Albières is a remote commune high in the mountains some 40 km south by south-east of Carcassonne and 40 km west by south west of Port-la-Nouvelle in a direct line. The road distance is substantially more. The D129 road running north-west from Pont d'Orbieau forms the north-eastern border of the commune but to enter the commune the D613 road branches off this road heading south-west to the village of Albières. The D613 continues west through the commune to Arques and is the only access route to the commune. There is quite an extensive network of small mountain roads in the commune. The commune is mountainous with alpine vegetation, no farming areas, and some forested areas.
There are many streams flowing through the commune with the Ruisseau d'Albières flowing through the village and north, joined by several other streams and joining L'Orbieu river which flows northwards to join the Aude near Saint-Nazaire-d'Aude.[2]
In 2010, the commune had 98 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the town since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.[Note 1]
^At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002 [1], the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" which allow, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For municipalities with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these municipalities is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force in 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.