Île-de-France became the term used for the territory of Paris and the surrounding province, which was administered directly by the King.ĭuring the French Revolution, the royal provinces were abolished and divided into departments, and the city and region were governed directly by the national government. From the time of Louis XIV to the French Revolution, Versailles was the official residence of the Kings and the seat of the French government. They built palatial hunting lodges, most notably Palace of Fontainebleau and the Palace of Versailles. The Kings of France enjoyed getting away from Paris and hunting in the game-filled forests of the region. Under the rule of the Capetian kings, Paris gradually became the largest and most prosperous city in France. In 987, Hugh Capet, Count of Paris ( comte de Paris) and Duke of the Franks ( duc des Francs), was elected King of the Franks ( roi des Francs). Fortification of the Île de la Cité failed to avert sacking by Vikings in 845, but Paris's strategic importance-with its bridges preventing ships from passing-was established by successful defence in the Siege of Paris (885–86). As the Frankish domination of Gaul began, there was a gradual immigration by the Franks to Paris and the Parisian Francien dialects were born. Ĭlovis the Frank, the first king of the Merovingian dynasty, made the city his capital in 508. The place that he finally fell and was buried became an important religious shrine, the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The legend further states that Denis walked headless from this hill to the north of the city. According to legend, when Denis refused to renounce his faith before Roman authorities, he was beheaded on the hill that became known as Mons Martyrum (Latin "Hill of Martyrs"), later " Montmartre". Christianity was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint Denis, the first Bishop of Paris. It became a prosperous city with a forum, baths, temples, theatres, and an amphitheatre. The Romans conquered the area in 52 BC and began their settlement on Paris's Left Bank. The Parisii traded with many river towns (some as far away as the Iberian Peninsula) and minted their own coins for that purpose. One of the area's major north–south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité the meeting place of land and water trade routes gradually became an important trading centre. The Île-de-France was inhabited by the Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, from around the middle of the 3rd-century BC. The region has witnessed increasing income inequality in recent decades and rising housing prices have pushed the less affluent outside Paris. Though it is the richest French region, a significant number of residents live in poverty: the official poverty rate in the Île-de-France was 15.9% in 2015. īeyond the city limits of Paris, the region has many other important historic sites, including the palaces of Versailles and Fontainebleau, as well as the most-visited tourist attraction in France, Disneyland Paris. : 12 It has the highest per capita GDP of any French region and the third highest of any region in the European Union. The GDP of the region in 2019 was nearly one-third of the French, : 12 and 5% of the European Union's. Residents are sometimes referred to as Franciliens, an administrative word created in the 1980s. In 1976, when its status was aligned with the French administrative regions created in 1972, it was renamed after the historic province of Île-de-France. It was created as the "District of the Paris Region" in 1961. The region is made up of eight administrative departments: Paris, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Seine-et-Marne, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise and Yvelines. Île-de-France is densely populated and retains a prime economic position on the national stage: though it covers only 12,012 square kilometres (4,638 square miles), about 2% of metropolitan French territory, its 2017 population was nearly one-fifth of the national total. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the Paris Region (French: Région parisienne, pronounced ). The Île-de-France ( / ˌ iː l d ə ˈ f r ɒ̃ s/, French: ( listen) literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France.
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