Demographics of France - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article is about the demographic

Demographics

Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...

features of the population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

of France, including population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

, ethnicity

Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.

As of January 1, 2011, 65,821,885 people live in the French Republic. 63,136,180 of these live in metropolitan France

Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...

, whereas 2,685,705 live in the French overseas departments and territories.

At the beginning of the 20th century, France's population was low compared to its neighbours and to its past history. However, the country's population sharply increased with the baby boom following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. During the Trente Glorieuses
Trente Glorieuses
Les Trente Glorieuses refers to the thirty years from 1945-1975 following the end of the Second World War in France. The name was first used by the French demographer Jean Fourastié...

(1945–1974), the country's reconstruction and steady economic growth led to the labor-immigration of the 1960s, when many employers found manpower in villages located in Southern Europe

Southern Europe

The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...

and in the Maghreb

Maghreb

The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...

(or North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

). French law facilitated the immigration of thousands of colons, ethnic or national French from former colonies of North and West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

and Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

, to mainland France. 1.6 million European pieds noirs migrated from Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

, Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

and Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. In the 1970s, over 30,000 French colons left Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge

Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...

regime as the Pol Pot

Pol Pot

Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....

government confiscated their farms and land properties. However, after the 1973 energy crisis, laws limiting immigration were passed. In addition, the country's birth rate dropped significantly during this time.

Since the 1980s, France has continued being a country of mass immigration. Meanwhile, the national birth rate, after continuing to drop for a time, began to rebound in the 1990s and currently the country's fertility rate is close to the replacement level

Sub-replacement fertility

Sub-replacement fertility is a total fertility rate that leads to each new generation being less populous than the previous one in a given area. In developed countries sub-replacement fertility is any rate below approximately 2.1 children born per woman, but the threshold can be as high as 3.4...

. In recent years, immigrants have accounted for one quarter of the population growth - a lower proportion than in most other European countries. According to an INSEE

INSEE

INSEE is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of Eurostat, European Statistical System...

2006 study, "The natural increase is close to 300,000 persons, a level that has not been reached in more than thirty years. Net migration is estimated at 93,600 persons, slightly more than in 2005."

As of 2008, the French national institute of statistics INSEE

INSEE

estimated that 11.8 million foreign-born immigrants and their direct descendants (second generation) lived in France representing 19% of the country's population. About 5,5 million are of European origin and 4 million of Maghrebi origin. Among the 802,000 newborns in metropolitan France in 2010, 27.3% had at least one foreign-born parent and about one quarter (23.9%) had at least one parent born outside of Europe..

Historical population of metropolitan France

Please note:

figures are for metropolitan France
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...

only, excluding overseas departments and territories, as ormer French colonies
French Colonies
"French Colonies" is the name used by philatelists to refer to the postage stamps issued by France for use in the parts of the French colonial empire that did not have stamps of their own...

and protectorates. Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

and its départements, although they were an integral part of metropolitan France until 1962, are not included in the figures.
to make comparisons easier, figures provided below are for the territory of metropolitan France within the borders of 2004. This was the real territory of France from 1860 to 1871, and again since 1919. Figures before 1860 have been adjusted to include Savoie
Savoie
Savoie is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps.Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860...

and Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

, which only became part of France in 1860. Figures between 1795 and 1815 do not include the French départements in modern day Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, although they were an integral part of France during that period. Figures between 1871 and 1919 have been adjusted to include Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

and part of Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....

, which both were at the time part of the German Empire.

figures before 1801 are modern estimates; figures from 1801 (included) onwards are based on the official French censuses.

Year	Population	Year	Population	Year	Population
50 BC	2,500,000	1806	29,648,000	1896	40,158,000
1	5,500,000	1811	30,271,000	1901	40,681,000
120	7,200,000	1816	30,573,000	1906	41,067,000
400	5,500,000	1821	31,578,000	1911	41,415,000
850	7,000,000	1826	32,665,000	1921	39,108,000
1226	16,000,000	1831	33,595,000	1926	40,581,000
1345	20,200,000	1836	34,293,000	1931	41,524,000
1400	16,600,000	1841	34,912,000	1936	41,502,000
1457	19,700,000	1846	36,097,000	1946	40,506,639
1580	20,000,000	1851	36,472,000	1954	42,777,162
1594	18,500,000	1856	36,715,000	1962	46,519,997
1600	20,000,000	1861	37,386,000	1968	49,780,543
1670	18,000,000	1866	38,067,000	1975	52,655,864
1700	21,000,000	1872	37,653,000	1982	54,334,871
1715	19,200,000	1876	38,438,000	1990	56,615,155
1740	24,600,000	1881	39,239,000	1999	58,518,395
1792	28,000,000	1886	39,783,000	2006	61,399,719
1801	29,361,000	1891	39,946,000	2011	63,136,180 (*)

(*) Note:

63,136,180 total without overseas departments and territories

Overseas departments and territories of France

The French Overseas Departments and Territories consist broadly of French-administered territories outside of the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France , and consequently the...

65,821,885 total with overseas departments and territories.

Projections

Source: http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/document.asp?ref_id=ip1320
Figures are for metropolitan France only.

Year	Population
2015	64,514,000
2020	65,962,000
2025	67,285,000
2030	68,532,000
2035	69,705,000
2040	70,734,000
2050	72,275,000
2060	73,557,000

1800 to 20th century

France was historically the largest nation of Europe. During the Middle Ages more than one quarter of Europe’s population was French; during the 17th century it was still one fifth.

Starting around 1800, the historical evolution of the population in France has been extremely atypical in the Western World

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

. Unlike the rest of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, France did not experience a strong population growth in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. The birth rate

Birth rate

Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...

in France diminished much earlier than in the rest of Europe. Consequently, population growth was quite slow in the 19th century, and the nadir was reached in the first half of the 20th century when France, surrounded by the rapidly growing populations of Germany and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, experienced virtually zero growth. This, and the bloody losses in France's population due to the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, may explain the sudden collapse of France in 1940 during the Second World War

World War II

. France was often perceived as a country facing irrecoverable decline. At the time, racist theories were quite popular, and the dramatic demographic decline of France was often attributed (particularly in Nazi

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

Germany, and also in some conservative circles in England and elsewhere) to the genetic characteristics of the "French race", a race destined to fail in the face of the Germanic and Anglo-Saxon

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

"races". In addition, the slow growth of France's population in the 19th century was reflected in the country's very low emigration

Emigration

Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...

rate. While millions of people from all other parts of Europe moved to the Americas, few French did so. Most people in the United States of French extraction are descended from immigrants from French Canada, whose population was rapidly growing at this time.

Between 1815 and 2000, if the population of France had grown at the same rate as the population of Germany during the same time period, France's population would be 110 million today—and this does not take into account the fact that a large chunk of Germany's population growth was siphoned off by emigration to the Americas, and suffered much larger military and civilian losses during the World Wars than France did. If France's population had grown at the same rate as England and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

(whose rate was also siphoned off by emigration to the Americas, Australia and New Zealand), France's population could be anywhere up to 150 million today. And if one starts the comparison at the time of King Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

(the Sun King), then France would in fact have the same population as the United States. While France had been very powerful in Europe at the time of Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

or Napoleon

Napoleon I

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

, the demographic decline the country experienced after 1800 resulted in it losing this advantage.

After World War II

After 1945 however, France suddenly underwent a demographic recovery. In the 1930s the French government, alarmed by the decline of France's population, had passed laws to boost the birth rate, giving state benefits to families with children. Nonetheless, no one can quite satisfactorily explain this sudden and unexpected recovery in the demography of France, which was often portrayed as a "miracle" inside France. This demographic recovery was again atypical in the Western World

Western world

, in the sense that although the rest of the Western World experienced a baby boom immediately after the war, the baby boom in France was much stronger, and above all it lasted longer than in most other countries of the Western World (the United States being one of the few exceptions). In the 1950s and 1960s France enjoyed a population growth of 1% a year, which is the highest growth in the history of France, not even matched in the best periods of the 18th or 19th centuries.

Since 1975, France's population growth rate has significantly diminished, but it still remains slightly faster than that of the rest of Europe, and much faster than it was at the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century. In the first decade of the third millennium, population growth in France is the fastest of Europe, matched only by Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. However, it is slower than that of the United States, largely because of the higher net migration rate

Net migration rate

Net migration rate is the difference of immigrants and emigrants of an area in a period of time, divided per 1,000 inhabitants...

of the USA.

The following list shows the past, present, and future weight of France's population in Europe and in the world:

(historical populations are counted in the 2011 borders)

until 1795 metropolitan France was the most populous country of Europe, above even Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, and the third most populous country in the world, behind only China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
between 1795 and 1866, metropolitan France was the second most populous country of Europe, behind Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, and the fourth most populous country in the world, behind China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
between 1866 and 1909, metropolitan France was the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and Germany
between 1909 and 1933, metropolitan France was the fourth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Germany, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
between 1933 and 1991, metropolitan France was the fifth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Germany, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
between 1991 and 2000, metropolitan France recovered its rank as the fourth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Germany, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
since 2000, metropolitan France has recovered its rank as the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and Germany. Worldwide, France's ranking has fallen to twentieth most populous country.
In 2005 it was expected that current demographic trends continuing (i.e. declining population in Germany, and slightly rising population in France and the UK), around 2050 metropolitan France could again surpass the population of Germany, becoming the most populous state in the European Union. But more recent (2009) UN projections say that the stronger-growing United Kingdom could be more populous than metropolitan France in 2050, leaving metropolitan France third amongst European nations, behind Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and the UK, but the entire French Republic will remain more populated than the UK.

Note that in the above list, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

is not regarded as a European country. Turkey was less populous than metropolitan France until 1992, and has been more populous since then.

Vital statistics

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Fertility rates
1901	40 710	917 075	825 315	91 760	22.5	20.3	2.3
1902	40 810	904 434	801 379	103 055	22.2	19.6	2.5
1903	40 910	884 498	794 566	89 932	21.6	19.4	2.2
1904	41 000	877 091	802 536	74 555	21.4	19.6	1.8
1905	41 050	865 604	812 338	53 266	21.1	19.8	1.3
1906	41 100	864 745	820 051	44 694	21.0	20.0	1.1
1907	41 100	829 632	830 871	-1 239	20.2	20.2	0.0
1908	41 190	848 982	784 415	64 567	20.6	19.0	1.6
1909	41 240	824 739	792 798	31 941	20.0	19.2	0.8
1910	41 350	828 140	737 877	90 263	20.0	17.8	2.2
1911	41 420	793 506	813 653	-20 147	19.2	19.6	-0.5
1912	41 530	801 642	726 848	74 794	19.3	17.5	1.8
1913	41 620	795 851	736 937	58 914	19.1	17.7	1.4
1914	41 630	757 931	774 931	-17 000	18.2	18.6	-0.4
1915	40 620	482 968	747 968	-265 000	11.9	18.4	-6.5
1916	40 020	384 676	697 676	-313 000	9.6	17.4	-7.8
1917	39 420	412 744	712 744	-300 000	10.5	18.1	-7.6
1918	38 670	472 816	867 816	-395 000	12.2	22.4	-10.2
1919	38 600	506 960	739 901	-232 941	13.1	19.2	-6.0
1920	38 900	838 137	675 676	162 461	21.5	17.4	4.2
1921	39 140	816 555	697 904	118 651	20.9	17.8	3.0
1922	39 310	764 373	692 322	72 051	19.4	17.6	1.8
1923	39 750	765 888	670 326	95 562	19.3	16.9	2.4
1924	40 170	757 873	683 296	74 577	18.9	17.0	1.9
1925	40 460	774 455	712 211	62 244	19.1	17.6	1.5
1926	40 710	771 690	716 966	54 724	19.0	17.6	1.3
1927	40 770	748 102	679 809	68 293	18.3	16.7	1.7
1928	40 880	753 570	678 269	75 301	18.4	16.6	1.8
1929	41 020	734 140	742 732	-8 592	17.9	18.1	-0.2
1930	41 340	754 020	652 953	101 067	18.2	15.8	2.4
1931	41 550	737 611	682 816	54 795	17.8	16.4	1.3
1932	41 510	726 299	663 705	62 594	17.5	16.0	1.5
1933	41 520	682 394	664 133	18 261	16.4	16.0	0.4
1934	41 570	681 518	637 713	43 805	16.4	15.3	1.1
1935	41 550	643 870	661 722	-17 852	15.5	15.9	-0.4
1936	41 500	634 344	645 844	-11 500	15.3	15.6	-0.3
1937	41 530	621 453	632 896	-11 443	15.0	15.2	-0.3
1938	41 560	615 582	650 832	-35 250	14.8	15.7	-0.8
1939	41 510	615 599	645 677	-30 078	14.8	15.6	-0.7
1940	40 690	561 281	740 281	-179 000	13.8	18.2	-4.4
1941	39 420	522 261	675 261	-153 000	13.2	17.1	-3.9
1942	39 220	575 261	656 261	-81 000	14.7	16.7	-2.1
1943	38 860	615 780	626 780	-11 000	15.8	16.1	-0.3
1944	38 770	629 878	666 878	-37 000	16.2	17.2	-1.0
1945	39 660	645 899	643 899	2 000	16.3	16.2	0.1
1946	40 287	843 904	545 880	298 024	20.9	13.5	7.4
1947	40 679	870 472	538 157	332 315	21.4	13.2	8.2
1948	41 112	870 836	513 210	357 626	21.2	12.5	8.7
1949	41 480	872 661	573 598	299 063	21.0	13.8	7.2
1950	41 829	862 310	534 480	327 830	20.6	12.8	7.8
1951	42 156	826 722	565 829	260 893	19.6	13.4	6.2
1952	42 460	822 204	524 831	297 373	19.4	12.4	7.0
1953	42 752	804 696	556 983	247 713	18.8	13.0	5.8
1954	43 057	810 754	518 892	291 862	18.8	12.1	6.8
1955	43 428	805 917	526 322	279 595	18.6	12.1	6.4
1956	43 843	806 916	545 700	261 216	18.4	12.4	6.0
1957	44 311	816 467	532 107	284 360	18.4	12.0	6.4
1958	44 789	812 215	500 596	311 619	18.1	11.2	7.0
1959	45 240	829 249	509 114	320 135	18.3	11.3	7.1
1960	45 684	819 819	520 960	298 859	17.9	11.4	6.5	2,73
1961	46 163	838 633	500 289	338 344	18.2	10.8	7.3	2,81
1962	46 998	832 353	541 147	291 206	17.7	11.5	6.2	2,83
1963	47 816	868 876	557 852	311 024	18.2	11.7	6.5	2,88
1964	48 310	877 804	520 033	357 771	18.2	10.8	7.4	2,90
1965	48 758	865 688	543 696	321 992	17.8	11.2	6.6	2,84
1966	49 164	863 527	528 782	334 745	17.6	10.8	6.8	2,78
1967	49 548	840 568	543 033	297 535	17.0	11.0	6.0	2,64
1968	49 915	835 796	553 441	282 355	16.7	11.1	5.7	2,57
1969	50 318	842 245	573 335	268 910	16.7	11.4	5.3	2,53
1970	50 772	850 381	542 277	308 104	16.7	10.7	6.1	2,54
1971	51 251	881 284	554 151	327 133	17.2	10.8	6.4	2,59
1972	51 701	877 506	549 900	327 606	17.0	10.6	6.3	2,42
1973	52 118	857 186	558 782	298 404	16.4	10.7	5.7	2,32
1974	52 460	801 218	552 551	248 667	15.3	10.5	4.7	2,13
1975	52 699	745 065	560 353	184 712	14.1	10.6	3.5	1,93
1976	52 909	720 395	557 114	163 281	13.6	10.5	3.1	1,83
1977	53 145	744 744	536 221	208 523	14.0	10.1	3.9	1,86
1978	53 376	737 062	546 916	190 146	13.8	10.2	3.6	1,82
1979	53 606	757 354	541 805	215 549	14.1	10.1	4.0	1,86
1980	53 880	800 376	547 107	253 269	14.9	10.2	4.7	1,95
1981	54 182	805 483	554 823	250 660	14.9	10.2	4.6	1,95
1982	54 492	797 223	543 104	254 119	14.6	10.0	4.7	1,91
1983	54 772	748 525	559 655	188 870	13.7	10.2	3.4	1,79
1984	55 026	759 939	542 490	217 449	13.8	9.9	4.0	1,81
1985	55 284	768 431	552 496	215 935	13.9	10.0	3.9	1,82
1986	55 577	778 468	546 926	231 542	14.0	9.8	4.2	1,84
1987	55 824	767 828	527 466	240 362	13.8	9.4	4.3	1,80
1988	56 118	771 268	524 600	246 668	13.7	9.3	4.4	1,79
1989	56 423	765 473	529 283	236 190	13.6	9.4	4.2	1,79
1990	56 709	762 407	526 201	236 206	13.4	9.3	4.2	1,75
1991	56 976	759 056	524 685	234 371	13.3	9.2	4.1	1,77
1992	57 240	743 658	521 530	222 128	13.0	9.1	3.9	1,73
1993	57 467	711 610	532 263	179 347	12.4	9.3	3.1	1,65
1994	57 659	710 993	519 965	191 028	12.3	9.0	3.3	1,63
1995	57 844	729 609	531 618	197 991	12.6	9.2	3.4	1,71
1996	58 026	734 338	535 775	198 563	12.7	9.2	3.4	1,73
1997	58 207	726 768	530 319	196 449	12.5	9.1	3.4	1,70
1998	58 398	738 080	534 005	204 075	12.6	9.1	3.5	1,78
1999	58 661	744 791	537 661	207 130	12.7	9.2	3.5	1,81
2000	59 049	774 782	530 864	243 918	13.1	9.0	4.1	1,89
2001	59 477	770 945	531 073	239 872	13.0	8.9	4.0	1,90
2002	59 894	761 630	535 144	226 486	12.7	8.9	3.8	1,86
2003	60 304	761 464	552 339	209 125	12.6	9.2	3.5	1,89
2004	60 735	767 816	509 429	258 387	12.6	8.4	4.3	1,92
2005	61 182	774 355	527 533	246 822	12.7	8.6	4.0	1,94
2006	61 586	796 896	516 416	280 480	12.9	8.4	4.6	2,00
2007	61 939	818 705	521 016	264 969	12.7	8.4	4.3	1,98
2008	62 278	828 404	533 000	263 044	12.8	8.6	4.2	2,02
2009	62 621	824 641	538 116	255 304	12.7	8.6	4.1	1,99
2010 (metropolitan France)	62 965	802 224	540 469	261 755	12.6	8.5	4.1	2,01

e=first estimate

Ethnic groups

The modern ethnic French are the descendants of Celts, Iberians

Iberians

The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...

, Ligurians

Ligures

The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...

and Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

in southern France, later mixed with large group of Germanic peoples

Germanic peoples

The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...

arriving at the end of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

such as the Franks

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

the Burgundians

Burgundians

The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...

, Alamanni

Alamanni

The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...

and Goths

Goths

The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

, very small portions of Moors

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

and Saracens in the south, and Scandinavians

Scandinavians

Scandinavians are a group of Germanic peoples, inhabiting Scandinavia and to a lesser extent countries associated with Scandinavia, and speaking Scandinavian languages. The group includes Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, and additionally the descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as the Icelandic...

, Vikings who became the Normans

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

and settled mostly in Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

in the 9th century.

Due to a law dating from 1872, the French Republic prohibits performing census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

by making distinction between its citizens regarding their race or their beliefs.
Some organizations, such as the Representative Council of Black Associations , have argued in favour of the introduction of data collection on minority groups but this has been resisted by other organizations and ruling politicians, often on the grounds that collecting such statistics goes against France's secular principles and harks back to Vichy

Vichy France

Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...

-era identity documents. During the 2007 presidential election

French presidential election, 2007

The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...

, however, Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....

was polled on the issue and stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity. Part of a parliamentary bill which would have permitted the collection of data for the purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the Conseil Constitutionnel in November 2007.

However, that law does not concern surveys and polls, which are free to ask those questions if they wish. The law also allows for an exception for public institutions such as the INED or the INSEE

INSEE

whose job it is to collect data on demographics, social trends and other related subjects, on condition that the collection of such data has been authorized by the National Commission for Computer-stocked data and Freedom (CNIL

CNIL

The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés or CNIL is an independent French administrative authority whose mission is to ensure that data privacy law is applied to the collection, storage, and use of personal data. Its existence was established by French , concerning computers,...

) and the National Council of Statistical Information (CNIS).

Of European ethnic groups

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

not indigenous to France, the most numerous are people of Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

family origin and it is estimated that about 5 million citizen (8% of the population) are at least partly of Italian origin if their parentage is retraced over three generations. This is due to waves of Italian immigration, notably during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Other large European groups of non-native origin are Spaniards, Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

, Polish, and Greeks. Also, due to more recent immigration, between five and six million people of Maghrebi origin and approximately 500,000 Turks

Turks in France

Turks in France or French Turks are Turkish people who have immigrated to France. However, the term may also refer to French-born persons who have Turkish parents or who have a Turkish ancestral background...

inhabit France. An influx of North African Jews immigrated to France in the 1950s and after the Algerian War due to the decline of the French empire. Subsequent waves of immigration followed the Six-Day War, when some Moroccan and Tunisian Jews settled in France. Hence, by 1968, North African Jews were about 500,000 and the majority in France. As these new immigrants were already culturally French they needed little time to adjust to French society. Black people

Afro-French

Black people in France are French citizens or residents who are of Black African or Caribbean ancestry.-Population statistics:Although it is illegal for the French state to collect data on ethnicity and race, a law with its origins in the 1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1958,...

come from both the French overseas territories and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Solis, a marketing company, recently estimated the numbers for ethnic minorities (immigrants and 2nd generation) in France in 2009 as 3.26 million Maghrebis (5.23%), 1.83 million Black people (2.94%, 1.08 million Sub-Saharan Africans and 757,000 French from French West Indies

French West Indies

The term French West Indies or French Antilles refers to the seven territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: the two overseas departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the two overseas collectivities of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, plus...

) and 441,000 Turkish (0.71%) .

Before World War II

In the 20th century, France experienced a high rate of immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

from other countries. The immigration rate was particularly high during the 1920s and 1930s. France was the European country which suffered the most from World War I

World War I

, with respect to the size of its population, losing 1.4 million young men out of a total population of 40 million. France was also at the time the European country with the lowest fertility rate, which meant that the country had a very hard time recovering from the heavy losses of the war. France had to open its doors to immigration, which was the only way to prevent population decline between the two world wars.

At the time France was the only European country to permit mass immigration. The other major European powers, such as the UK or Germany, still had high fertility rates, so immigration was seen as unnecessary while it was also undesirable to the vast majority of their populations. Armenians

Armenians in France

Armenians in France are ethnic Armenians living within the modern republic of France. Like much of the Armenian Diaspora, most Armenians immigrated to France after the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923. Others came later, fleeing conflicts in places like Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iran...

immigrated to France after the Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...

of 1915. The majority of immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s came from southern Europe

Southern Europe

: Greeks

Greeks

, Italians, Yugoslavs

Yugoslavs

Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...

, Portuguese

Portuguese people

and Spaniards, but also Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

ans: Poles

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

, Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

, Hungarians and Czechoslovaks; and Belgians

Belgians

Belgians are people originating from the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe.-Etymology:Belgians are a relatively "new" people...

(nationality, but composed of both French and Fleming

Flemish people

The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...

-Dutch

Dutch people

The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...

elements) and the first wave of colonial French subjects from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. By the end of the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, some half-million Spanish

Spanish Civil War

Republican refugee

Refugee

A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

s had crossed
the border into France. At this time, Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

was the second most populous religion in France, as it had been for centuries. However, this would soon change.

Local populations often opposed immigrant manpower, leading to occasional outbursts of violence. The most violent of these

Massacre of the Italians at Aigues-Mortes

The Massacre of the Italians at Aigues-Mortes was a series of events on the 16 and 17 August 1893, in Aigues-Mortes , leading to the killing of Italian workers of the Compagnie des Salins du Midi, by French villagers and blue-collar workers...

was a pogrom

Pogrom

A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...

against Italian workers who worked in the salt evaporation ponds of Peccais erupted in Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved.-History:...

in 1893, killing nine and injuring hundreds on the Italian side.

After World War II

World War II

, the French fertility rate rebounded considerably, as noted above, but economic growth in France was so high that new immigrants had to be brought into the country. This time the majority of immigrants were Portuguese

Portuguese people

as well as Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

s and Berbers

Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...

from North Africa

North Africa

. The first wave arrived in the 1950s, but the major arrivals happened in the 1960s and 1970s. More than one million people from the Maghreb immigrated in the 1960s and early 1970s from North Africa, especially Algeria

Algeria

(following the end of French rule there

French rule in Algeria

French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...

) . One million European pieds noirs also migrated from Algeria in 1962 and the following years, due to the chaotic independence of Algeria. This is a focal point of the current turbulent relationship of France and over three million French of Algerian descent, a small percentage of whom are third-or fourth-generation French.

Between 1956 and 1967, about 235.000 Sephardic North African Jews from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco also immigrated to France due to the decline of the French empire and following the Six-Day War

Six-Day War

The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

. Hence, by 1968, Sephardic North African Jews were the majority of the Jews in France. As these new immigrants were already culturally French they needed little time to adjust to French society.

In the late 1970s, due to the end of high economic growth in France, immigration policies were considerably tightened, starting with the Pasqua laws

Charles Pasqua

Charles Pasqua is a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur...

passed in 1986 and 1993. New immigrants were allowed only through the family reunion schemes (wives and children moving to France to live with their husband or father already living in France), or as asylum seekers. Illegal immigration

Illegal immigration

Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...

thus developed as immigration policy became more rigid. In 2006, The French Ministry of the Interior estimated clandestine immigrants in France amounted to anywhere between 200.000 and 400.000, also expecting between 80.000 and 100.000 people to enter the country illegally each year.

The Pasqua laws are a significant landmark in the shift in France’s immigration policy through the course of the 20th Century.
They are a sign of the securitization aspect of immigration, giving more power to the police, allowing them to perform random identity checks and deport immigrants without legal papers. The rise in anti-immigration sentiments was reinforced by a series of terrorist bombs in Paris in 1986 which were linked to Muslim immigrants in France.

Tightening immigration laws such as these, as well as notions of "zero immigration", reflected national views that arose within the discussion around immigrant family reunification and national identity. Institut français des relations internationales

Institut français des relations internationales

L'Institut français des relations internationales is the main independent research and debate institution dedicated to international affairs, based in Paris, France....

(IFRI) immigration expert, Mr. Christophe Bertossi, states that "stigmatized as both a challenge to social cohesion and a “burden” for the French economy, family immigration is increasingly restricted and constructed as a racial issue. The “immigration choisie” policy strives consequently to select migrants according to their profile, skills and–though still indirectly–origins.

Nonetheless, immigration rates in the 1980s and 1990s were much lower than in the 1960s and 1970s, especially compared to other European countries. The regions of emigrations also widened, with new immigrants now coming from sub-saharan Africa

Africa

and Asia

Asia

. And in the 1970s, a small but well publicized wave of Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an and Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

political refugees (see Chilean coup of 1973

Chilean coup of 1973

The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event of the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist-leaning President Salvador Allende, discontent culminated in the latter's downfall in...

) found asylum in France.

Ethnic Vietnamese started to become a visible segment of society after the massive influx of refugees after the end of the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

in 1975. The expulsions of ethnic Chinese from Vietnam in the 1970s led to a wave of immigration and the settlement of the high-rise neighbourhood near the Porte d'Italie, where the Chinatown of Paris

Chinatowns in Europe

This article discusses Chinatowns in Europe. Several urban Chinatowns exist in major European capital cities. There is Chinatown, London, England as well as a major Chinatown in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and two Chinatowns in Paris, France: One where many Vietnamese – specifically ethnic...

is located. Located in the 13th arrondissement, the area contains many ethnic Chinese inhabitants.

The large-scale immigration from Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic countries has sparked controversy in France. Nevertherless, according to Justin Vaïsse

Justin Vaïsse

Justin Vaïsse is a French historian. He specialises in International relations, notably French and US politics and foreign policy; neoconservatism; integration ofIslam in Europe; and transatlantic relations. - Biography :...

, in spite of obstacles and spectacular failures like the riots in November 2005

2005 civil unrest in France

The 2005 civil unrest in France of October and November was a series of riots by mostly Muslim North African youths in Paris and other French cities, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings at night starting on 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois...

, in Parisian suburbs, where many immigrants live secluded from society with very few capabilities to live in better conditions, the integration of Muslim immigrants is happening as part of a background evolution and recent studies confirmed the results of their assimilation, showing that "North Africans seem to be characterized by a high degree of cultural integration reflected in a relatively high propensity to exogamy

Exogamy

Exogamy is a social arrangement where marriage is allowed only outside of a social group. The social groups define the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. In social studies, exogamy is viewed as a combination of two related aspects:...

" with rates ranging from 20% to 50%. According to Emmanuel Todd

Emmanuel Todd

Emmanuel Todd is a French historian, anthropologist, demographer, sociologist and political scientist at the National Institute of Demographic Studies , in Paris...

the relatively high exogamy among French Algerians can be explained by the colonial link between France and Algeria. One illustration of this growing resentment and job insecurity can be drawn from related events, such as the 2005 riots, which ensued in former President Chirac declaring a state of emergency. Massive demonstrations to express frustration over unemployment took place in March 2009. The importance of integration was brought to the forefront of the political agenda in President Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign. Upon being elected, he symbolically created the French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment

French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment

The Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment of France is a ministry that was created by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. Sarkozy had suggested the formation of such a government agency during his 2007 bid for the Presidency.Sarkozy was inaugurated on 16...

. Integration is one of the pillars of its political aims.

Today

As of 2008, the French national institute of statistics INSEE

INSEE

estimated that 11.8 million foreign-born immigrants and their direct descendants (born in France) lived in France representing 19% of the country's population. More than 5,5 million are of European origin and about 4 million of Maghrebi origin (20% of Algerian

Algeria

origin and 15% of Moroccan

Morocco

or Tunisian

Tunisia

origin). Immigrants aged 18-50 count for 2.7 millions (10% of population aged 18-50) and 5 millions for all ages (8% of population). 2nd Generation aged 18-50 make up 3.1 millions (12% of 18-50) and 6.5 millions for all ages (11% of population)

The region with the largest proportion of immigrants is the Île-de-France

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

(Greater Paris), where 40% of immigrants live. Other important regions are Rhône-Alpes

Rhône-Alpes

Rhône-Alpes is one of the 27 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...

(Lyon) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Marseille). The most important individual countries of origin as of 2007 were Algeria (702,000), Morocco (645,000), Portugal (576,000), Italy (323,000), Spain (262,000) and Turkey (234,000). However, immigration from Asia (especially China), as well as from sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal, Mali) is gaining in importance.

42% of the immigrants are from Africa (30% from Maghreb

Maghreb

The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...

and 12% from Sub-Saharan Africa), 38% from Europe (mainly from Portugal, Italy and Spain), 14% from Asia and 5% from America and Oceania. Outside of Europe and North Africa, the highest rate of immigration is from Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

and Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

Immigrants by country of origin (2007)	%	N
Africa	42.3	2 223 617
Algeria	13.4	702 811
Morocco	12.3	645 695
Tunisia	4.4	231 062
Sub-Saharan Africa	12.3	644 049
Europe	38.4	2 018 102
European Union	34.3	1 802 532
Spain	5.0	262 883
Italy	6.2	323 809
Portugal	11.0	576 084
UK	2.7	142 949
Other EU countries	9.5	496 807
Other European countries	4.1	215 570
Asia	14.0	735 863
Turkey	4.5	234 540
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam	3.1	162 063
Other Asian countries	6.5	339 260
America, Oceania	5.2	275 114
Total	100	5 252 696

The top ten emigrant countries in 2008 (excluding member states of the European Economic Area

European Economic Area

The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...

) were:

Rank	Country	Immigrants
All nationalities (including 72,000 Europeans)		211,055
1	Algeria Algeria Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...	23,605
2	Morocco Morocco Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...	23,382
3	Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...	22,951
4	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	11,893
5	Tunisia Tunisia Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...	9,103
6	Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...	7,607
7	Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...	4,922
8	Mali Mali Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...	4,535
9	Cameroon Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...	3,913
10	United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	3,847

According to Michèle Tribalat, researcher at INED, there were, in 1999, approximately 14 million persons of foreign ancestry (about a quarter of the population), defined as either immigrants or people with at least one immigrant parent or grandparent. Half of them were of European ancestry (including 5.2 million from South Europe

Southern Europe

(Italy, Spain, Portugal and former Yugoslavia)). The rest were from Maghreb

Maghreb

The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...

(3 million), Sub-saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...

(680,000), Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

(320,000) and other parts of the world (2.5 million) . Immigrants from the Maghreb are commonly referred to as beur
Beur
Beur is a colloquial term to designate French-born people whose parents are immigrants from North Africa. The word was coined by reversing the syllables of the word arabe, which means Arabic or Arab in French. For example, "arabe" becomes "a-ra-beu" then "beu-ra-a" and "beur" by contraction. The...

, a verlan

Verlan

Verlan is an argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words...

slang term derived from the word arabe (French for Arab).

According to the distinguished French historian of immigration Gérard Noiriel, one third of the population currently living in France is of "foreign" descent.

In 2004, a total of 140,033 people immigrated to France. Of them, 90,250 were from Africa

Africa

and 13,710 from Europe

Europe

. In 2005, immigration level fell slightly to 135,890. The European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

allows free movement between the member states. While the UK (along with Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, and non-EU members Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

) did not impose restrictions, France put in place controls to curb Eastern European migration.

As at 1 January 2006, INSEE

INSEE

estimates that the number of foreigners living in metropolitan France amounted to 3.5 million people. Two out of five foreigners are from Portugal, Algeria or Morocco. Thus EU nationals immigrating to France comprise 1.2 million people while 1.1 million people are from the three Maghreb countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It is interesting to note that immigrants are concentrated in Île-de-France, Rhone-Alpes, Provence and Côte d’Azur regions, accounting for 60% of the total immigrant population. Furthermore, there appears to be a lower rate of immigrants arriving from the EU since 1975 as opposed to an increase in African immigrants.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the net migration rate was estimated to be 0.66 migrants per 1,000 population a year. This is a very low rate of immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

compared to other European countries, the USA or Canada. Since the beginning of the 1990s, France has been attempting to curb immigration, first with the Pasqua laws

Charles Pasqua

, followed by both right-wing and socialist-issued laws. This trend is also demonstrated in anti-immigrant sentiments among the public. For example, the Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center

The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. In 1990, Donald S...

in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

conducted a public opinion poll in February 2004 among French nationals. This poll measured the extent of support for restricting immigration among French nationals, by age cohort. 24% of individuals ages 18–29 favored restricting immigration, 33% of individuals ages 30–49 were in favor and 53% of individuals ages 50–64 and 65 and over were in favor as well.

The immigration rate is currently lower than in other European countries such as United Kingdom

United Kingdom

and Spain; however, some say it is doubtful that the policies in themselves account for such a change. Again, as in the 1920s and 1930s, France stands in contrast with the rest of Europe. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, when European countries had a high fertility rate, France had a low fertility rate and had to open its doors to immigration to avoid population decline. Today, it is the rest of Europe that has very low fertility rates, and countries like Germany or Spain avoid population decline only through immigration. In France, however, fertility rate is still fairly high for European standards, in fact the highest in Europe after Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

(the E.U.) and Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

(perhaps higher than Ireland's), and so most population growth is due to natural increase, unlike in the other European countries.

This difference in immigration trends is also because the labor market in France is currently less dynamic than in other countries such as the UK, Ireland or Spain. One reason for this could be France’s relatively high unemployment, which the country has struggled to reduce for the past two decades. There is also a parallel dynamic between immigration and unemployment. Immigrants tend to be subjected to higher rates of unemployment: In 2008, the immigrant unemployment rate in France was a startling 13%, twice as high as for the national population (6%). One can further analyze this trend in relation to education. In the Ministry’s 2010 report on professional inclusion for immigrants, 19.6% of immigrants without any education were unemployed, while 16.1% of immigrants who had graduated high school were unemployed. Immigrants with an undergraduate degree or higher had only 11.4% unemployment.

For example, according to the UK Office for National Statistics

Office for National Statistics

The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...

, in the three years between July 2001 and July 2004 the population of the UK increased by 721,500 inhabitants, of which 242,800 (34%) was due to natural increase, and 478,500 (66%) to immigration. According to the INSEE

INSEE

, in the three years between January 2001 and January 2004 the population of Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...

increased by 1,057,000 inhabitants, of which 678,000 (64%) was due to natural increase, and 379,500 (36%) to immigration.

The latest 2008 demographic statistics have been released, and France's birth

Birth rate

and fertility rates have continued to rise. The fertility rate increased to 2.01 in 2010 and for the first time approaches the fertility rate of the United States.

According to a recent genetic study in 2008, 28.45% of all newborns in mainland France in 2007 had at least one parent of immigrant origin from the following regions (Overseas departments and territories of France

Overseas departments and territories of France

, Africa

Africa

, North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Southern Europe

Southern Europe

: Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

and South Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Near East

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

and Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

and the South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

). The Paris metropolitan district (Île-de-France

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

) is the region that accounts for the largest number with nearly 56% of all newborns in this area in 2007 having at least one parent of immigrant origin. The second largest number is in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...

at nearly 42% and the lowest number is in Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

at 4.40%.

Region	% of newborns with at least one parent of immigrant origin (2007)
Île-de-France	55.68
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	41.91
Languedoc-Roussillon	34.78
Alsace	29.29
Midi-Pyrénées	27.77
Rhône-Alpes	27.67
Picardy	19.92
Franche-Comté	17.90
Burgundy	17.01
Lorraine	16.14
Champagne-Ardenne	15.36
Limousin	15.16
Nord-Pas-de-Calais	14.27
Centre Val de Loire	14.03
Auvergne	12.84
Aquitaine	12.29
Normandy	11.61
Pays de la Loire/Poitou-Charentes	11.20
Brittany	4.40
Metropolitan France	28.45

Maghrebis in France

French of Maghrebi origin in France form the largest ethnic group after French of European origin.

According to Michel Tribalat, a researcher at INED

Institut national d'études démographiques

The Institut national d'études démographiques is a French research institute specialized in demography and population studies in general.-A research institute founded in 1945:...

, there were 3.5 million people of Maghrebi origin (with at least one grandparent from Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia) living in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

in 2005 corresponding to 5.8% of the total French metropolitan population (60.7 millions in 2005). Maghrebis have settled mainly in the industrial regions in France, especially in the Paris region

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

. Many famous French people like Edith Piaf

Édith Piaf

Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...

, Isabelle Adjani

Isabelle Adjani

Isabelle Yasmine Adjani is a French film actress and singer. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970. She holds the record for most César Awards for Best Actress with five, for Possession , One Deadly Summer , Camille Claudel , Queen Margot and Skirt Day...

, Arnaud Montebourg

Arnaud Montebourg

Arnaud Montebourg is a French politician, and a deputy of the fifth district of Saône-et-Loire to the French National Assembly for the Socialist Party. He has also been elected president of the local assembly of Saône et Loire after local elections in 2008...

, Alain Bashung

Alain Bashung

Alain Bashung was a French singer, songwriter and actor.- Youth :Alain Bashung was the son of a Breton factory worker and French Kabyle father, whom he never knew. His mother remarried, and at the age of one, Bashung was sent to Strasbourg to live with his new stepfather's parents...

, Dany Boon

Dany Boon

Dany Boon is a French comedian who has acted both on the stage and the screen. He takes his stage name from the television show Daniel Boone.-Life and career:...

and many others have Maghrebi ancestry.

Below is a table of population of Maghrebi origin in France, numbers are in thousands:

18.3%
Country	1999	2005	% 1999/2005	% French population (60.7 millions in 2005)
Algeria	1,577	1,865
3.1%
Immigrants	574	679
Born in France	1,003	1,186
Morocco	1,005	1,201
2.0%
Immigrants	523	625
Born in France	482	576
Tunisia	417	458
0.8%
Immigrants	202	222
Born in France	215	236
Total Maghreb	2,999	3,524
5.8%
Immigrants	1 299	1 526		2.5%
Born in France	1 700	1 998		3.3%

In 2005, the percentage of young people under 18 of maghrebi origin (at least one immigrant parent) was about 7% in Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...

, 12% in Greater Paris

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

and above 20% in French département of Seine-Saint-Denis

Seine-Saint-Denis

- Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...

2005 %	Seine-Saint-Denis Seine-Saint-Denis - Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...	Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne is a French department, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France region. The department is situated to the southeast of the city of Paris.- Geography :...	Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" or "neuf cinq"...	Lyon Lyon Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Total Maghreb	22.0%	13.2%	13.0%	13.0%	12.1%	6.9%

According to other sources between 5 and 6 million people of Maghrebin origin live in France corresponding to about 7-9% of the total French metropolitan population.

Immigration policy in France

As mentioned above, the French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment

French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment

was created immediately following the appointment of Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France in 2007. Immigration in France has been a relevant political dimension in France’s agenda in recent years. President Sarkozy’s agenda has sharpened the focus placed on integration of immigrants living in France as well as their acquisition of national identity. The current state of immigration policy in France is fourfold. Its pillars of immigration policy are to regulate migratory flows in and out of France, facilitate immigrants’ integration and promote French identity, honor the French tradition’s principle of welcoming political asylum and promote solidarity within the immigrant population (principle of co-development). In its 2010 Budget report, the Ministry of Immigration declared it would fund €600 million for its immigration policy objectives, a figure representing 60 million more than in 2009 (otherwise an 11.5% increase from 2009 figures).

In July 2006, President Sarkozy put into effect a law on immigration based upon the notion of “chosen immigration”, which allows immigration into France to a restricted field of employment sectors, notably the hotel and restaurant industries, construction and seasonal employment. The following summer of 2007, President Sarkozy amended the law to also require the acquisition of the French language as a pre-condition. According to Mr. Christophe Bertossi, immigration expert in France’s Institut français des relations internationales

Institut français des relations internationales

L'Institut français des relations internationales is the main independent research and debate institution dedicated to international affairs, based in Paris, France....

(IFRI), “there is a dominant trend in the French policy to stem family migration, notably conditioned after the 2007 law by a minimum level of French language tested and by the demonstration that he/she endorses the main French constitutional principles”. It is also important to note that France, along with other EU countries, have still not signed their agreement to the United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families of 1990. This Convention is a treaty to protect migrant workers’ rights, in recognition of their human rights.

Alternative policies have been discussed in formulating immigration policy, such as a quota system. At the beginning of 2008, as the government was rethinking its orientation on immigration policy with the creation of the new Ministry, the idea of a quota system was introduced as a possible alternative. In early 2008, a proposal was made to Parliament to decide each year how many immigrants to accept, based on skill and origin. However, this quota policy contradicts the French Constitution. A Commission was formed in February 2008 to study how the Constitution could be changed to allow for a quota system. The main difficulty is the origin principle of establishing a quota “constituting a breach in the universalistic ideology of the French Republic”.

On January 18, 2008, the government published a list of 150 job titles that were encountering difficult supply of labor.
Immigrants living in France today are reported to primarily cover the following sectors: agriculture, service to persons in need (childcare, the elderly), construction, education, health and services to businesses. Thus the government is seeking to match immigrants with the economic makeup of France. The current administration could also seek to integrate migrants and their families through education and training, making them more competitive in the job market.

Therefore the outlook towards immigrants in France is shifting as unemployment continues to dominate the political agenda, along with political incentives to strengthen French national identity. Recent incidents, such as the 2005 civil unrest in France

2005 civil unrest in France

and French Romani repatriation

French Romani repatriation

The French Roma repatriation is a programme initiated in July 2010 by the Government of France to repatriate thousands of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma as part of a crackdown on illegal camps in the country...

have shed light on France’s immigration policies and how these are viewed globally, especially in congruence or discontinuity with the EU. A longitudinal study has been conducted since March 2010 to provide qualitative research regarding the integration of new immigrants. This report is being finalized at the end of December 2010 and will be most relevant to provide insight into further immigration policy analysis for the French government.

Religion

France has not collected religious or ethnic data in its censuses since the beginning of the Third Republic

French Third Republic

The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...

, but the country's predominant faith has been Roman Catholicism since the early Middle Ages. Church attendance is fairly low, however, and the proportion of the population that is not religious has grown over the past century. A 2004 IFOP survey tallied that 44% of the French people did not believe in God; contrast with 20% in 1947. A study by the CSA Institute conducted in 2003 with a sample of 18,000 people found that 27% considered themselves atheists, and 65.3% Roman Catholic, while 12.7% (8,065,000 people) belonged to some other religion.

There are an estimated 5 million Muslims, one million Protestants, 491,000 Jews, 600,000 Buddhists, and 150,000 Orthodox Christians as of 2000 figures . The last figure does not appear to include high numbers of Apostolic Armenians present in the Paris and Marseille conurbations. The US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004 . estimated the French Hindu population at 181,312.

These studies did not ask the respondents if they were practicing or how often they did practice if they were active in the laity.

Fertility

France has a high fertility rate by European standards; this rate has increased after reaching a historic low in the early 1990s.

Total fertility rate: 2.01 children born per woman for metropolitan France
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...

and the overseas departments (in 2010), 2.00 for metropolitan France alone (in 2010).
Mean age of women having their first birth: 29.9 years-old.

The total fertility rate

Total Fertility Rate

The total fertility rate of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates through her lifetime, and she...

s (TFR) for metropolitan France

Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...

yearwise is given below. (Sources:)

Year	Births	TFR
1960	819,951	2.74
1964	877,800	2.91
1970	850,381	2.48
1971	881,284	2.50
1972	877,506	2.42
1973	857,186	2.31
1974	801,218	2.11
1975	745,065	1.93

Year	Births	TFR
1980	800,376	1.95
1985	768,431	1.81
1990	762,407	1.78
1991	759,100	1.77
1992	743,658	1.73
1993	711,610	1.66
1994	710,993	1.66
1995	729,609	1.71

Year	Births	TFR
1996	734,338	1.73
1997	726,768	1.73
1998	738,080	1.76
1999	744,791	1.79
2000	774,782	1.87
2001	770,945	1.88
2002	761,630	1.86
2003	761,464	1.87

Year	Births	TFR
2004	767,816	1.90
2005	774,355	1.92
2006	796,896	1.98
2007	785,985	1.96
2008	796,000	1.99
2009	793,400	1.99
2010	797,000	2.00

The table below gives the average number of children according to the place of birth of women. An immigrant woman is a woman who was born outside of France and who did not have French citizenship at birth. Source - French-Wikipedia

	Average number of children in France (1991–1998)	Average number of children in country of origin (1990–1999) and (2010)
All women living in metropolitan France Metropolitan France Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...	1.74
Women born in Metropolitan France	1.70
Immigrant women	2.16
Women born in overseas France	1.86
Immigrant women (country of birth)
Spain	1.52	1.23
Italy	1.60	1.24
Portugal	1.96	1.49
Other EU	1.66	1.44
Turkey	3.21	1.92
Other Europe	1.68	1.41
Algeria	2.57	3.64
Morocco	2.97	3.28
Tunisia	2.90	2.73
Other Africa	2.86	5.89
Asia (Mostly China)	1.77	2.85
The Americas and Oceania	2.00	2.54

In 2010, 27.3% of newborn in metropolitan France had at least one foreign-born parent and 23.9% had at least one parent born outside of Europe (parents born in overseas territories are considered as born in France)..

The table below gives the number of children born in metropolitan France according to the place of birth of both parents.

Birth country of parents	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	% 2010
Both parents born in France	566 447	576 537	601 268	595 286	580 999	575 985	574 687	575 659	590 163	579 515	585 427	578 052	583 600	72.7%
One parent born in France, other foreign-born	101 511	98 687	101 498	102 013	103 930	106 677	110 258	114 090	119 159	119 587	121 845	125 058	129 025	16.1%
Father born in EU27, mother born in France	13 194	12 858	13 060	12 447	11 732	11 442	10 811	10 667	10 455	10 188	9 975	9 526	9 549	1.2%
Father not born in EU27, mother born in France	44 891	43 807	45 612	46 459	47 695	49 790	52 244	54 176	56 886	56 626	57 955	60 362	62 478	7.8%
Father born in France, Mother born in Eu27	13 020	12 647	12 411	11 881	11 439	11 119	10 930	10 827	10 794	10 575	10 562	10 585	10 418	1.3%
Father born in France, Mother not born in Eu27	30 406	29 375	30 415	31 226	33 064	34 326	36 273	38 420	41 024	42 198	43 353	44 585	46 580	5.8%
Both parents foreign-born	70 122	69 567	72 016	73 646	76 701	78 802	82 871	84 606	87 574	86 883	88 772	90 310	89 599	11.2%
Both parents born in Eu27	6 681	6 157	5 780	5 524	5 159	5 369	5 426	5 372	5 778	5 891	6 276	6 442	6 694	0.8%
Both parents not born in Eu27	60 281	60 636	63 299	65 406	68 788	70 552	74 537	76 348	78 700	78 020	79 405	80 641	79 698	9.9%
Father born in EU27, Mother not born in Eu27	1 188	1 047	1 116	1 035	1 038	1 075	1 150	1 100	1 256	1 190	1 226	1 268	1 258	0.2%
Father not born in EU27, Mother born in Eu27	1 972	1 727	1 821	1 681	1 716	1 806	1 758	1 786	1 840	1 782	1 865	1 959	1 949	0.2%
Total of newborns	738 080	744 791	774 782	770 945	761 630	761 464	767 816	774 355	796 896	785 985	796 044	793 420	802 224	100%

Education

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 99%

male: 99%

female: 99% (2003 est.)

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Age structure

0-14 years: 18.6% (male 6,129,729/female 5,838,925)

15-64 years: 65% (male 20,963,124/female 20,929,280)

65 years and over: 16.4% (male 4,403,248/female 6,155,767) (2010 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.051 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female

total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 3.31 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 3.63 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 2.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 81.09 years

male: 77.91 years

female: 84.44 years (2010 est.)

Religions

According to a poll conducted in 2001 for French Catholic magazine La Croix
La Croix
La Croix is a daily French general-interest Roman Catholic newspaper. It is published in Paris and distributed throughout the country, with a circulation of just under 110,000 as of 2009...

, numbers are: Roman Catholic 69% (only 10% being listed as regular churchgoers), Agnostic or Atheist 22%, Protestant (Calvinist, Lutheran, Anglican and Evangelical) 2%, others are 7%.

According to CIA World Factbook

The World Factbook

The World Factbook is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official paper copy version is available from the National Technical Information Service and the Government Printing Office...

the numbers are : Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

9%, unaffiliated 4%.

Languages

French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

is the only official language of France, and is constitutionally required to be overwhelmingly the language of government and administration. There is a rising cultural awareness of the regional languages of France, which enjoy no official status. These regional languages include the Langue d'oïl, Langue d'oc, Romance languages other than French, Breton

Breton language

Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...

and Germanic languages. Immigrant groups from former French colonies and elsewhere have also brought their own languages.

Genetics

France has been influenced by the different human migrations that occurred throughout Europe over time. Prehistoric and Neolithic population movements could have influenced the genetic diversity of this country. A recent study in 2009 analysed 555 French individuals from 7 different regions in mainland France and found the following Y-DNA Haplogroups. The five main haplogroups are R1 (63.41%), E (11.41%), I (8.88%), J (7.97%) and G (5.16%). R1b

Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)

The point of origin of R1b is thought to lie in Eurasia, most likely in Western Asia. T. Karafet et al. estimated the age of R1, the parent of R1b, as 18,500 years before present....

(particularly R1b1b2) was found to be the most dominant Y chromosomal lineage in France, covering about 60% of the Y chromosomal lineages. The high frequency of this haplogroup is typical in all West European populations. Haplogroups I

Haplogroup I (Y-DNA)

In human genetics, Haplogroup I is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, a subgroup of haplogroup IJ, itself a derivative of Haplogroup IJK....

and G

Haplogroup G (Y-DNA)

In human genetics, Haplogroup G is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. It is a branch of Haplogroup F . Haplogroup G has an overall low frequency in most populations but is widely distributed within many ethnic groups of the Old World in Europe, northern and western Asia, northern Africa, the Middle East,...

are also characteristic markers for many different West European populations. Haplogroups J

Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)

In human genetics, Haplogroup J is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is one of the major male lines of all living men...

and E1b1b (M35, M78, M81 and M34) consist of lineages with differential distribution within Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Only adults with French surnames were analyzed by the study.

Region	Nb	BD	E*	E-M35*	E-M78	E-M81	E-M34	G	I	J1	J2	K	N1c	P*	R1a	R1b1	T
1 Alsace Alsace Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...	80	0	0	0	6.25	0	3.75	2.50	8.75	1.25	8.75	1.25	0	0	3.75	58.75	5
2 Auvergne Auvergne (région) Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...	89	0	2.25	0	3.37	5.62	1.12	8.99	4.49	3.37	7.87	1.12	0	0	5.62	52.80	3.37
3 Brittany	115	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.74	13.04	0.87	2.61	0	0	0	0.87	80.88	0
4 Île-de-France Île-de-France (région) Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....	91	0	10.99	0	4.40	5.49	1.10	4.40	7.69	1.10	5.49	0	1.10	0	2.20	56.05	0
5 Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.Midi-Pyrénées has no historical or geographical unity...	67	0	1.49	1.49	2.99	1.49	1.49	4.48	10.45	4.48	7.46	0	0	0	2.99	59.69	1.49
6 Nord-Pas-de-Calais	68	0	1.47	1.47	5.88	4.41	0	7.35	8.82	0	5.88	0	0	0	2.94	61.76	0
7 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...	45	2.22	0	2.22	8.89	2.22	0	6.67	8.89	0	6.67	0	0	4.44	0	55.55	2.22
Mainland France	555	0.32	2.31	0.74	4.54	2.75	1.07	5.16	8.88	1.58	6.39	0.34	0.16	0.63	2.62	60.78	1.73

According to a genetic study in 2000 based on HLA

Human leukocyte antigen

The human leukocyte antigen system is the name of the major histocompatibility complex in humans. The super locus contains a large number of genes related to immune system function in humans. This group of genes resides on chromosome 6, and encodes cell-surface antigen-presenting proteins and...

, French from Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

"are more or less isolated from the other western European populations. They are in an intermediate position between the North Africans (Algerians from Algiers and Oran; Tunisians) and the western Europeans

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

populations (France, Spain, and Portugal)". According to the authors "these results cannot be attributed to recent events because of the knowledge of the grandparents’ origin" in the sample. This study reveals "that the southern French population from Marseilles is related genetically to the southwestern Europeans and North Africans, who are geographically close" and that "a substantial gene flow has thus probably been present among the populations of these neighboring areas".

External links

Inflow of third-country nationals by country of nationality, by year
Demographic Profile France: Liberté, Égalité, Fertilité - Allianz Knowledge Site, February 2008 Audio book (mp3) - Introduction and first chapter of Éric Maurin's book Le ghetto français, enquête sur le séparatisme social Population of French communes with more than 2,000 inhabitants Une question de la seconde génération en France - Le rôle de l’école dans la formation d’une identité minoritaire, par Patrick Simon
France opens first museum dedicated to the history of immigration - Networkeurope.org
Population cartogram of France
Immigration expert Mr. Patrick Weil, has written extensively on the topic and is a well-respected intellectual voice in France.
French immigration motives in numbers, INSEE
INSEE
INSEE is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of Eurostat, European Statistical System...
Ministerial webpage
Population statistics, INSEE
INSEE
INSEE is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of Eurostat, European Statistical System...

webpage
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Migration office
Official migration reports, immigration.gouv.fr

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Historical population of metropolitan France

Projections

1800 to 20th century

After World War II

Vital statistics

Ethnic groups

Before World War II

After World War II

Today

Maghrebis in France

Immigration policy in France

Religion

Fertility

Education

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

Age structure

Sex ratio

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth

Religions

Languages

Genetics

See also

External links