Ile-de-France

Île-de-France ) (literally Island of France; see the Etymology section), also known as the région parisienne, "Paris Region", is one of the twenty-seven regions of France, and includes the city of Paris. It covers 12,012 square km, and has its own regional council and president. It has a population of 12,005,077 as of January 2014, or 18.2 percent of the population of France.

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. Created as 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. Residents are sometimes referred to as "Franciliens", an administrative word created in the 1980s.

The GDP of the region in 2012 was 612.3 billion Euros, or (US$788 billion 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 2014 thirty companies from the Fortune Global 500 had their headquarters in the Paris Region.

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 "L'Île-de-France" (including the definite article) is not documented prior to 1387.

History

Royal flag, sometimes used unofficially as a flag for the Region

The ancien régime Isle of France (then referred as such in English), is one of the historical provinces of France, and the one at the centre of power during most of French history. The province was centred on Paris, seat of the Crown of France. The area around Paris was the original personal domain of the king of France, as opposed to areas ruled by feudal lords of whom he was the suzerain. This is reflected by divisions such as the Véxin Français and the Véxin Normand, the former being within the King of France's domain, the latter being within the Duke of Normandy's fief.

The old provinces were abolished during the French Revolution in the late 18th century and divided between newly devised subdivisions called departments. An area not entirely corresponding to the historical Île-de-France province was created in 1959 as district de la région de Paris ("District of the Paris Region"). The district was reconstituted as the Île-de-France region on 6 May 1976 and increased administrative and political powers devolved in the process of regionalisation in the 1980s and 1990s.

Traditional counties of the province of Île-de-France The modern departements covered by the historical Île-de-France Modern region of Île-de-France and departements

Geography

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.

The river Seine runs through the region. The Seine has many tributaries, including the rivers Oise and Aube. It is France's second largest river after the Loire. The region is in an area of lowland called the Paris Basin. South of this region lies the Massif Central, an area of highlands that are higher than the surrounding countryside 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.