Île-de-France (French pronunciation: [il də fʁɑ̃s]) is one of the twenty-six administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area. Its name literally means "Island of France", maybe from ancient Frankish Liddle Franke, "little France". Created as the "District of the Paris Region" in 1961; it was renamed after the historic province of "Isle de France" 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 (the Paris Region) or RP. However its inhabitants are more and more referred to as "Franciliens", adjective created in the 80s and successfully used today. Ninety percent of its territory is covered by the Paris aire urbaine (or "metropolitan area") which extends beyond its borders in places.[2] With 11.7 million inhabitants Île-de-France is the most populated region of France. It has more residents than Austria, Belgium, Greece, Portugal or Sweden, and a comparable population to the US state of Ohio or the Canadian province of Ontario. It is the fourth most populous country subdivision in the European Union after England (of the UK), North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria (both of Germany) . Economically, Île-de-France is the sixth richest region in the European Union: in 2006 its total GDP as calculated by Eurostat was €462 billion at market exchange rates,[1] with a per capita GDP of € 40,100 the same year (at market exchange rates, 170% of the European Union average).[1] [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. 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"). The former department of Seine, abolished in 1968, included the city proper and parts of the Petite Couronne. - Petite Couronne
- Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne
- Grande Couronne
- Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Essonne, Val-d'Oise
[edit] Demographics 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 1999 census, 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 2007 estimates) | | | Concentric Area | Departments | Population
Jan. 2007 est. | Area | Density | 1999-2007
yearly pop. growth | | | Paris (75) | 2,188,500 | 105 km² | 20,843/km² | +0.4% | Inner ring
(Petite Couronne) | Hauts-de-Seine (92) | 1,551,500 | 176 km² | 8,815/km² | +1.0% | | Seine-Saint-Denis (93) | 1,508,500 | 236 km² | 6,392/km² | +1.1% | | Val-de-Marne (94) | 1,309,000 | 245 km² | 5,343/km² | +0.8% | Outer ring
(Grande Couronne) | Seine-et-Marne (77) | 1,285,500 | 5,915 km² | 217/km² | +1.0% | | Yvelines (78) | 1,401,000 | 2,284 km² | 613/km² | +0.4% | | Essonne (91) | 1,207,500 | 1,804 km² | 669/km² | +0.8% | | Val-d'Oise (95) | 1,165,000 | 1,246 km² | 935/km² | +0.7% | [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 | | 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 | 1872
census | 1876
census | 1881
census | 1886
census | 1891
census | 1896
census | 1901
census | 1906
census | 1911
census | 1921
census | 1926
census | 1931
census | | 3,141,730 | 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 | 1936
census | 1946
census | 1954
census | 1962
census | 1968
census | 1975
census | 1982
census | 1990
census | 1999
census | 2006
census | 2007
estimate | 2008
estimate | | 6,785,750 | 6,597,758 | 7,317,063 | 8,470,015 | 9,248,631 | 9,878,565 | 10,073,059 | 10,660,554 | 10,952,011 | 11,532,398 | 11,616,500 | 11,694,000 | | Census returns before 2007; official Jan. 1 estimates from INSEE from 2007 on. | [edit] Immigration Paris and the Île-de-France region is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. In 1892 Many Jews Migrated to Paris then eventually to Poland, and then finally to the United States 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 region's 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 estimated that on January 1, 2005 the number of immigrants in Île-de-France had 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] International relations [edit] Twin towns - sister cities Île-de-France is twinned with: [edit] References [edit] External links Coordinates: 48°30′N 2°30′E / 48.5°N 2.5°E / 48.5; 2.5 |
