1 French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers
Île-de-France is one of the twenty-six regions of France. Created as the "District of the Paris Region" in 1961, it was renamed as the "Île-de-France" région from 1976 to bring it into line with the rest of France's administrative regions created in 1972. Despite the name change, Île-de-France is still popularly referred to by French people as the Région Parisienne ("Paris Region") or RP.
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.
Demographics
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").
Most of Île-de-France is covered by the Paris metropolitan area (aire urbaine de Paris), a statistical area encompassing the Paris urban area and its couronne périurbaine commuter belt. At the last census in 1999, 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 metropolitan area (respectively 9,644,507 people and 10,842,037 people).[1]
Departments in Île-de-France(INSEE 2005 estimates)
Census returns before 2000; official Jan. 1 estimates from INSEE after 2000.
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 Paris metropolitan area.
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