Île-de-France
Region
Country	France
Prefecture	Paris
Departments	8 Paris Essonne Hauts-de-Seine Seine-Saint-Denis Seine-et-Marne Val-de-Marne Val-d'Oise Yvelines
Government
• President	Valérie Pécresse (LR)
Area
• Total	12,012 km2 (4,638 sq mi)
Population (Jan. 2019)(INSEE)
• Total	12,140,526
• Density	1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-IDF
GDP (2016)[1]	Ranked 1st
Total	€681 billion (US$850 bn)
Per capita	€56,000 (US$70,000)
NUTS Region	FR1
Website	ÎledeFrance.fr

Île-de-France (/ˌiːl də-/; French: [il də fʁɑ̃s] (listen), literally "Island of France"), often called the région parisienne ("Paris Region"), contains the city of Paris, and is the most populous of the 18 regions of France. It covers 12,012 square kilometres (4,638 square miles), or two percent of the national territory, and has official estimated population of 12,213,364 as of January 1, 2019, or 18.2% of the population of France.^[2] The region accounts for nearly 30 percent of the French Gross Domestic Product (GDP). ^[3]

The region is made up of eight administrative departments: Paris, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Seine-et-Marne, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise and Yvelines. It was created as the "District of the Paris Region" in 1961, then renamed in 1976 after the historic province of Île-de-France, when its status was aligned with the other French administrative regions created in 1972. Residents are sometimes referred to as Franciliens, an administrative word created in the 1980s.

The GDP of the region in 2016 was €681 billion (or $850 billion USD at market exchange rates). It has the highest per-capita GDP among regions in France and the third-highest of regions in the European Union. In 2018, almost all of the twenty-eight French companies listed in the Fortune Global 500 had their headquarters in the Paris region.^[4]

Besides the landmarks of Paris, the region has many important historic sites, including the Palace of Versailles and the Palace of Fontainebleau, as well as the most-visited tourist attraction in France, Disneyland Paris.

Etymology[edit]

Although the modern name Île-de-France literally 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, where the French royal palace and cathedral were located.

History[edit]

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  Historic province of Île-de-France before French Revolution
  

  
  

  
  


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  The modern departements covered by the historical Île-de-France
  

  
  

  
  


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  Modern region of Île-de-France and departements
  

  
  

  
  

The Île-de-France was inhabited by the Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, from around the middle of the 3rd century BC.^[5][6] One of the area's major north–south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité; this meeting place of land and water trade routes gradually became an important trading centre.^[7] The Parisii traded with many river towns (some as far away as the Iberian Peninsula) and minted their own coins for that purpose.^[8]

The Romans conquered the area in 52 BC and began their settlement on Paris's Left Bank.^[9] It became a prosperous city with a forum, baths, temples, theatres, and an amphitheatre.^[10]Christianity was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint Denis, the first Bishop of Paris: according to legend, when he refused to renounce his faith before the Roman occupiers, he was beheaded on the hill which became known as Mons Martyrum (Latin "Hill of Martyrs"), later "Montmartre", from where he walked headless to the north of the city; the place where he fell and was buried became an important religious shrine, the Basilica of Saint-Denis,^[11]

Clovis the Frank, the first king of the Merovingian dynasty, made the city his capital from 508. As the Frankish domination of Gaul began, there was a gradual immigration by the Franks to Paris and the Parisian Francien dialects were born. Fortification of the Île-de-la-Citie failed to avert sacking by Vikings in 845, but Paris's strategic importance—with its bridges preventing ships from passing—was established by successful defence in the Siege of Paris (885–86). In 987, Hugh Capet, Count of Paris (comte de Paris) and Duke of the Franks (duc des Francs), was elected King of the Franks (roi des Francs). Under the rule of the Capetian kings, Paris gradually became the largest and most prosperous city in France.^[11]

The Kings of France enjoyed getting away from Paris and hunting in the game-filled forests of the region. They built palatial hunting lodges, most notably Palace of Fontainebleau and the Palace of Versailles. From the time of Louis XIV until the French Revolution, Versailles was the official residence of the Kings and the seat of the French government. The Ile-de-France became the term used for the territory of Paris and the surrounding province, which was administered directly by the King.

During the French Revolution, the royal provinces were abolished and divided into departments, and the city and region were governed directly by the national government. In the period after World War II, as Paris faced a major housing shortage, hundreds of massive apartment blocks for low-income residents were built around the edges of Paris. In the 1950s and the 1960s, Many thousands of immigrants settled in the communes bordering the city. In 1959, under President Charles De Gaulle, a new region was created out of six departments, which corresponded approximately with the historic region, with the name District de la région de Paris ("District of the Paris Region"). On 6 May 1976, as part of the process of regionalisation, the district was reconstituted and increased administrative and political powers and renamed the Île-de-France region.

Geography[edit]

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  view of Fontainebleau Forest
  

  
  

  
  


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  The River Seine traverses Paris
  

  
  

  
  


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  A wheat field in Seine-et-Marne
  

  
  

  
  

Île-de-France has a land area of 12,011 km² (4,637 sq mi). It is composed of eight departments centered on 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.

Politically, the region is divided into 8 départements, 25 arrondissements, 155 cantons and 1 276 communes, out of the total of 35 416 in metropolitan France, ^[12]

The outer parts of the Ile-de-France remain largely rural. Agriculture land, forest and natural spaces occupy 78.9 percent of the region, Twenty-eight percent of the region's land is in urban usage, while the remaining 24 percent is rivers, forests, woods, and ponds. ^[13]

The River Seine flows through the middle of the region, and the region is criss-crossed by its tributaries and sub-tributaries, including the Rivers Marne, Oise and Epte. The River Eure does not cross the region, but receives water from several rivers in the Ile-de-France, including the Drouette and the Vesgre. The major rivers are navigable, and, because of the modest variations of altitude in the region (between 10 and 200 meters), they have a tendency to meander and curve. They also create many lakes and ponds, some of which have been transformed into recreation areas. (Moisson-Mousseaux, Cergy-Neuville, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, etc.).

Economy[edit]

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  Headquarters of Total in La Defense
  

  
  

  
  


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  The historic Bourse de Paris, or Paris stock market, now called Euronext Paris
  

  
  

  
  


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  Headquarters of Société Générale in La Defense
  

  
  

  
  

The Paris region is France's most important center of economic activity: the region had with a 2016 gross domestic product (GDP) of €681 billion (US$850 billion). The region accounts for nearly 30 percent of the French Gross Domestic Product (GDP). < All but one of the twenty-nine French companies listed in the Fortune Global 500 have their headquarters in Paris. ^[14]

The regional economy has gradually shifted toward high-value-added service industries (finance, IT services, etc.) and high-tech manufacturing (electronics, optics, aerospace, etc.).^[15] In 2014 industry represented just under five percent of active enterprises in the region, and 10.2 percent of salaried workers. Commerce and services account for 84 percent of the business establishments in the region, and have 83.3 percent of the salaried employees. ^[16]

Financial services and insurance are important sector of the regional economy; the major French Banks and insurance companies, including BNP Paribas, Société générale, and Crédit agricole, all have their headquarters in the region, The region also hosts the headquarters of the top French telecom companies and utilities, including Orange S.A., Veolia and EDF, The French stock market, the Bourse de Paris, now known as Euronext Paris, occupies an historical building in the center of Paris, is in ranked fourth among global stock markets, after New York, Tokyo and London.,

Other major sectors of the regional economy include energy companies (Orano, Engie, Électricité de France. and Total S.A., the top French company in the Fortune Global 500, The two major French automobile manufacturers Renault at Flins-sur-Seine, and Groupe PSA at Poissy, do much of their assembly work outside of France, but still have research centers and large plants in the region. The leading French and European aerospace and defense companies, including (Airbus] industries; Thales Group, Dassault Aviation, Safran Aircraft Engines, the European Space Agency, Alcatel-Lucent, and Arianespace have a large presence in the region. The automotive industry: Renault Groupe PSA
^[17]

The Energy sector is also well established in the region. The nuclear power industry, with its major firm Orano, has its headquarters in Ile-de-France, as does he main French oil company Total S.A., the top French company in the Fortune Global 500, and the main electric utility, Électricité de France. The energy firm Engie also has its main offices in the region at La Défense.

All the major French banks, including BNP Paribas, Société générale, and Crédit agricole, have their main offices in the paris Region, as well as the major French telecom and utility companies, including Orange S.A., Veolia and EDF, The French stock market, the Bourse de Paris, now known as Euronext Paris, occupies an historical building in the center of Paris, is in ranked fourth among global stock markets, after New York, Tokyo and London.^[18]

Employment[edit]

In 2018 just 7.2 percent of employees in the Region were engaged in industry; 62.3 percent were engaged in commerce and market services; 25.5 percent in non-market services, including government, health and education; 4.8 percent in construction; and 0.2 percent in agriculture. ^[19]

The largest non-government employers in the Region as of the end of 2015 were the airline Air France (40,657); the SNCF (French Railways): 31,955; the telecom firm Orange S.A. (31,497); the bank Société Générale (27,361); the automotive firm Groupe PSA (19,648); EDF (Electricité de France); 18,199; and Renault (18,136). ^[20] While the Petite Coronne, or departments closest to Paris, previously employed the most industrial workers, the largest number is now in the Grande Coronne, the outer departments.^[21]

The unemployment rate in the region stood at 8.6% at the end of 2016. It varied within the region from 7.8 percent in the city of Paris, to a high of 12.7 percent in Seine-Saint-Denis; 10 percent in Val-d'Oise; to regional lows of 7.5 percent in Hauts-de-Seine; 7.4 percent in Yvelines 7.7 percent in Essonne; and 7.9 percent in Seine et Marne, and 8.8 percent in Val de Marne. ^[22]

Agriculture[edit]

In 2018 48 percent of the land of the Île-de-France was devoted to agriculture; 569,000 hectares were cultivated. The most important crops are grains (66 percent), followed by beets (7 percent), largely for industrial use, and grass for grazing. In 2014, 9,495 hectares were devoted to bio agriculture. However, the number of persons employed in agriculture in the region dropped thirty-three percent between 2000 and 2015, to just 8,460 persons in 2015.^[23]

Tourism[edit]

The Île-de-France is one of the world's top tourist destinations, with a record 23.6 million hotel arrivals in 2017, and an estimated 50 million visitors in all types of accommodation. The largest number of visitors came from the United States, followed by England, Germany and China. ^[24][25][26] It was ranked as the third most visited travel destination in the world in 2017, after Bangkok and London.^[27] The top tourist attraction in the region in 2017 was Disneyland Paris, which received 14.8 million visitors in 2017, followed by the Cathedral of Notre-Dame (est. 12 million) and the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur at Montmartre (est. 11.1 million visitors). ^[28]

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  Notre-Dame Cathedral (12 million visitors in 2017)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Palace of Versailles (7.7 million visitors in 2017)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Disneyland Paris (14.8 million visitors in 2017)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Chateau of Vaux le Vicomte
  

  
  

  
  

Notable historic monuments in the Region outside of Paris include the Palace of Versailles (7,700,000 visitors), the Palace of Fontainebleau (500,000 visitors), the chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte (300,000 visitors) , and the Château de Malmaison, Napoleon's former country house; and the Basilica of Saint-Denis, where the Kings of France were interred before the French Revolution.^[29]

Regional government and politics[edit]

Seat of the regional council of Île-de-France in Paris (2008)

The Regional Council is the legislative body of the region. Its seat is in Paris, at 33 rue Barbet-de-Jouy in the 7th arrondissement. On December 15, 2015, a list of candidates of the Union of the Right, a coalition of centrist and right-wing parties, led by Valérie Pécresse, narrowly won the regional election, defeating the Union of the Left, a coalition of socialists and ecologists. The socialists had governed the region for the preceding seventeen years.

Since 2016 the regional council has 121 members from the Union of the Right, 66 from the Union of the Left and 22 from the far-right National Front.^[30]

Holders of the executive office[edit]

• 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)
  
  
  • 1998-2015: Jean-Paul Huchon (PS)
  
  
  • 2016- Valérie Pécresse (Union of the Centre-Right)
  
  
  
  

Demographics[edit]

Population density[edit]

The population density of the region as of January 1, 2017 was 1010.9 inhabitants per square kilometer. The densest area was Paris itself, with 21,066 inhabitants per square kilometer. The least-densely populated Department is Seine-et-Marne with just 239 residents per square kilometer. ^[31]

Wealth and Poverty[edit]

According to INSEE, the official government statistics agency, in 2015 15.9 percent of the residents of the region had an income below the poverty level. 16.2 of the residents of the city of Paris had income below the poverty level. Poverty was highest in the Departments of Seine-Saint-Denis (29 percent), Val-d'Oise (17.1 percent), and Val-de-Marne (16.8 percent). It was lowest in Yvelines (9.7 percent); Seine-et-Marne (11.8 percent), Essone (12.9 percent), and Hauts-de-Seine (12.4 percent). Hauts-de-Seine is the wealthiest department in France, measured by per capita GDP. ^[32]

Immigration[edit]

2012 Census Paris Region[33][34]
Country/territory of birth	Population
Metropolitan France	9,115,215
Algeria	289,826
Portugal	241,385
Morocco	227,903
Tunisia	109,349
Guadeloupe	80,402
Martinique	76,586
Turkey	69,338
China	61,806
Mali	55,466
Italy	55,057
Côte d'Ivoire	48,532
Senegal	46,365
Spain	46,359
Democratic Republic of Congo	42,872
Poland	39,482
Other countries/territories Romania 38,865 Cameroon 38,093 Sri Lanka 36,918 Vietnam 36,084 Haiti 33,417 Republic of the Congo 33,223 Cambodia 32,120   Réunion 30,341 Serbia 27,317 India 24,318 Germany 22,880 Mauritius 19,903 Lebanon 19,616 United Kingdom 19,029 Madagascar 18,504 United States 18,117 Russia 16,493 Pakistan 16,055 Belgium 14,942 Other countries and territories 795,871

In 2013, 2 206 000 residents of the Île-de-France were immigrants, born outside of France. This amounts to 18,5 % of the population of the region, two times more than the proportion for metropolitan France as a whole. Four out of ten immigrants living in France reside in the Paris Region. The immigrant population of the Paris region has a higher proportion of those born outside of Europe, and a higher proportion of immigrants with a higher education, than the rest of France. The population of immigrants is more widely distributed throughout the region than it was in the early 2000s, though the concentrations remain high in certain areas, particularly Paris and the department of Seine-Saint-Denis. The proportion of residents born outside of Metropolitan France has dropped since the 1999 census (19.7 percent) and the 2010 census (23 percent). .^[35]

Petite Couronne[edit]

Map of the Petite Couronne with Paris

Locator map showing the municipalities in which the Petite Couronne is divided. Paris is divided into its 20 arrondissements

The Petite Couronne^[36] (Little Crown, i.e. Inner Ring) 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 Métropole du Grand Paris is an administrative structure that comprises Paris and the three departments of the Petite Couronne, plus seven additional communes in the Grande Couronne.

The table below shows some statistical information about the area including Paris:

Grande Couronne[edit]

The Grande Couronne^[38] (Greater Crown, i.e. Outer Ring) includes the outer four 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.

Historical population[edit]

International relations[edit]

Twin regions[edit]

Île-de-France is twinned with:

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  Comunidad de Madrid in Spain (since 2000)
  


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  Yerevan in Armenia (since 2011)^[39]
  


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  Hanoi in Vietnam (since 2013)^[40]
  

See also[edit]

• List of European regions by GDP


• Véligo

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• 
  Fierro, Alfred (1996). Histoire et dictionnaire de Paris. Lafont. ISBN 978-0-7859-9300-1.
  


• 
  Schmidt, Joël (2009). Lutèce: Paris, des origines à Clovis. Perrin. ISBN 978-2-262-03015-5.
  

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Île-de-France.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Île-de-France.

• Paris Region Map, The interactive economic map of Paris Region


• 
  Regional Council of Île-de-France (in French)
  


• 
  Île-de-France at Curlie
  

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