Île-de-France (region)

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This article is about the French administrative region. For the historical province, see Île-de-France (province). For other uses, see Île-de-France.
Région Île-de-France
Flag of Île-de-France
Region flag Region logo
Location
Map of France highlighting the Region of Île-de-France
Administration
Capital Paris
Regional President Jean-Paul Huchon
(PS) (since 1998)
Departments Essonne
Hauts-de-Seine
Paris
Seine-Saint-Denis
Seine-et-Marne
Val-de-Marne
Val-d'Oise
Yvelines
Arrondissements 25
Cantons 317
Communes 1,281
Statistics
Land area1 12,011 km²
Population (Ranked 1st)
 - January 1, 2007 est. 11,577,000
 - March 8, 1999 census 10,952,011
 - Density (2007) 964/km²
1 French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers
France

Île-de-France (pronounced /il d̪ə fʁɑ̃s/; literally "Island of France") is one of the twenty-six administrative regions of France. Created as the "District of the Paris Region" in 1961, it was renamed as the "Île-de-France" région in 1976 when its administrative status was aligned with the other French administrative regions created in 1972. Despite the name change, Île-de-France is still popularly referred to by French people as the Région Parisienne ("Paris Region") or RP. Ninety percent of its territory is covered by the Paris aire urbaine (or "metropolitan area") which extends beyond its borders in places.[1]

With 11.6 million inhabitants Île-de-France is the most populated region of France. It has more residents than Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Austria, Portugal or Sweden, and a comparable population to the U.S. state of Ohio and the Canadian province of Ontario. It is the fourth most populous country subdivision in the European Union after England, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria.

Economically, Île-de-France is one of the richest regions in the world: its total GDP was €500.8 billion in 2006 (US$629.2 billion at 2006 real exchange rates), nearly the entire GDP of the Netherlands, with a per capita GDP at €43,370 (US$54,482) the same year.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Timeline

  • 1959: February 4, "District of the Paris Region" (French: district de la région de Paris) created by a government decree. This creation was a failure, due to a lack of cooperation from the communes and the departments of the Paris region which refused to send their representatives to the district council.
  • 1961: August 2, District of the Paris Region re-created with the same name, but this time by a statute (bill) voted by the French Parliament. The limits of this new District of the Paris Region were exactly the same as the current Île-de-France region. The district council of the aborted 1959 District of the Paris Region was replaced by a Board of Trustees, half of whose members were appointed by the French government, the other half by the local communes and departments. The executive of the district was a civil servant, the Delegate General for the District of the Paris Region, appointed by the French government.
  • 1966: August 10: creation of the Prefecture of the Paris Region, whose limits corresponded exactly to the current Île-de-France region. The Delegate General for the District of the Paris Region was made Prefect of the Paris Region, holding both offices at the same time.
  • 1966: December 17: in French the "district de la région de Paris" was renamed "district de la région parisienne" (same meaning in English).
  • 1976: May 6: the District of the Paris Region was transformed into the Île-de-France region, thus aligning the status of the Paris Region with that of other French regions, which possessed their status since 1972. The Prefecture of the Paris Region was renamed Prefecture of Île-de-France. The former Board of Trustees was replaced by a regional council, 70% of whose members were the representatives of the departments and communes of Île-de-France, while the remaining 30% were chosen by the Members of the French Parliament whose constituencies lay inside Île-de-France. The regional council elected a president, whose executive powers were limited. The office of Delegate General was abolished. It is said that President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing personally insisted on choosing the name "Île-de-France" for the region, instead of the hitherto used Région Parisienne. Île-de-France was the name of the historical province that existed before the French Revolution, but the name had long since fallen out of use. Today, many people and even some official institutions still continue to use the term "Région Parisienne" instead of the official "Île-de-France".
  • 1982: March 2: Île-de-France, like the other French regions, was turned into a "territorial collectivity", i.e., it is no more a mere administrative structure, but a full-fledged political entity, on par with the departments and communes. The powers of the regions were expanded, direct elections of the regional councils were scheduled, and the presidents of the regional councils were given full executive powers.
  • 1986: March 16: first direct election of the regional council by the inhabitants of Île-de-France. The powers and visibility of the Île-de-France region are henceforth greatly increased.

[edit] Geography

Île-de-France has a land area of 12,011 km² (4,637 sq. miles). The built-up area of Paris fills its 12,011 km² to near 23%[citation needed], and the Paris aire urbaine (or "metropolitan area", a built-up area + commuter belt) extends beyond its borders in places.

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.


[edit] Demographics

Île-de-France is composed of eight departments centered around its innermost department and capital, Paris. Around the department of Paris, urbanization fills a first concentric ring of three departments commonly known as the petite couronne ("small ring"), and extends into a second outer ring of four departments known as the grande couronne ("large ring").

Most of Île-de-France is covered by the Paris aire urbaine (or "metropolitan area"), a statistical area encompassing the Paris pôle urbain (or "urban area") and its couronne périurbaine commuter belt. At the last census in 1999, 88% of the Île-de-France's population lived in the Paris urban area and 99% of the same regional population lived in the Paris aire urbaine (respectively 9,644,507 people and 10,842,037 people).[3]

Departments in Île-de-France (INSEE 2005 estimates)
Concentric Area Departments Population
2006 est.		 Area Density 1999-2006
yearly pop. growth
  Paris (75) 2,168,000 105 km² 20,648/km² +0.3%
Inner ring
(Petite Couronne)		 Hauts-de-Seine (92) 1,532,000 176 km² 8,705/km² +1.0%
Seine-Saint-Denis (93) 1,485,000 236 km² 6,292/km² +1.0%
Val-de-Marne (94) 1,293,000 245 km² 5,278/km² +0.8%
Outer ring
(Grande Couronne)		 Val-d'Oise (95) 1,153,500 1,246 km² 926/km² +0.6%
Essonne (91) 1,193,500 1,804 km² 662/km² +0.7%
Yvelines (78) 1,398,500 2,284 km² 612/km² +0.5%
Seine-et-Marne (77) 1,267,500 5,915 km² 214/km² +0.9%

[edit] Historical population

Île-de-France Population
1801
census		 1806
census		 1821
census		 1826
census		 1831
census		 1836
census		 1841
census		 1846
census		 1851
census		 1856
census		 1861
census		 1866
census		 1872
census
1,352,280 1,407,272 1,549,811 1,780,900 1,707,181 1,882,354 1,998,862 2,180,100 2,239,695 2,552,980 2,819,045 3,039,043 3,141,730
1876
census		 1881
census		 1886
census		 1891
census		 1896
census		 1901
census		 1906
census		 1911
census		 1921
census		 1926
census		 1931
census		 1936
census		 1946
census
3,320,162 3,726,118 3,934,314 4,126,932 4,368,656 4,735,580 4,960,310 5,335,220 5,682,598 6,146,178 6,705,579 6,785,750 6,597,758
1954
census		 1962
census		 1968
census		 1975
census		 1982
census		 1990
census		 1999
census		 2002
estimate		 2003
estimate		 2004
estimate		 2005
estimate		 2006
estimate		 2007
estimate
7,317,063 8,470,015 9,248,631 9,878,565 10,073,059 10,660,554 10,952,011 11,176,008 11,250,617 11,319,972 11,399,319 11,490,968 11,577,000
Census returns before 2000; official Jan. 1 estimates from INSEE after 2000.

[edit] Immigration

Paris and the Île-de-France region is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. At the French census of March 1999, 2,159,070 residents of the Île-de-France region were people born outside Metropolitan France, making up 19.7% of the Île-de-France total population.[4] Among these people born outside Metropolitan France, 1,611,989 were immigrants (see definition below the table), making up 14.7% of the Île-de-France total population.[5] INSEE estimates that on January 1, 2005 the number of immigrants in Île-de-France has reached 1,916,000, making up 16.7% of the Île-de-France total population.[6] This is an increase of 304,000 immigrants in slightly less than six years.

Place of birth of residents of the Île-de-France region in 1999
Born in Metropolitan France Born outside Metropolitan France
80.3% 19.7%
Born in
Overseas France		 Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹ EU-15 immigrants² Non-EU-15 immigrants
1.8% 3.2% 4.2% 10.5%
¹This group is made up largely of pieds-noirs from Northwest Africa, followed by former colonial citizens who had French citizenship at birth (such as was often the case for the native elite in French colonies), and to a lesser extent foreign-born children of French expatriates. Note that a foreign country is understood as a country not part of France as of 1999, so a person born for example in 1950 in Algeria, when Algeria was an integral part of France, is nonetheless listed as a person born in a foreign country in French statistics.
² An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still considered an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.

[edit] Politics

[edit] Holders of the executive office

  • Delegates General for the District of the Paris Region
    • 1961-1969: Paul Delouvrier (civil servant) – Very influential term. Responsible for the creation of the RER express subway network in the Île-de-France and beyond.
    • 1969-1975: Maurice Doublet (civil servant)
    • 1975-1976: Lucien Lanier (civil servant)
  • Presidents of the Regional Council of Île-de-France

[edit] See also

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.


[edit] References

  1. ^ See map.
  2. ^ (French) INSEE. Produits Intérieurs Bruts Régionaux en euros par habitant. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
  3. ^ (French) INSEE, SPLAF. "Site sur la Population et les Limites Administratives de la France (SPLAF)". Retrieved on 2006-10-18.
  4. ^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. MIG1 - Migrations (caractéristiques démographiques selon le lieu de naissance). Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  5. ^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. IMG2 - Lieux de naissance à l’étranger selon la nationalité. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  6. ^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. Tableau de synthèse sur le nombre d'étrangers et d'immigrés (XLS). Retrieved on 2008-05-04.

[edit] Further reading

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[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 48°30′N, 2°30′E