The

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

is a

province of France The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into departments (''départements'') and districts in late 1789. The provinces continued to exist administratively until ...

encompassing the north-central departments of

Val-d’Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobig ...

, Ville-de-Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Essonne, and

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Picardy (Picardie) to the north,

Champagne-Ardenne Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of th ...

to the east, Burgundy (Bourgogne) to the southeast, Centre to the south, and Haute-Normandie to the northwest. Its capital is Paris and it has an area of 4,637 square miles (12,011 square km), and a population of 11,491,000 (2006).

Geographic definition

The region lies in the center of the Paris Basin and consists of limestone plains with a gently rolling relief. Its principal rivers are the Seine and its tributaries, the Marne,

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

and Aisne. The province of Île-de-France encompasses the north-central territories of Val-d’Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Ville-de-Paris (Paris), Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Essonne and Yvelines. Some parts of the historic province are now incorporated into the present-day region of Picardy, while other parts of the present-day ''région Île-de-France'' are taken from the historic province of

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

. See

French history The first written records for the history of France appeared in the Iron Age. What is now France made up the bulk of the region known to the Romans as Gaul. The first writings on indigenous populations mainly start in the first century BC. Greek ...

Early history

The history of

(''Isle of France'') dates back to the medieval period. The name ''Isle de France'' is first recorded in 1387, when the term "France" designated certain crown territories. Literally, the name "Island of France" was derived from its being bordered by the rivers Seine,

and Marne (tributaries of the Seine) and Beuvronne (a tributary of the Marne), which surround it like an island. The name may also inherit from the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

''Lidle Franke / Lilde Franke'', or, "little France". The area around Paris was the original personal domain of the king of France, as opposed to areas ruled by feudal lords of whom he was the suzerain or sovereign. This is reflected by divisions such as the Véxin Français and the Véxin Normand, the former being within the King of France's domain, the latter being within the Duke of Normandy's fief. Known as Lutetia (Lutece) in ancient times, Paris was conquered by Julius Caesar in 52 BC and existed as a regional center under the Romans and in the early Middle Ages. In 987,

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

Count of Paris Count of Paris () was a title for the local magnate of the district around Paris in Carolingian times. After Hugh Capet was elected King of France in 987, the title merged into the crown and fell into disuse. However, it was later revived by the ...

, became king of France, and under his successors, the Capetians, the city's position as the nation's capital became established. Often characterized as spirited and rebellious, the people of Paris first declared themselves an independent commune under the leadership of Etienne Marcel in 1355–58. The storming of the Bastille in 1789 was the first of a series of key actions by the Parisian people during the French revolution. Paris also played a major role in the revolutions of 1830 and 1848. In 1871, during the Franco-Prussian war, the city was besieged for four months until France surrendered. After German troops withdrew, French radicals briefly established the

commune of Paris The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

. During World War I the Germans were prevented from reaching Paris, but they occupied the city during World War II from 1940 to 1944. Paris was again the scene of violence during the student riots of 1968. Paris today maintains its importance, character, and charm, though its appearance is being transformed by structures such as Beaubourg and by the ambitious building program carried out under the presidency of François Mitterrand. In addition to the La Défense arch and the Bastille Opéra, Mitterrand's projects have included the renovation of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

museum by architect I. M. Pei, the La Villette complex on the northeastern edge of the city, and, in the southeast, the Bibliothèque de France, a great computer-age library. Planning for Paris and the Paris Basin region includes consideration of large land areas in the Seine River valley all the way to the mouth of the river. New towns, parks, industrial locations, and expanded functions of existing towns are contemplated for this corridor on both sides of the Seine.

Modern history

On 4 February 1959, the District of the Paris Region () was created by a government decree. Due to a lack of cooperation from the

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

and the departments of the region, who refused to send their representatives to the district council, it was deemed a failure. The District of the Paris Region was recreated on 2 August 1961 with the same name, but this time by a statute (bill) voted by the French Parliament. The borders of this new region were coterminous with those of the current Île-de-France region. The district council of the aborted 1959 District of the Paris Region was replaced by a Board of Trustees, half of whose members were appointed by the French government, and the other half by the local communes and departments. The executive of the district was a civil servant, the Delegate General for the District of the Paris Region, appointed by the French government. On 10 August 1966, the Prefectures of the Paris Region were created, whose borders were coterminous with those of the District (and to that of the current Île-de-France region). The Delegate General for the District of the Paris Region was made Prefect of the Paris Region, holding both offices at the same time. The district was renamed from ''"district de la région de Paris"'' to ''"district de la région parisienne"'' on 17 December 1966. The District of the Paris Region was reconstituted into the Île-de-France region on 6 May 1976, thus aligning the status of the region with that of the other French regions, created in 1972. The Prefecture of the Paris Region was renamed Prefecture of Île-de-France (''Préfecture de L'Île-de-France''). The former Board of Trustees was replaced by a regional council, 70% of whose members were the representatives of the departments and communes of Île-de-France. The remaining 30% were chosen by the Members of the French Parliament whose constituencies lay inside Île-de-France. The regional council elected a president with limited executive powers. The office of Delegate General was abolished. It was said that President

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

personally insisted on choosing the name "Île-de-France" for the region, instead of the previously-used ''Région Parisienne''. On 2 March 1982, Île-de-France, like the other French regions, was turned into a "

territorial collectivity A territorial collectivity (french: collectivité territoriale, previously '), or territorial authority, is a chartered subdivision of France with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any subdivision (subnational entity) wi ...

". In other words, it was changed from an administrative region of the state to a full-fledged political entity, on par with the departments and communes. The powers of the regions were expanded, direct elections of the regional councils were scheduled, and the presidents of the regional councils were given full executive powers. The first direct election of the regional council by the inhabitants of Île-de-France was held on 16 March 1986. The powers and visibility of the region were henceforth greatly increased as the process of devolution and regionalisation increased.

Notes

Subprovinces and their principal cities

The Île-de-Province was divided into several sub-provinces (French: ''

pays In France, a ''pays'' () is an area whose inhabitants share common geographical, economic, cultural, or social interests, who have a right to enter into communal planning contracts under a law known as the Loi Pasqua or LOADT (''Loi d'Orientation ...

''). They were not administrative areas, but historic and cultural areas going back to the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

and readily identified by their inhabitants. Below is a list of the ''pays'' which made up the Île-de-France province, with their principal cities: *

Beauvaisis Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populo ...

– Beauvais * Brie française –

Brie-Comte-Robert Brie-Comte-Robert () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Brie-Comte-Robert is on the edge of the plain of Brie and was formerly the capital of the ''Brie française''. "Brie" com ...

* Gâtinais français – Nemours * Hurepoix –

Arpajon Arpajon () is a commune in the Essonne department in the Île-de-France region of northern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arpajonnais'' or ''Arpajonnaises''. The commune has been awarded three flowers by the ''National ...

, Limours * Laonnois –

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...

* Mantois – Mantes-la-Jolie * Noyonnais, Quart de Noyon –

Noyon Noyon (; pcd, Noéyon; la, Noviomagus Veromanduorum, Noviomagus of the Veromandui, then ) is a commune in the Oise department, northern France. Geography Noyon lies on the river Oise, about northeast of Paris. The Oise Canal and the Cana ...

* Parisis (also known as ''Pays de France'') – Paris * Soissonnois –

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital o ...

Vexin français Vexin () is an historical county of northwestern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank (north) of the Seine running roughly east to west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle (about 20 km from Rouen), and north to south ...

– Magny-en-Vexin * Valois – Crépy-en-Valois

References

http://www.regions-of-france.com/regions/paris_ile_de_france/history/

Literature

* Pierre Bernus, Histoire de l'Île-de-France, Toulouse, Ancienne Librairie Furne, Boivin et Cie, 1971, 599 p. * Michel Mollat, Histoire de l'Île-de-France et de Paris, Paris, Privat, coll. " Univers de la France ", 1934, 283 p. {{DEFAULTSORT:History of Ile-de-France