Poligny is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Jura department in Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...

 in eastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

The town stands on the edge of the "Premier Plateau" of the Jura region, with limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 cliffs rising to its east and south, and a steephead valley

Steephead valley

A steephead valley, steephead or blind valley is a deep, narrow, flat bottomed valley with an abrupt ending. Such valleys arise in limestone or karst landscapes, where a layer of permeable rock lies above an impermeable substrate such as marl...

 leading to the village of Vaux-sur-Poligny

Vaux-sur-Poligny

Vaux-sur-Poligny is a commune in the Jura department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.- Demographics :As of the census of 1999, the population was 112. The estimate for 2007 was 98.- References :*...

 to the east. On the cliffs to the east is a notable cave, known as "Le Trou de la Lune" (the Moonhole); on the cliffs to the south is a large cross, the "Croix du Dan". A network of hiking trails surrounds the town and provide routes to both these viewpoints, and the GR 59

GR 59

The GR 59 Grande Randonnée long-distance footpath in France connects two mountain ranges across relatively low-lying terrain. In the north, it begins at Ballon d'Alsace in the Vosges at a height of over 1000m. It loses height rapidly, and runs south-south-west through the département of the...

 long distance footpath runs through the town.

Notable individuals associated with the town include the revolutionary and First Empire

First French Empire

The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

 general Jean-Pierre Travot

Jean-Pierre Travot

Jean Pierre Travot was a French general and nobleman, the son of Philibert Travot and Catherine Guodefin.-Life:...

; a statue in his honour stands in the principal square of the town, the Place des Déportés, and a road is named after him.

Poligny is served by the railway line from Besançon

Besançon

Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...

 to Lons-le-Saunier

Lons-le-Saunier

Lons-le-Saunier is a commune and capital of the Jura department in eastern France.-Geography:The town is in the heart of the Revermont region, at the foot of the "premier plateau" of the Jura massif...

.

Demographics

As of the census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 1999, the population was 4511.
The estimate for 2004 was 4377.