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Île-de-France (French pronunciation: [ildəfʁɑ̃s] ) (literally Island of France; see the Etymology section) is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-seven administrative regions of France. It consists mostly of the Paris metropolitan area.

With 11.7 million inhabitants, Île-de-France is not only the most populated region of France, but also has more residents than Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Finland, Greece, Portugal, or Sweden, and has a population comparable to that of the U.S. state of Ohio or to that of 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 the world's fourth-largest and Europe's wealthiest and largest regional economy: in 2009, its total GDP as calculated by Eurostat was €552 billion (US$768.9 billion) at market exchange rates. It is the wealthiest metropolitan area in the European Union, and if it were a country, it would rank as the 15th wealthiest in the world. Île-de-France is also the world's second most important location for Fortune Global 500 companies' headquarters (after the Kantō region).

Created as district de la région de Paris ("the District of the Paris Region") in 1961, it was renamed after the historic province of Île-de-France in 1976, when its administrative status was aligned with the other French administrative regions created in 1972. Its name literally means "Island of France", possibly from ancient Frankish Liddle Franke, "little France". 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", an adjective created in the 1980s. Ninety percent of its territory is covered by the Paris aire urbaine ("metropolitan area") which extends beyond its borders in places.

Etymology

Although the modern name "Île-de-France" clearly means "Island of France", the etymology is in fact unclear. The "island" may refer to the land between the rivers Oise, Marne and Seine, or it may also have been a reference to the Île de la Cité, in which case "Island of France" was originally a pars pro toto or perhaps a metonym.

Yet another possibility is that the term is a corruption of a hypothesized Frankish language term "Liddle Franke" meaning "Little France" or "little Frankish land", so the modern reference to an "island" may be coincidental. However, this theory might be anachronistic, since the name "Île-de-France" (its old spelling) is not documented prior to 1387.

History

Timeline

4 February 1959: The District of the Paris Region ( Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) was created by a government decree. This proved to be a failure, due to a lack of cooperation from the communes and the departments of the region; they refused to send their representatives to the district council.

2 August 1961: The District of the Paris Region was re-created with the same name, but this time by a statute (bill) voted by the French Parliament. The borders of this new region were coterminous with those of 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, and 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.

10 August 1966: Creation of the Prefecture of the Paris Region, whose borders were coterminous with those of the District (and to that of 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.

17 December 1966: The district was renamed from "district de la région de Paris" to "district de la région parisienne". The English translation remains the same.

6 May 1976: The District of the Paris Region was transformed into the Île-de-France region, thus aligning the status of the region with that of the other French regions, created in 1972. The Prefecture of the Paris Region was renamed Prefecture of Île-de-France (Préfecture de L'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. 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 with limited executive powers. The office of Delegate General was abolished. It was said that President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing personally insisted on choosing the name "Île-de-France" for the region, instead of the previously-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 name.

2 March 1982: Île-de-France, like the other French regions, was turned into a "territorial collectivity". In other words, it was transformed from a mere administrative region of the state to a full-fledged political entity, on a 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.

16 March 1986: The first direct election of the regional council by the inhabitants of Île-de-France was held. The powers and visibility of the region were henceforth greatly increased.

Geography

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008)

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%, and the Paris aire urbaine ("metropolitan area"), a built-up area and commuter belt) extends beyond its borders in places.

The region 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.

The petite couronne consists of the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne, and the grande couronne of those of Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Essonne, and Val-d'Oise.

The river Seine also runs through the region. The Seine has many tributaries which include the rivers Oise and Aube. The river Seine has its mouth in the English channel and has its source in the 'Massif central'. It is France's second largest river after the Loire. The region is in an area of lowland called the Paris basin. South of the region lies the Massif-central, an area of highlands that are higher than normal, but far lower than the Alps.

The climate of the region is quite similar to those of England and western Germany, except that it has warmer summers and milder winters than England, and receives less rain than England does.

Demographics

Most of Île-de-France is covered by the Paris aire urbaine ("metropolitan area"), a statistical area encompassing the Paris pôle urbain ("urban area") and its couronne périurbaine (commuter belt).

At the 1999 census, 88% of the region's population lived in the Paris urban area and 99% lived in the Paris aire urbaine (9,644,507 and 10,842,037 people, respectively).

departments of Île-de-France and their populations (INSEE 2007 estimates)

concentric area	department	population (Jan. 2007 estimate)	area	population density	annual pop. growth 1999-2007
the centre	Paris (75)	2,188,500	105 km²	20,843/km²	+0.4%
the 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%
subtotals for the inner ring		4,369,000	657 km²	6,650/km²	+1.0%
the 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%
subtotals for the outer ring		5,059,000	11,249 km²	450/km²	+0.7%
totals		11,616,500	12,011 km²	967/km²	+0.8%

Historical population

Immigration

Paris and the Île-de-France region is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. As of 2006, about 35% of people (4 millions) living in the region were either immigrant (17%) or born to at least one immigrant parent (18%).

If the region, primary seat of French political and economic power for centuries, has always attracted immigrants, modern immigration can be traced back to the second half of the 19th century when France emerged as a immigration destination with Eastern European Jews fleeing persecutions, and Southern Europeans (mostly Italians) and Belgians seeking better economic conditions. During the first half of the 20th century, immigrants were mostly Europeans, but after decolonisation, and during the French post-war economic boom, many immigrants came from former French colonies (chiefly the Magreb and West Africa). 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.

Among these people born outside Metropolitan France, 1,611,989 were immigrants (see definition below the table), making up 14.7% of the region's total population. INSEE estimated that on 1 January 2005, the number of immigrants in the region had reached 1,916,000, making up 16.7% of its total population. This is an increase of 304,000 immigrants in slightly less than six years.

According to a study in 2009, nearly 56% of all newborns in the region in 2007 had at least one parent originated from sub-Saharan Africa, Maghreb or Overseas departments and territories of France.

People under 18 of foreign origin

In 2005, 37% of young people under 18 were of foreign origin (at least one immigrant parent) in Île-de-France, including a quarter of African origin (Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa).

People under 18 of Maghrebi, sub-Saharan and Turkish origin became a majority in several cities of the region (Clichy-sous-Bois, Mantes-la-Jolie, Grigny, Saint-Denis, Les Mureaux, Saint-Ouen, Sarcelles, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Garges-lès-Gonesse, Aubervilliers, Stains, Gennevilliers et Épinay-sur-Seine). Young people of Maghrebi origin comprised about 12% of the population of the region, 22% of that of département of the Seine-Saint-Denis district, and 37% of the 18th arrondissement of Paris. In Grigny, 31% of young people are of sub-Saharan origin

In the département of Seine-Saint-Denis (population 1.5 million), 56.7% of people under 18 are or foreign origin, including 38% of African origin. Islam is the main religion.

Economy

The GDP of the Île-de-France is the largest of NUTS-1 Regions in the European Union and is third in terms of GDP per Capita after Luxembourg and Brussels. Paris with 2,2 million inhabitants with a GDP per Capita of 75,000 euros.

Politics

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
  • 1976-1988: Michel Giraud (RPR politician) – (1st time)
  • 1988-1992: Pierre-Charles Krieg (RPR politician)
  • 1992-1998: Michel Giraud (RPR politician) – (2nd time)
  • since 1998: Jean-Paul Huchon (PS politician)

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Île-de-France is twinned with:

• Warsaw in Poland (since 1990)
• Beijing in China (since 1987)
• Madrid in Spain (since 2000)

References

Notes

1. INSEE report 2010
2. Global 500 by Country Fortune
3. See map.
4. The flag is the France Moderne coat of arms (a simplified version of the France Ancien reduced the number of fleurs-de-lis to three), emblem of the French Monarchy, symbole of Île-de-France's prominence
5. Template:Fr icon Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Contribution des CCI de Paris – Île-de-France à la révision du SDRIF, page 110. "TEM Paris – La Défense – QCA" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2007-09-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. Template:Fr icon INSEE, SPLAF. "Site sur la Population et les Limites Administratives de la France (SPLAF)". Retrieved 2006-10-18.
7. Les descendants d'immigrés vivant en Île-de-France, IAU Idf, Note rapide Société, n° 531
8. Large and dynamic economy with high human rights standards (and extensive social benefits after 1945) and a tradition of assimilation, France has widely been seen as a magnet for immigrants
9. Template:Fr icon INSEE, Government of France. "MIG1 - Migrations (caractéristiques démographiques selon le lieu de naissance)". Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check |first= value (help)
10. Template:Fr icon INSEE, Government of France. "IMG2 - Lieux de naissance à l'étranger selon la nationalité". Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check |first= value (help)
11. Template:Fr icon INSEE, Government of France. "Tableau de synthèse sur le nombre d'étrangers et d'immigrés" (XLS). Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check |first= value (help)
12. Bardakdjian-Michau J, Bahuau M, Hurtrel D; et al. (2009). "Neonatal screening for sickle cell disease in France". J. Clin. Pathol. 62 (1): 31–3. doi:10.1136/jcp.2008.058867. PMID 19103855. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. Michèle Tribalat, Revue Commentaire, juin 2009, n°127
14. Michèle Tribalat, Les yeux grands fermés, Denoël, 2010
15. Michèle Tribalat, Immigration et démographie des pays d’accueil, in Christophe Jaffrelot et Christian Lequesne L'Enjeu mondial, Presses de Sciences Po | Annuels 2009, pages 29 à 35
16. Michèle Tribalat, Michèle Tribalat : "L'islam reste une menace", Le Monde, 13 octobre 2011
17. Template:FrGDP per capita of french departments in 2005 ranks second in Europe after
18. Template:Pl icon "Miasta partnerskie Warszawy". um.warszawa.pl. Biuro Promocji Miasta. 2005-05-04. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
19. "Sister Cities". Beijing Municipal Government. Retrieved 2009-06-23.

External links

• Econovista, The interactive economic map of Paris Region
• Regional Council of Île-de-France Template:Fr icon
• Template:Wikitravel
• Template:Dmoz

48°30′N 2°30′E / 48.500°N 2.500°E / 48.500; 2.500

• Île-de-France
• Regions of France
• NUTS 1 statistical regions of the European Union
• NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union