Wikipedia

Essonne

Essonne (French pronunciation: [ɛsɔn] ⓘ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2023, it had a population of 1,338,485, across 194 communes.[4]

Essonne
Department of France
From top down, left to right : view of Château de Courances, Château du Saussay and La gloriette in Brunoy
Flag of Essonne
Flag
Coat of arms of Essonne
Coat of arms
Location of Essonne in France
Location of Essonne in France
Coordinates: 48°30′N 02°17′E / 48.500°N 2.283°E / 48.500; 2.283
CountryFrance
RegionÎle-de-France
PrefectureÉvry-Courcouronnes
SubprefecturesÉtampes
Palaiseau
Government
 • President of the Departmental CouncilFrançois Durovray[1] (LR)
 • PrefectFabienne Balussou
Area
1
 • Total
1,804 km2 (697 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)[2]
 • Total
1,338,485
 • Rank14th
 • Density742.0/km2 (1,922/sq mi)
DemonymEssonniens Essonniennes
GDP
[3]
 • Total€58.462 billion (2021)
 • Per capita€44,500 (2021)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
91000 - 91940
ISO 3166 codeFR-91
Department number91
Arrondissements3
Cantons21
Communes194
Websitewww.essonne.fr
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Essonne was formed on 1 January 1968, when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments. Its prefecture is Évry-Courcouronnes. Its INSEE and postcode number is 91.

History

edit

The Essonne department was created on 1 January 1968 from the southern portion of the former department of Seine-et-Oise.

In June 1963, Carrefour S.A. opened the first hypermarket in the Paris region at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (although the word "hypermarché" was first used only in 1966). Based on the ideas put forward by the American logistics pioneer Bernardo Trujillo,[5] the centre offered on a single 2,500 m2 (26,909.78 sq ft) site a hitherto unknown combination of wide choice and low prices, supported by 400 car parking spaces.

In 1969, the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble were separated from Essonne and added to the department of Yvelines.

Geography

edit

Essonne belongs to the region of Île-de-France.

It has borders with the departments of:

All of northern Essonne department belongs to the Parisian agglomeration and is very urbanized. The south remains rural.

Principal towns

edit

The most populous commune is Évry-Courcouronnes, the prefecture. As of 2019, the 5 most populous communes are:[4]

Commune Population (2023)
Évry-Courcouronnes 66,919
Corbeil-Essonnes 54,471
Massy 51,729
Savigny-sur-Orge 37,601
Palaiseau 37,471

In descending order, the other communes over 25,000 population are: Athis-Mons, Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Vigneux-sur-Seine, Ris-Orangis, Viry-Châtillon, Draveil, Yerres, Étampes, Grigny, Brétigny-sur-Orge, Les Ulis and Brunoy.[4] Milly-la-Forêt is a notable example of its more rural communes.

Main sights

edit
  • The École Polytechnique. Founded in 1794, L'Ecole Polytechnique is one of the most prestigious engineering universities in France. This university was ranked 10th in the world by the Times Higher Education Supplement in 2005. Its campus is in the town of Palaiseau.
  • Paris-Sud University. One of the best public schools in France, it is ranked 52nd by Academic Ranking of World Universities. It is best known for its mathematics department. Located in Orsay, Essonne, about 26,000 students are enrolled.
  • The Headquarters of the Arianespace Company, a major commercial aerospace launcher, servicing companies who wish to launch satellites into space.
  • Château de Montlhéry. Originally having been an ancient fort during Roman times, the first feudal lords began to inhabit the castle around 1000 AD. One major battle was fought in the castle during its lifetime. In 1465, Charles the Rash and French King Louis XI fought in the plains in front of the castle. In 1842, the reconstruction of the castle was started, and currently is being maintained by the local town of Montlhery
  • Château de Courances
  • The Forest of Sénart. Covering 3,500 hectares in area, this forest is very important to the local population. The local government has kept roads and agricultural companies from cutting down parts of this forest. The forest receives between two and three million visitors annually, and the government spends 1.2 million euros a year maintaining it.
  • Telecom Sudparis. Situated in Évry, this is a grande école for engineers

Politics

edit

The department's most high-profile political representative has been Manuel Valls, who was Prime Minister of France from 31 March 2014 to 6 December 2016. Valls visited its main town, Évry, to deliver remarks following the Charlie Hebdo massacre of January 2015. The president of the Departmental Council is François Durovray, elected in 2015.

Presidential election, second round

edit

Members of the National Assembly

edit

Demographics

edit

Population development since 1876:

Place of birth of residents

edit
Place of birth of residents of Essonne in 1999
Born in metropolitan France Born outside metropolitan France
84.7% 15.3%
Born in
overseas France		 Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth1 EU-15 immigrants2 Non-EU-15 immigrants
1.8% 2.8% 4.0% 6.7%
1 This group is made up largely of former French settlers, such as pieds-noirs in Northwest Africa, followed by former colonial citizens who had French citizenship at birth (such as was often the case for the native elite in French colonies), as well as to a lesser extent foreign-born children of French expatriates. A foreign country is understood as a country not part of France in 1999, so a person born for example in 1950 in Algeria, when Algeria was an integral part of France, is nonetheless listed as a person born in a foreign country in French statistics.

2 An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. An immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still considered an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.

Tourism

edit

Sister regions

edit

Essonne is twinned with:

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ↑ "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 4 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Populations de référence 2023" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 18 December 2025.
  3. ↑ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by NUTS 3 regions". ec.europa.eu.
  4. 1 2 3 Populations de référence 2023: 91 Essonne, INSEE
  5. ↑ Soulabail, Yves (2020-09-30). "Bernardo Trujillo, son enseignement lors des séminaires MMM". Carrefour Un combat pour la liberté. (in French). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  6. ↑ "Les résultats du second tour de l'élection présidentielle". France 24 (in French). 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  7. 1 2 "Présidentielles". www.interieur.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  8. ↑ "Résultats de l'élection présidentielle de 1995 par département - Politiquemania". www.politiquemania.com. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  9. ↑ Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français". Assemblée nationale.
  10. ↑ "Historique de l'Essonne". Le SPLAF.
  11. ↑ Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Essonne&oldid=1353199739"