The Paris aire urbaine (or "metropolitan area") is a statistical area that describes the reach of commuter movement to and from Paris and its surrounding urban area. The aire urbaine, a statistical area created by France's INSEE economy and census institution to describe suburban development around centres of urban growth, is composed of a couronne périurbaine (commuter belt) surrounding a more densely-constructed and densely-populated unité urbaine (or "urban area"). At present the Paris aire urbaine, with its 14,549 km², extends slightly beyond Paris' administrative Île-de-France administrative region, or "Paris Region".
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The Paris aire urbaine expands at each population census due to the rapid population growth in the Paris area: new communes (municipalities) surrounding Paris become included in the aire urbaine when they meet the 40% commuter threshold required to be considered part of the aire urbaine. At the 1968 census, the earliest date for which population figures were retrospectively computed for French aire urbaines, the Paris aire urbaine had 9 872 000 inhabitants in an area that only encompassed central Île-de-France. At the 1999 census the Paris aire urbaine was by then slightly larger than Île-de-France and had 11,174,743 inhabitants. Its population is now estimated to be nearly 12 million in its 1999 limits, and this number will change again upon the INSEE publication of the 2006 population census.
The Petite Couronne[1] (Little Crown, i.e. Inner Ring) is the hub of the urban agglomeration of Paris. It is formed by the 3 departments of Île-de-France bordering with the French capital and forming a geographical crown around it. The departments, until 1968 part of the disbanded Seine department, are Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne. The most populated towns of the Petite Couronne are Boulogne-Billancourt, Montreuil, Saint-Denis, Nanterre and Créteil.
The table below shows some statistical informations about the area including Paris:
| Department | Area (km²) | Population | Municipalities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paris (75) |
105.4
|
2,193,031[2]
|
1 (Paris)
|
| Hauts-de-Seine (92) |
176
|
1,536,100[3]
|
|
| Seine-Saint-Denis (93) |
236
|
1,502,340[3]
|
|
| Val-de-Marne (94) |
245
|
1,298,340[3]
|
|
| Petite Couronne |
657
|
4,336,780
|
123
|
| Paris + Petite Couronne |
762.4
|
6,529,811
|
124
|
The Grande Couronne[4] (Greater Crown, i.e. Outer Ring) includes the towns of the metropolitan area part of the other 4 departments of Île-de-France not bordering with Paris. They are Seine-et-Marne (77), Yvelines (78), Essonne (91) and Val-d'Oise (95). The latter three departments formed the Seine-et-Oise department until this was disbanded in 1968. The city of Versailles is part of this area.