93-644: Jacques (Joaquim) Merlin (c. 1480 – 26 September 1541) was a French theologian and book editor, best remembered for his pioneering two volume collection of church councils, the Quatuor concilia generalia printed in 1524. Jacques was born in Saint-Victurnien . He became a doctor of theology at the College of Navarre in 1499. He then taught divinity at Limoges Cathedral . He died in Paris in 1541 and
186-646: A community of French Huguenots settled in South Africa . Most of these originally settled in the Cape Colony , but have since been quickly absorbed into the Afrikaner population. After Champlain's founding of Quebec City in 1608, it became the capital of New France . Encouraging settlement was difficult, and while some immigration did occur, by 1763 New France only had a population of some 65,000. From 1713 to 1787, 30,000 colonists immigrated from France to
279-468: A goal of 35,000 for the next year. The initialism 'OQTF', from the 2006 law obligation de quitter le territoire français , is sometimes used for a person who is required to leave France. The French government threatened to withdraw from the Schengen accord in 2009, 2011 and 2012. As of 2016, many undocumented immigrants tried to jump the fences at Calais and board a train or truck heading for
372-551: A growth of 107 percent between 2009 and 2012, i.e. in this period went from 5,300 to 11,000 people. Of the total of 229,000 new foreigners coming to France in 2012, nearly 8% were Portuguese, British 5%, Spanish 5%, Italians 4%, Germans 4%, Romanians 3%, and Belgians 3%. By 2022, the total number of new foreigners coming to France rose above 320,000 for the first time, with nearly a majority coming from Francophone Africa (Former French Colonies). A significant increase in students, family reunification and labor migration occurred under
465-487: A high population of Islamic immigrants in the area. This segregation of cultures and identities can allow for these groups to flourish without intervention from the other groups as seen as well with the creation and destruction of the Calais Jungle. The Calais Jungle was a homeless encampment located by the border of France. During the 2015 European Refugee Crisis there was an influx of asylum seekers moving into
558-570: A majority of French people had other first languages (local languages such as Occitan , Catalan , Alsatian , West Flemish , Lorraine Franconian , Gallo , Picard or Ch'timi and Arpitan ). Today, many immigrants speak another tongue at home. According to historian Eric Hobsbawm , "the French language has been essential to the concept of 'France'," although in 1789, 50 percent of the French people did not speak it at all, and only 12 to 13 percent spoke it fairly well; even in oïl languages zones, it
651-605: A policy of integration . In 1974, France restricted immigration from its former colonies, but immigration from former colonies in the Maghreb and West Africa would end up steadily increasing under the presidencies of Nicolas Sarkozy , François Hollande and Emmanuel Macron . In the late 20th century and in the 21st century, immigration has diversified, with many immigrants originating from Sub-Saharan Africa (922,000 in 2019), Asia (486,000 in 2019) and Latin America. In addition,
744-595: A result of rapidly increasing African immigration into France, the proportion of European immigrants declined from 46% in 2012 to 32.3%. French of Maghrebi ( Arabs and Berbers ) origin in France form the largest ethnic group after French of European origin. According to Michèle Tribalat , a researcher at INED , there were 3.5 million people of Maghrebi origin (with at least one grandparent from Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia) living in France in 2005 corresponding to 5.8% of
837-433: Is also widely spoken, arguably the largest minority language in France as of the 21st century (a spot previously held by Breton and Occitan ). Modern French society is a melting pot . From the middle of the 19th century, it experienced a high rate of inward migration , mainly consisting of Spaniards , Portuguese , Italians , Arab-Berbers , Jews , Sub-Saharan Africans , Chinese , and other peoples from Africa ,
930-623: Is estimated that 20,000 settlers were living in Saigon in 1945, and there were 68,430 European settlers living in Madagascar in 1958. 1.6 million European pieds noirs settlers migrated from Algeria , Tunisia and Morocco . In just a few months in 1962, 900,000 pied noir settlers left Algeria in the most massive relocation of population in Europe since the World War II . In
1023-399: 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 " with rates ranging from 20% to 50%. According to Emmanuel Todd the relatively high exogamy among French Algerians can be explained by
SECTION 10
#17327765889471116-498: Is my home". Indeed, the country has long valued its openness , tolerance and the quality of services available. Application for French citizenship is often interpreted as a renunciation of previous state allegiance unless a dual citizenship agreement exists between the two countries (for instance, this is the case with Switzerland : one can be both French and Swiss). The European treaties have formally permitted movement and European citizens enjoy formal rights to employment in
1209-602: Is such a thing as a "French ethnic group". The discourse of ethno-nationalist groups such as the Front National (FN), however, advances the concept of Français de souche or "indigenous" French. The conventional conception of French history starts with Ancient Gaul, and French national identity often views the Gauls as national precursors, either as biological ancestors (hence the refrain nos ancêtres les Gaulois ), as emotional/spiritual ancestors, or both. Vercingetorix ,
1302-509: Is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture. Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French, with effects including loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes, and influences in conjugation and word order. Today, the last redoubt of Celtic language in France can be found in
1395-609: The Algerian War started in 1954, there were already 200,000 Algerian immigrants in France. However, because of the tension between the Algerians and the French, these immigrants were no longer welcome. This conflict between the two sides led to the Paris Massacre of 17 October 1961, when the police used force against an Algerian demonstration on the streets of Paris. After the war, after Algeria gained its independence,
1488-638: The Americas , with the exception of the Huguenots , due to a lower birthrate than in the rest of Europe. However, significant emigration of mainly Roman Catholic French populations led to the settlement of the Province of Acadia , Canada (New France) and Louisiana , all (at the time) French possessions, as well as colonies in the West Indies , Mascarene islands and Africa . On 30 December 1687,
1581-735: The Contribuables associés association (English: Associated Taxpayers ) found that the estimated cost of immigration to France for French taxpayers was of about €53.9 billion per year, four times more than the Justice ministry's yearly budget. In 2014, the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE, for its acronym in French) published a study on Thursday, according to which has doubled the number of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish immigrants in France between 2009 and 2012. According to
1674-525: The Danelaw in the region known today as Normandy in the 9th and 10th centuries. This later became a fiefdom of the Kingdom of France under King Charles III . The Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process. The Normans, two centuries later, went on to conquer England and Southern Italy . Eventually, though, the largely autonomous Duchy of Normandy
1767-865: The French Basque Country , Catalans in northern Catalonia , Germans in Alsace , Corsicans in Corsica and Flemings in French Flanders . France has long been a patchwork of local customs and regional differences, and while most French people still speak the French language as their mother tongue , languages like Picard , Poitevin-Saintongeais , Franco-Provencal , Occitan , Catalan , Auvergnat , Corsican , Basque , French Flemish , Lorraine Franconian , Alsatian , Norman , and Breton remain spoken in their respective regions. Arabic
1860-568: The French Constitution , according to which "French" is a nationality , and not a specific ethnicity. France sits at the edge of the European peninsula and has seen waves of migration of groups that often settled owing to the presence of physical barriers preventing onward migration. This has led to language and regional cultural variegation, but the extent to which this pattern of migrations showed up in population genetics studies
1953-548: The French West Indies ( French Caribbean ), and in foreign countries with significant French-speaking population groups or not, such as the United States ( French Americans ), Canada ( French Canadians ), Argentina ( French Argentines ), Brazil ( French Brazilians ), Mexico ( French Mexicans ), Chile ( French Chileans ) and Uruguay ( French Uruguayans ). To be French, according to
SECTION 20
#17327765889472046-475: The Industrial Revolution . The pace of industrial growth attracted millions of European immigrants over the next century, with especially large numbers arriving from Poland , Belgium , Portugal , Italy , and Spain . In the period from 1915 to 1950, many immigrants came from Czechoslovakia , Hungary , Russia , Scandinavia and Yugoslavia . Small but significant numbers of Frenchmen in
2139-691: The Middle East and East Asia , and the government, defining France as an inclusive nation with universal values, advocated assimilation through which immigrants were expected to adhere to French values and cultural norms. Nowadays, while the government has let newcomers retain their distinctive cultures since the mid-1980s and requires from them a mere integration , French citizens still equate their nationality with citizenship as does French law. In addition to mainland France, French people and people of French descent can be found internationally, in overseas departments and territories of France such as
2232-677: The Saint-Domingue . In 1805, when the French were forced out of Saint-Domingue ( Haiti ), 35,000 French settlers were given lands in Cuba . By the beginning of the 17th century, some 20% of the total male population of Catalonia was made up of French immigrants. In the 18th century and early 19th century, a small migration of French emigrated by official invitation of the Habsburgs to the Austro-Hungarian Empire , now
2325-599: The United Kingdom . The Home Office has agents working alongside French police and immigration agents to prevent unauthorized people from entering the British border zone. In France, the three largest cities (Paris, Lyon and Marseille) also attract the largest share of immigrants to the country. The region with the largest proportion of immigrants is the Île-de-France (Greater Paris), where 40% of immigrants live. Immigrants are more concentrated in urban areas than
2418-543: The United States Census , French people are not asked to define their ethnic appartenance, whichever it may be. The usage of ethnic and racial categorization is avoided to prevent any case of discrimination; the same regulations apply to religious membership data that cannot be compiled under the French Census. This classic French republican non- essentialist conception of nationality is officialized by
2511-401: The 1789 French Revolution . It replaced the ancient kingdom of France, ruled by the divine right of kings . The 1870 Franco-Prussian War , which led to the short-lived Paris Commune of 1871, was instrumental in bolstering patriotic feelings; until World War I (1914–1918), French politicians never completely lost sight of the disputed Alsace-Lorraine region which played a major role in
2604-583: The 1960s onward. An important community of immigrants from North America to France are Haitians in France . Citizens of the United States of America total more than 100,000 permanent residents in France, Canadians 11,931, followed by Latin Americans are a growing sub-group the most numerous are the Brazilians 44,622, followed by Venezuelans 30,000, Peruvians 22,002, Chileans (esp. arrived in
2697-548: The 1960s, there was a wave of Portuguese, Moroccan and Turk immigrants. With this massive influx of immigrants, France became an asylum for refugees. According to the convention in Geneva, refugee status was granted to four out of five immigrant applicants. Many of these refugees came from countries in Eastern Europe (i.e. Hungary ) and Latin America, because they feared the dictatorship in their home countries. Although
2790-754: The 1970s) 15,782, and Argentineans 11,899 (or up to 15,000). Latin Americans are increasingly emigrating to France for economic reasons, study, work, family, and sometimes political asylum. Illegal immigration to France has developed as the country's immigration policy has become more rigid. In 2006, the French Ministry of the Interior estimated clandestine immigrants (" sans-papiers ") in his country numbered anywhere between 200,000 and 400,000, also expecting between 80,000 and 100,000 people to enter France illegally each year. In 2011, 28,000 of such people were expelled from France. The French government set
2883-499: The 1970s, France simultaneously faced economic crisis and allowed immigrants (mostly from the Muslim world ) to permanently settle in France with their families and to acquire French citizenship. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of Muslims, especially to the larger cities, living in subsidized public housing and suffering from very high unemployment rates. Alongside this, France renounced its policy of assimilation , instead pursuing
Jacques Merlin - Misplaced Pages Continue
2976-590: The 1970s, over 30,000 French settlers left Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime as the Pol Pot government confiscated their farms and land properties. In the 1960s, a second wave of immigration came to France, which was needed for reconstruction purposes and for cheaper labour after the devastation brought on by World War II . French entrepreneurs went to Maghreb countries looking for cheap labour, thus encouraging work-immigration to France. Their settlement
3069-641: The 7th century BCE or earlier, and non-Celtic peoples including the Ligures , Aquitanians and Basques in Aquitaine. The Belgae , who lived in the northern and eastern areas, may have had Germanic admixture; many of these peoples had already spoken Gaulish by the time of the Roman conquest. Gaul was militarily conquered in 58–51 BCE by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar , except for
3162-575: The Americas and Oceania. In 2020, non-EU citizens had employment rates less than 50% in the southern and southwestern regions of France and in the north and northeastern regions and was above 65% only in the Burgundy region. The African proportion of both migrants and residents in France is increasing, as by 2022, nearly a majority, 48.2%, of all immigrants living in France come from Africa, 32.3% come from Europe, 13.5% come from Asia and 6% come from
3255-437: The Americas and Oceania. 61.7% of all immigrants living in France come from non-European origins in 2022. By 2022, the total number of new foreigners coming to France rose above 320,000 for the first time, with a significant increase in students, family reunification and labor migration from African and Asian countries happening under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron . A 2023 survey carried out by Jean-Paul Gourévitch for
3348-455: The Americas and Oceania. Of this total, 40% have assumed French citizenship. In addition, 1.8 million people born in foreign countries (including 1 million in Maghreb) with French citizenship at birth were not included in this total. There were also 6.7 million direct descendants of immigrants (born in France with at least one immigrant parent) living in France in 2008, corresponding to 11% of
3441-417: The Calais Jungle. Formerly a landfill, migrants and asylum were able to replicate an urban style of living with the establishment of stores, restaurants, schools and places of worship, while they waited for the government to determine their fate. The Calais Jungle received support from NGOs and grassroot organizations even after the French government dismantled the area in 2016. Just like the banlieues in France,
3534-713: The Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France. The other major Germanic people to arrive in France, after the Burgundians and the Visigoths , were the Norsemen or Northmen . Known by the shortened name " Norman " in France, these were Viking raiders from modern Denmark and Norway . They settled with Anglo-Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons from
3627-564: The French Institute, this increase resulting from the financial crisis that hit several European countries in that period, has pushed up the number of Europeans installed in France. Statistics on Spanish immigrants in France show a growth of 107 percent between 2009 and 2012, i.e. in this period went from 5300 to 11,000 people. Of the total of 229,000 foreigners arriving to France in 2012, nearly 8% were Portuguese, British 5%, Spanish 5%, Italians 4%, Germans 3%, and Belgians 3%. With
3720-540: The French Revolution, it divided social classes, with the peasants identifying with the native Gauls while the aristocracy identified with the Franks. During the early nineteenth century, intellectuals began using the identification with Gaul instead as a unifying force to bridge divisions within French society with a common national origin myth . Myriam Krepps of the University of Nebraska-Omaha argues that
3813-555: The Gaulish chieftain who tried to unite the various Gallic tribes of the land against Roman encroachment but was ultimately vanquished by Julius Caesar , is often revered as a "first national hero". In the famously popular French comic Asterix , the main characters are patriotic Gauls who fight against Roman invaders while in modern days the term Gaulois is used in French to distinguish the "native" French from French of immigrant origins. However, despite its occasional nativist usage,
Jacques Merlin - Misplaced Pages Continue
3906-403: The Gaulish identity has also been embraced by French of non-native origins as well: notably, Napoleon III , whose family was ultimately of Corsican and Italian roots, identified France with Gaul and Vercingetorix, and declared that "New France, ancient France, Gaul are one and the same moral person." It has been noted that the French view of having Gallic origins has evolved over history. Before
3999-900: The North and Northeast regions have relatives in Germany and Great Britain . Between 1956 and 1967, about 235,000 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. Hence, by 1968, Jews of North African origin comprised the majority of the Jewish population of France. As these new immigrants were already culturally French they needed little time to adjust to French society. French law made it easy for thousands of settlers ( colons in French), national French from former colonies of North and East Africa , India and Indochina to live in mainland France. It
4092-499: The Paris region alone had a North African Muslim population of 70,000. Large numbers of Belgians immigrated to France in the late 19th century (there were nearly 500,000 Belgians in France in 1886), as well as Italians. The interwar era was marked by the arrival of numerous Poles (500,000 in 1931), Spaniards, Russians and Armenians. Right after the Second World War , immigration to France significantly increased. During
4185-801: The Rhine after the fall of the Roman Empire , as well as various later waves of lower-level irregular migration that have continued to the present day. The Norsemen also settled in Normandy in the 10th century and contributed significantly to the ancestry of the Normans . Furthermore, regional ethnic minorities also exist within France that have distinct lineages, languages and cultures such as Bretons in Brittany , Occitans in Occitania , Basques in
4278-478: The Roman army and obtained important commands. Their language is still spoken as a kind of Dutch ( French Flemish ) in northern France ( French Flanders ). The Alamans , another Germanic people immigrated to Alsace , hence the Alemannic German now spoken there. The Alamans were competitors of the Franks, and their name is the origin of the French word for "German": Allemand . By the early 6th century,
4371-682: The US and the UK) but as social conflicts born out of socioeconomic problems endangering proper integration. Historically, the heritage of the French people is mostly of Celtic or Gallic , Latin ( Romans ) origin, descending from the ancient and medieval populations of Gauls or Celts from the Atlantic to the Rhone Alps , Germanic tribes that settled France from east of the Rhine and Belgium after
4464-447: The centuries to France, creating a variegated grouping of peoples. Thus the historian John F. Drinkwater states, "The French are, paradoxically, strongly conscious of belonging to a single nation, but they hardly constitute a unified ethnic group by any scientific gauge." The modern French are the descendants of mixtures including Romans , Celts , Iberians , Ligurians and Greeks in southern France, Germanic peoples arriving at
4557-502: The colonial government and those married to French colonists. Following the partition of Vietnam , students and professionals from South Vietnam continued to arrive in France. Although many initially returned to the country after a few years, as the Vietnam War situation worsened, a majority decided to remain in France and brought their families over as well. This period also saw a significant wave of immigrants from Algeria . As
4650-474: The colonial link between France and Algeria. A small French descent group also subsequently arrived from Latin America ( Argentina , Chile and Uruguay ) in the 1970s. Most French people speak the French language as their mother tongue , but certain languages like Norman , Occitan languages , Corsican , Euskara , French Flemish and Breton remain spoken in certain regions (see Language policy in France ). There have also been periods of history when
4743-647: The countries of Francophone Africa in West Africa and Central Africa , and also Madagascar . The most common countries of birth for these immigrants are Madagascar , Senegal , Ivory Coast , Cameroon , DRC , Mali , Republic of the Congo , Mauritius , Comoros and Guinea . Some of these immigrants have been settling in France for over a century, and were employed in various jobs such as soldiers ( Senegalese Tirailleurs ) and domestic workers; while others, such as Malians in France , started arriving mainly from
SECTION 50
#17327765889474836-613: The country of France . The French people, especially the native speakers of langues d'oïl from northern and central France, are primarily descended from Romans (or Gallo-Romans , western European Celtic and Italic peoples ), Gauls (including the Belgae ), as well as Germanic peoples such as the Franks , the Visigoths , the Suebi and the Burgundians who settled in Gaul from east of
4929-416: The decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, a federation of Germanic peoples entered the picture: the Franks , from which the word "French" derives. The Franks were Germanic pagans who began to settle in northern Gaul as laeti during the Roman era. They continued to filter across the Rhine River from present-day Netherlands and Germany between the 3rd and 7th centuries. Initially, they served in
5022-425: The definition of the French nation and therefore of the French people. The decrees of 24 October 1870 by Adolphe Crémieux granted automatic and massive French citizenship to all Jewish people of Algeria. Successive waves of immigrants during the 19th and 20th centuries were rapidly assimilated into French culture . France's population dynamics began to change in the middle of the 19th century, as France joined
5115-416: The end of the Roman Empire such as the Franks and the Burgundians , and some Vikings who mixed with the Normans and settled mostly in Normandy in the 9th century. According to Dominique Schnapper , "The classical conception of the nation is that of an entity which, opposed to the ethnic group, affirms itself as an open community, the will to live together expressing itself by the acceptation of
5208-424: The enlargement of the European Union has led to more Eastern European immigrants. According to an Ipsos poll in September 2019, 65% of respondents in France said that accepting migrants did not improve the situation in France and 45% responded that accepting migrants deprived the French of social services. In 2019, 46.5% of all immigrants were born in Africa, 35.3% were born in Europe, 14.7% in Asia and 5.4% in
5301-409: The fall of the Roman Empire such as the Franks , Burgundians , Allemanni , Visigoths , and Suebi , Latin and Roman tribes such as Ligurians and Gallo-Romans , Basques , and Norse populations largely settling in Normandy at the beginning of the 10th century as well as " Bretons " (Celtic Britons) settling in Brittany in Western France . The name "France" etymologically derives from
5394-489: The first article of the French Constitution , is to be a citizen of France, regardless of one's origin, race, or religion ( sans distinction d'origine, de race ou de religion ). According to its principles, France has devoted itself to the destiny of a proposition nation , a generic territory where people are bounded only by the French language and the assumed willingness to live together, as defined by Ernest Renan 's " plébiscite de tous les jours " ('everyday plebiscite') on
5487-486: The following years. According to other sources between 5 and 6 million people of Maghrebi origin live in France corresponding to about 7-9% of the total French metropolitan population. As of 2011, there were 4.5 million Algerians in France of which 42% were women. By 2022, as result of both The African proportion of both migrants and residents in France increasing, nearly a majority, 48.2%, of all immigrants living in France come from Africa. Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are
5580-419: The free circulation between France and Algeria was once again allowed, and the number of Algerian immigrants started to increase drastically. From 1962 to 1975, the Algerian immigrant population increased from 350,000 to 700,000. Many of these immigrants were known as the " harkis ," and the others were known as the " pieds-noirs ." The "harkis" were Algerians who supported the French during the Algerian War; once
5673-509: The increase of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish immigrants to France, the weight of European immigrants arrived in 2012 to 46 percent, while this percentage for African reached 30%, with a presence in Morocco (7%), Algeria (7%) and Tunisia (3%). Meanwhile, 14 percent of all immigrants who settled in France that year were from Asian countries—3% of China and 2% in Turkey, while in America and Oceania constitute 10% of Americans and Brazilians accounted for higher percentage, 2 percent each. By 2022, as
SECTION 60
#17327765889475766-441: The island of Saint-Martin hold French nationality even though they do not speak French as a first language, while their neighbouring French-speaking Haitian immigrants (who also speak a French-creole) remain foreigners. Large numbers of people of French ancestry outside Europe speak other first languages, particularly English, throughout most of North America (with Quebec and Acadians in the Canadian Maritimes being notable, not
5859-508: The living conditions of the Calais Jungle are hazardous and unkept with high levels of state authority violence. People living in these areas with high migrant populations reported insufficient food, water and healthcare. The large population of Islamic and African immigrants in banlieus has allowed for different marginalized groups to thrive independently but can institute poverty traps - making it difficult for them to be fully integrated. Immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa come primarily from
5952-636: The main countries of origin for immigrants into France in 2022. The Constitution of France states it is illegal for the state to gather information on race and ethnicity in the census. In 2020, research was conducted by mapping where there was a high presence of Islamic institutions to prove that income segregation was prominent in Paris amongst Islamic migrants. Banlieues are lower-income suburban areas of France, historically known as "religious ghettos" occupied by African and Islamic immigrants. These areas hold higher numbers of Islamic institutions compared to urban, more wealthier areas, which concludes
6045-535: The majority of immigrants at this time came from rural regions, only 6% of them were willing to work in agriculture. About two-thirds of the immigrants worked in mining, steel, construction, and automotive industries. Approximately 12% of male immigrants and the majority of female immigrants worked in domestic services, restoration, and commerce (as for French women, a woman working was subject to her husband's authorisation until 1965. ) Minor and aged immigrants usually worked in craftsmanship and small scale trades. During
6138-490: The nations of Austria , Czech Republic , Hungary , Slovakia , Serbia and Romania . Some of them, coming from French-speaking communes in Lorraine or being French Swiss Walsers from the Valais canton in Switzerland , maintained for some generations the French language and a specific ethnic identity, later labelled as Banat (French: Français du Banat ). By 1788, there were eight villages populated by French colonists. The French First Republic appeared following
6231-442: The native population. 90.1% of the immigrant population is located in urban areas which is significantly more than the proportion for the native population, 81.9% of them living in urban areas. In 2012, 38.2% of the total immigrant population lived in the Parisian urban area compared to 4.1% and 3.1% respectively for Lyon and Marseille. According to INSEE , French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies, responsible for
6324-414: The northwestern region of Brittany , although this is not the result of a survival of Gaulish language but of a 5th-century AD migration of Brythonic speaking Celts from Britain . The Vulgar Latin in the region of Gallia took on a distinctly local character, some of which is attested in graffiti, which evolved into the Gallo-Romance dialects which include French and its closest relatives. With
6417-414: The only, exceptions), Spanish or Portuguese in southern South America , and Afrikaans in South Africa . The adjective "French" can be used to mean either "French citizen" or "French-speaker", and usage varies depending on the context, with the former being common in France. The latter meaning is often used in Canada, when discussing matters internal to Canada. Generations of settlers have migrated over
6510-519: The period of reconstruction, France lacked labor, and as a result, the French government was eager to recruit immigrants coming from all over Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Although there was a presence of Vietnamese in France since the late 19th century (mostly students and workers), a wave of Vietnamese migrated to the country after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Accords , which granted Vietnam its independence from France in 1954. These migrants consisted of those who were loyal to
6603-569: The population. with an immigrant defined as a foreign born person without French citizenship at birth. Without considering citizenship at birth, people not born in metropolitan France and their direct descendants made up 30% of the population aged 18–50 in metropolitan France in 2008. In 2008, there were 5.3 million immigrants corresponding to 8.5% of the total population in France (63.9 million in 2008). 42% were from Africa (30% from Maghreb and 12% from Sub-Saharan Africa), 38% from Europe (mainly from Portugal, Italy and Spain), 14% from Asia and 5% from
6696-580: The presidency of Emmanuel Macron . France's population dynamics began to change in the middle of the 19th century, as France joined the Industrial Revolution . The pace of industrial growth attracted millions of European immigrants over the next century, with especially large numbers arriving from Poland , Belgium , Portugal , Italy , and Spain . In the wake of the First World War , in which France suffered six million casualties, significant numbers of workers from French colonies came. By 1930,
6789-781: The production and analysis of official statistics in France, about 35% of people (4 million) living in Île-de-France, are either immigrant (17%) or born to at least one immigrant parent (18%) in 2006. In the city of Paris, 20% of people living are immigrants and 41.3% of people under 20 have at least one immigrant parent. Among the young people under 18, 12.1% are of Maghrebi origin, 9.9% of Subsaharan African origin (not including blacks from French West Indies) and 4.0% of South European origin. 436,576 immigrants live in Paris, representing 20% of Parisians and 22.4% of immigrants in Ile-de-France. 162 635 children under 20 with at least one immigrant parent live in Paris, representing 41.3% of
6882-481: The region were either immigrant (25%) or born to at least one immigrant parent (20%). Among the 802,000 newborns in metropolitan France in 2010, 27.3% had one or both parents foreign-born, and about one quarter (23.9%) had one parent or both born outside of Europe. Including grandparents, about 22% of newborns in France between 2006 and 2008 had at least one foreign-born grandparent (9% born in another European country, 8% born in Maghreb and 2% born in another region of
6975-421: The rules of a unified public domain which transcends all particularisms". This conception of the nation as being composed by a "will to live together," supported by the classic lecture of Ernest Renan in 1882, has been opposed by the French far-right , in particular the nationalist Front National ("National Front" – FN / now Rassemblement National - "National Rally" - RN) party which claims that there
7068-515: The south-east which had already been conquered about one century earlier. Over the next six centuries, the two cultures intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture . In the late Roman era, in addition to colonists from elsewhere in the Empire and Gaulish natives, Gallia also became home to some immigrant populations of Germanic and Scythian origin, such as the Alans . The Gaulish language
7161-639: The state sector (though not as trainees in reserved branches, e.g., as magistrates ). Seeing itself as an inclusive nation with universal values, France has always valued and strongly advocated assimilation . However, the success of such assimilation has recently been called into question. There is increasing dissatisfaction with, and within, growing ethno-cultural enclaves ( communautarisme ). The 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished suburbs ( les quartiers sensibles ) were an example of such tensions. However they should not be interpreted as ethnic conflicts (as appeared before in other countries like
7254-552: The time represented 14% of the country's total population. The area with the largest proportion of immigrants is the Parisian urban area (Greater Paris), where almost 40% of immigrants lived in 2012. Other regions with important immigrant populations are Rhône-Alpes (Lyon) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Marseille). The Paris region is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. As of 2006, about 45% of people (6 million) living in
7347-1171: The total French metropolitan population (60.7 million in 2005). Maghrebis have settled mainly in the industrial regions in France, especially in the Paris region . Many famous French people like Edith Piaf , Isabelle Adjani , Arnaud Montebourg , Alain Bashung , Dany Boon , Zinedine Zidane , Karim Benzema , and Kylian Mbappé have Maghrebi ancestry. In 2005, the percentage of young people under 18 of Maghrebi origin (at least one immigrant parent) were about 7% in Metropolitan France , 12% in Greater Paris , 13% in Lyon , 21% in Perpignan , 22% in French département of Seine-Saint-Denis , 37% in 18th arrondissement of Paris and 40% in several arrondissements of Marseilles . 16% of newborns in France between 2006 and 2008 have at least one Maghrebi grandparent. Their number increased in
7440-580: The total of children under 20 in Paris and 15.4% of the total of children under 20 with at least one immigrant parent in Ile-de-France According to UN estimates from mid-2020, the most common countries of birth of the foreign born population in France were: Algeria (1,637,000), Morocco (1,060,000), Portugal (640,000), Tunisia (445,000), Turkey (340,000), Italy (326,000), Spain (282,000), Germany (203,000), United Kingdom (170,000), Belgium (164,000). Immigration into France
7533-484: The total population in France. Immigrants aged 18–50 count for 2.7 million (10% of population aged 18–50) and 5.3 million for all ages (8% of population). 2nd Generation aged 18–50 make up 3.1 million (12% of 18–50) and 6.5 million for all ages (11% of population). The regions with the largest proportion of immigrants and direct descendants of immigrants are the Île-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur / Languedoc-Roussillon , where more than one third and one quarter of
7626-511: The view of "a unified territory (one land since the beginning of civilization) and a unified people" which de-emphasized "all disparities and the succession of waves of invaders" was first imprinted on the masses by the unified history curriculum of French textbooks in the late 1870s. Since the beginning of the Third Republic (1871–1940), the state has not categorized people according to their alleged ethnic origins. Hence, in contrast to
7719-482: The war was over, they were deeply resented by other Algerians, and thus had to flee to France. The "pieds-noirs" were Europeans settlers who moved to Algeria, but migrated back to France since 1962 when Algeria declared independence. Additionally, the number of Pakistani and Japanese immigrants also increased during this period. There was also a great number of students and workers from former French colonies in Africa. In
7812-522: The willingness to live together, in Renan's 1882 essay " Qu'est-ce qu'une nation? "). The debate concerning the integration of this view with the principles underlying the European Community remains open. France has been historically open to immigration, although this has changed in recent years. Referring to this perceived openness, Gertrude Stein , wrote: "America is my country but Paris
7905-524: The word Francia , the territory of the Franks . The Franks were a Germanic tribe that overran Roman Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire . In the pre-Roman era, Gaul (an area of Western Europe that encompassed all of what is known today as France, Belgium, part of Germany and Switzerland, and Northern Italy) was inhabited by a variety of peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes . Their ancestors were Celts who came from Central Europe in
7998-414: The world). In 2014, the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE) published a study reporting that the number of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian immigrants in France between 2009 and 2012 has doubled. This increase resulting from the financial crisis that hit several European countries in that period, has pushed up the number of Europeans settled in France. Statistics on Spanish immigrants in France show
8091-605: Was also identified in the fourteenth century, consistent with the timing for the Black Death in Europe. Immigration to France According to the French National Institute of Statistics INSEE , the 2021 census counted nearly 7 million immigrants (foreign-born people) in France, representing 10.3% of the total population. This is a decrease from INSEE statistics in 2018 in which there were 9 million immigrants (foreign-born people) in France, which at
8184-522: Was buried in the crypt of Notre-Dame . French people France: 67,413,000 French diaspora and ancestry : c. 30 million Asia Middle East Europe North America South America Oceania The French people ( French : Les Français , lit. 'The French') are a nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture , history , and language , identified with
8277-914: Was expected to exceed 300,000 in the early 2020s, as shown in table below. Recent immigrants arriving to France as per 2014 and 2023: With the increase of Spanish, Portuguese and Italians in France, the weight of European immigrants arrived in 2012 to 46 percent, while this percentage for African reached 30%, with a presence in Morocco (7%), Algeria (7%) and Tunisia (3%). Meanwhile, 14 percent of all immigrants who settled in France that year were from Asian countries - 3% of China and 2% in Turkey, while in America and Oceania constitute 10% of Americans and Brazilians accounted for higher percentage, 2 percent each. In 2008, according to The National Institute of Statistics (INSEE), there were 12 million immigrants and their direct descendants (2nd generation) making up about 20% of
8370-484: Was incorporated back into the royal domain (i. e. the territory under direct control of the French king) in the Middle Ages . In the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem , founded in 1099, at most 120,000 Franks, who were predominantly French -speaking Western Christians, ruled over 350,000 Muslims, Jews, and native Eastern Christians. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, France experienced relatively low levels of emigration to
8463-559: Was not usually used except in cities, and even there not always in the outlying districts . Abroad, the French language is spoken in many different countries – in particular the former French colonies . Nevertheless, speaking French is distinct from being a French citizen. Thus, francophonie , or the speaking of French, must not be confused with French citizenship or ethnicity. For example, French speakers in Switzerland are not "French citizens". Native English-speaking Blacks on
8556-641: Was officialized with Jacques Chirac 's family regrouping act of 1976 ( regroupement familial ). Since then, immigration has become more varied, although France stopped being a major immigration country compared to other European countries. The large impact of North African and Arab immigration is the greatest and has brought racial , socio-cultural and religious questions to a country seen as homogenously European, French and Christian for thousands of years. Nevertherless, according to Justin Vaïsse , professor at Sciences Po Paris , integration of Muslim immigrants
8649-403: Was unclear until the publication of a study in 2019 that used genome wide data. The study identified six different genetic clusters that could be distinguished across populations. The study concluded that the population genetic clusters correlate with linguistic and historical divisions in France and with the presence of geographic barriers such as mountains and major rivers. A population bottleneck
#946053