Île-de-France

Île-de-France (literally Isle of France; see etymology below) is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-six administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area. It is one of France's administrative regions.

With 11.7 million inhabitants, Île-de-France is not only the most populated region of France but has more residents than Austria, Belgium, Greece, Portugal or Sweden, and has a population comparable to that of either the U.S. state of Ohio or 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 4th and Europe's 1st 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 also is, second to the Kantō region, the world's second most important location for Fortune Global 500 companies' headquarters.

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. 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 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.

Etymology


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

However the modern term may well be a corruption of a proposed Frankish language term "Liddle Franke" meaning "Little France" (or "little Frankish land") and the modern reference to an "isle" may therefore be coincidental. However, this theory may perhaps be anachronistic, since the name "L'Île-de-France;" (its old spelling) is not documented prior to 1387.

Timeline

 * 1959: February 4, "District of the Paris Region" (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 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, 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 those 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.
 * 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 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 L'Île-de-France; the remaining 30% were chosen by the Members of the French Parliament whose constituencies lay inside L'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 "L'Île-de-France" for the region, instead of the hitherto used Région Parisienne. L'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 "L'Île-de-France".
 * 1982: March 2: L'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 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.
 * 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.

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%, 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.

The river Seine also runs through the Ile-De-France. 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 Frances second largest river after the Loire.

The Ile-De-France is also in an area of lowland which is called the Paris basin. South of the Ile-De-France is the 'Massif-central' which is an area of highlands that are higher than normal land but far lower than the Alps.

The climate in the Ile-De-France is quite similar to England's however it has warmer summers and milder winters. Its climate is generally very similar to the climate found in West Germany. However the Ile-De-France receives less rain than England as it is not an Island.


 * Petite Couronne: Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne
 * Grande Couronne: Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Essonne, Val-d'Oise

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 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).

Immigration
Paris and the Île-de-France region is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. If the region, primary seat of French political and economic power for centuries, has always attracked 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 Île-de-France total population. 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. This is an increase of 304,000 immigrants in slightly less than six years.

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)

Twin towns - Sister cities
Île-de-France is twinned with: