Disclaimer: it must be noted that reference to "French people" as an ethnic group is not present in French official terminology. Official institutes that gather statistics (such as INED or INSEE) do not use the category of "ethnic French" - whom some have translated here by "Français de souche". This reality is not peculiar to France. Many other European governments do not find it necessary to collect data related to ethnic origin. However, in France, ethnicity is an important issue, as the country suffers tense race-relations particularly with regards to its Muslim North African population. This has led to political prominence of Far-Right Political parties as well as race-riots such as those occurred in 2005.
France's total population amounts to more than 60 million people. Being relatively low at the start of the century compared to its neighbours and to its past history, its population sharply increased with the baby boom following World War II. During the Trente Glorieuses (1945-1974), the country's reconstruction and steady economic growth led to the labor-immigration of the 1960s, when many employers went looking for manpower in villages located in South Europe and in the Maghreb. However, after the 1973 energy crisis, laws limiting immigration were passed, thus automatically creating a category of illegal immigrants. This has became the focus, perhaps as a purposeful diversion, of parts of the political discourse. Critics, such as Saskia Sassen in The Global City (1991), have contended that the artificial creation of legal aliens was necessary to insure the reduction of production costs and low-wage policies demanded by the "new economics". They highlighted the fact that the first laws were passed in approximatively the same period as the 1983 French government's turn toward globalization and neoliberalism. In the last twenty-five years, France has stopped being a country of mass immigration, with immigrants accounting only for between 20 and 40% of the population growth, according to a INED 2004 study: "Each year, France counts 200 000 more births than deaths, while the growth due to migration (le solde migratoire - the difference between the number of migrants entering and leaving the country) is estimated to be around 65 000 people." [1]
Please note: *figures are for metropolitan (i.e. European) France only, excluding overseas départments and territories, as well as former French colonies and protectorates. Algeria 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 and Nice, which only became part of France in 1860. Figures between 1795 and 1815do 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 and part of Lorraine, 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.
Starting around 1800, the historical evolution of the population in France has been extremely atypical in the Western World. Unlike the rest of Europe, France did not experience a strong population growth in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. The birth rate 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, experienced virtually zero growth. This, and the bloody losses in France's population due to the First World War, may explain the sudden collapse of France in 1940 during the Second World War. France was often perceived as a country irremediably on the decline. At the time, racist theories were quite popular, and the dramatic demographic decline of France was often attributed (particularly in Nazi 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 "races". In addition, the slow growth of France's population in the 19th century was reflected in the country's very low emigration 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 rapidly-growing French Canada.
To better understand the demographic decline of France, it should be noted that France was historically the largest nation of Europe. During the 17th century one fifth of Europe's population was French (and more than one quarter during the Middle Ages). 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 doesn't take into account the fact that a large chunk of Germany's population growth was siphoned off by emigration to the Americas. If it had grown at the same rate as England and Wales (who were also siphoned off by emigration to the Americas), France's population could be anywhere up to 150 million today. And if we start the comparison at the time of King Louis XIV (the Sun King), then France would have the same population as the United States! This helps understand why France was so powerful in Europe at the time of Louis XIV or Napoleon, and it shows how much of a demographic decline the country experienced after 1800.
Two centuries of population growth
After World War II
After 1945 however, France suddenly underwent a demographic recovery that no one could have foreseen. It is a fact that 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, 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 the other countries of the Western World. 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 has significantly diminished, being more in tune with the rest of Europe, but it still remains slightly faster than in the rest of Europe, and much faster than during the end of the 19th century or the first half of the 20th century. At the turn of the millennium, population growth in France is the fastest of Europe, matched only by Ireland and the Netherlands. However, it is significantly slower than in North America, where population trends have diverged from Europe since the 1970s.
The ranking below will help understand the past, present, and future weight of France's population in Europe and in the world: (historical populations are counted in the 2004 borders) *until 1795 metropolitan France was the most populous country of Europe, above even Russia, and the third most populous country in the world, behind only China and India *between 1795 and 1866, metropolitan France was the second most populous country of Europe, behind Russia, and the fourth most populous country in the world, behind China, India, and Russia *between 1866 and 1911, metropolitan France was the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia and Germany *between 1911 and 1931, metropolitan France was the fourth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom *between 1931 and 1991, metropolitan France was the fifth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy *between 1991 and 1997, metropolitan France recovered its rank as the fourth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom *since 1997, metropolitan France has recovered its rank as the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia and Germany. Worldwide, France's ranking has fallen to twentieth most populous country. *if current demographic trends continue (i.e. declining population in Germany, and slightly rising population in France), around 2050 metropolitan France could become again the second most populous country of Europe behind Russia
Note that in above data, Turkey is not regarded as an European country. If Turkey would be regarded as an European country, France would be the fourth most populous country of Europe. In 2050 it would be then the third most populous country of Europe.
In the twentieth century, France exhibited a high rate of immigration. Immigration was particularly high in the 1920s and 1930s. France was the European country which suffered the most from 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 with mass immigration. The other European countries, such as the UK or Germany, still had high fertility rates, and did not need immigrants. The majority of immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s came from southern Europe: Italians, Portuguese and Spaniards, but also Poles and Belgians.
Several incidents opposed immigrant manpower with the local population. Thus, a pogrom against Italian workers whom worked in the salt evaporation ponds of Peccais erupted in Aigues-Mortes in 1893, killing nine and injuring hundreds on the Italian side (Enzo Barnabà, Le sang des marais, Marseille, 1993)
After World War II
After World War II, the French fertility rate rebounded considerably, as was explained above, but economic growth in France was so high that new immigrants had nonetheless to be brought into the country. This time the majority of immigrants were Portuguese as well as Arabs and Berbers from North Africa. The first wave arrived in the 1950s, but the major arrivals happened in the 1960s and 1970s. More than 1 million people from the Maghreb immigrated in the 1960s and early 1970s from North Africa, especially Algeria (following the end of French rule there) . One million European pieds noirs also migrated from Algeria in 1962 and the following years, due to the chaotic independence of Algeria .
In the late 1970s, due to the end of high economic growth in France, immigration policies were considerably tightened, starting with the Pasqua laws. 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 political asylum seekers. Illegal immigration thus developed. 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 Black Africa, South-East Asia, and more recently mainland China.
Today
As a result of a century of immigration, it is estimated that there are less than 5 million Muslims living in France (see also Islam in France), although many do not actually practice their religion - and that statistics can't directly measure this. According to Michèle Tribalat, researcher at INED, it is very difficult estimating the number of French immigrants or born to immigrants, because of the absence of official statistics. Only three tentatives, in 1927, 1942 and 1986 were done. According to this 2004 study, among approximatively 14 millions persons of foreign ascendency (immigrants or with at least one parent or great-parent immigrant), 5,2 millions are from South-European ascendency (Italy, Spain, Portugal), and 3 millions come from the Maghreb [2].
In the 2000s, the net migration rate was estimated to be 0.66 migrants per 1,000 population and year. This is a very low rate of immigration 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, followed by both right-wing and socialist-issued laws. The immigration rate is currently lower than in other European countries such as 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 fertily 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 quite high for European standards, in fact the highest in Europe after Ireland, and so most population growth is due to natural increase, unlike in the other European countries (except Italy).
For example, according to the UK Office for National Statistics, 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.[3] According to INSEE, in the three years between January 2001 and January 2004 the population of Metropolitan France increased by 1,057,000 inhabitants, of which 678,000 (64%) was due to natural increase, and 379,500 (36%) to immigration.[4] More strikingly, in Spain the immigrant population increased by 700 000 people in 2005 alone.
Since the beginning of the Third Republic, France does not collect religious or "ethnic" data in census. A study of IFOP conducted in 2004 found that 44% declare that they do not believe in God, compared to 20% in 1947. Another study conducted by the CSA institute in 2003/4, on a base of 18,000 questioned, found that 27% declared themselves atheists, while 64.3% called themselves Roman Catholic (compared to 69% in 2001), and 8.7% (ca. 5 million) defined themselves as adherents of religions other than Roman Catholicism (rough estimates amount to Islam 3 to 5 million, Protestantism 1 million, Buddhism 0.60 million, Judaism 0.53 million, Orthodox Christianity 0.15 million in the early 2000s). However, those alleged numbers don't detail an objective and effective religious activity (going to church, etc.) but only subjective definitions.
Education is free, beginning at age 2, and mandatory between ages 6 and 16, even though reforms have been proposed by right-wing politicians (among whom are Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac) following the 2005 riots. Left-wing parties have argued against them, on behalf of everyone's right to the same basic education. The public education system is highly centralized. Private primary and secondary education is primarily Roman Catholic; however, most French people go to public schools, which have the advantages of being free and are usually considered of higher quality than private schools.
Higher education in France began with the founding of the University of Paris in 1150. It now consists of 69 universities and special schools, such as the Grandes Écoles, a system specific to France and sometimes contested because of its "republican elitism", technical colleges, and vocational training institutions.
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)
