are peuplé (masculine singular), peuplée (feminine singular), peuplés (masculine plural), and peuplées (feminine plural). Examples include un territoire peuplé, une région peuplée, and des villages peuplés. The opposite sense is expressed by dépeuplé or inhabité when a place lacks inhabitants.

In geography and demography, peuplé is used to discuss the distribution and density of inhabitants. Phrases such as « la région est peuplée d’environ X habitants » or « des zones peuplées » are common in statistical descriptions and maps that distinguish areas with inhabitants from those that are sparsely populated or uninhabited. The term can also describe the general character of a place, for example a remote area being less peuplé than urban centres.

Related terms and notes: in ecology or biology, peuplé is less common; the noun peuplement is used to denote the population of a species in a habitat. Antonyms include dépeuplé and inhabituel contrasts such as inhabité. See also densité de population.