Urban communities in France

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In France, urban communities (French: communauté urbaine) are the most integrated form of intercommunality in France. An urban community is composed of of a commune and its independent suburbs.

The first urban communities were created by the French Parliament on December 31, 1966. Originally there were only four, found in the metropolitan areas of Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon and Strasbourg. Later, others were created in other metropolitan areas. The purpose of the urban communities was to achieve cooperation and joint administration between large cities and their independent suburbs. This step often followed failed attempts to merge the communes within a metropolitan area. The status of the urban communities was modified by the Chevènement Law of 1999.

Unlike agglomeration communities and commune communities, communes cannot leave an urban community freely.

As of January 1, 2006, there are 14 urban communities in France (all in metropolitan France), with a combined 6.22 million inhabitants.

[edit] List of the 14 urban communities

(ranked by population as of March 1999 census, in 2006 limits)

1. Urban Community of Lyon (Grand Lyon, or COURLY) – 1,167,532 inhabitants
2. Urban Community of Lille Métropole – 1,091,438
3. Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole – 981,769
4. Urban Community of Bordeaux (CUB) – 659,998
5. Urban Community of Nantes (Nantes Métropole) – 554,478
6. Urban Community of Strasbourg (CUS) – 452,609
7. Urban Community of Greater Nancy – 258,268
8. Urban Community of Brest (Brest Métropole Océane) – 213,545
9. Urban Community of Dunkerque (Dunkerque Grand Littoral) – 208,705
10. Urban Community of Le Mans Métropole – 188,665
11. Urban Community of Creusot Montceau – 92,292
12. Urban Community of Arras – 89 451
13. Urban Community of Cherbourg – 88,588
14. Urban Community of Alençon – 49,957