Yvelines
Department of France
Coordinates48°50′N 1°55′E
CountryFrance
RegionÎle-de-France
PrefectureVersailles
Parts stylepara
P 1Mantes-la-Jolie
Rambouillet
Saint-Germain-
en-Laye
Leader partyLR
President of the Departmental CouncilPierre Bédier[1]
Unit prefMetric
Area total2284 km²
Population rank8th
Total€60.058 billion (2021)
Per capita€42,238 (2021)
Department number78
Arrondissements4
Cantons21
Communes259
Time zoneCET (UTC+1)
Time zone (DST)CEST (UTC+2)

Yvelines (ivlin) is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2023, it had a population of 1,485,086.[2] Its prefecture is Versailles, home to the Palace of Versailles, the principal residence of the King of France from 1682 until 1789, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. Yvelines' subprefectures are Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Mantes-la-Jolie and Rambouillet.

History

Yvelines was created from the western part of the former department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application (a decree specifying how a law should be enforced) from 26 February 1965. It inherited Seine-et-Oise's official number of 78 since it took up the largest portion of its territory. In addition to this, it inherited Seine-et-Oise's prefecture, Versailles.

Yvelines derives its name from the Forest of Yveline, next to Rambouillet.[3]

It gained the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble from the adjacent department of Essonne in 1969.

The departmental capital, Versailles, which grew up around Louis XIV's château, was also the French capital for more than a century under the Ancien Régime and again between 1871 and 1879 during the early years of the Third Republic. Since then the château has continued to welcome the French Parliament when it is called upon to sit in a congressional sitting (with both houses sitting together) in order to enact constitutional changes or to listen to a formal declaration by the President.[4]

Geography

Situation

Yvelines is bordered by the departments of Val-d'Oise on the north, Hauts-de-Seine on the east, Essonne on the southeast, Eure-et-Loir on the southwest and Eure on the west.

The eastern part of the department, as well as its northern part along the Seine, is part of the Paris metropolitan area, but the rest of the department is rural, much of it covered by the Forest of Rambouillet (also known as the Forest of Yveline, from which the name of the department is derived).

Two regional parks can be found in Yvelines: Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Natural Park and part of Vexin Français Park. Yvelines is home to one of France's best known golf courses, La Tuilerie-Bignon, in the village of Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche.

Principal towns

Besides Versailles (the prefecture and most populous commune) and the subprefectures of Mantes-la-Jolie, Rambouillet, and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, important cities include Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, Poissy, Les Mureaux, Houilles, Plaisir, Sartrouville, Chatou, Le Chesnay, and the new agglomeration community of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. As of 2023, there are 24 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants. The 10 most populous communes are:[5]

CommunePopulation (2023)
Versailles84,095
Sartrouville52,763
Saint-Germain-en-Laye45,931
Mantes-la-Jolie43,526
Poissy40,983
Conflans-Sainte-Honorine36,958
Trappes34,689
Les Mureaux34,632
Houilles33,983
Montigny-le-Bretonneux32,465

Demographics

In French, a man from the Yvelines is called Yvelinois (plural Yvelinois); a woman is Yvelinoise (plural Yvelinoises).

Population development since 1876

Population data refer to the department in its geography as of January 2025.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1876235,511—
1881236,471+0.4%
1891250,552+6.0%
1901270,228+7.9%
1911297,562+10.1%
1921321,237+8.0%
1931408,282+27.1%
1936428,166+4.9%
1946431,499+0.8%
1954519,976+20.5%
1962687,827+32.3%
1968854,382+24.2%
19751,082,255+26.7%
19821,196,111+10.5%
19901,307,150+9.3%
19991,354,304+3.6%
20071,403,957+3.7%
20121,412,356+0.6%
20171,438,266+1.8%
20231,485,086+3.3%

Sources:[6][2]

Tourism

Palaces and châteaux

Museums

  • Museum of National Antiques (Saint-Germain-en-Laye)
  • Museum of River and Canal Craft (Conflans-Sainte-Honorine)
  • Horse-drawn Coach Museum (Versailles)
  • Toy Museum (Poissy)
  • Sheep Museum (Rambouillet)
  • Cloth Museum of Jouy (Jouy-en-Josas)
  • National Barn Museum of Port-Royal (Magny-les-Hameaux)
  • International Museum of Naive Art
  • Musée Lambinet (Versailles)
  • Musée de la Grenouillère (Croissy-sur-Seine)
  • Musée Fournaise (Chatou)

Artists' and writers' houses

Parks and gardens

Politics

In both local and national elections, the department generally supports centre-right political candidates. Michel Rocard, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1988 to 1991 under President François Mitterrand, was an MP for the department in the Socialist Party. The president of the Departmental Council is Pierre Bédier, first elected in 2014.

Presidential elections 2nd round

ElectionWinning candidateParty%2nd place candidateParty%
2022[7]Emmanuel MacronLREM71.05Marine Le PenFN28.95
2017[8]Emmanuel MacronLREM77.15Marine Le PenFN22.85
2012Nicolas SarkozyUMP54.30François HollandePS45.70
2007Nicolas SarkozyUMP58.71Ségolène RoyalPS41.29
2002[8]Jacques ChiracRPR85.59Jean-Marie Le PenFN14.41
1995[9]Jacques ChiracRPR60.64Lionel JospinPS39.36

Members of the National Assembly

In the 2024 legislative election, Yvelines elected the following representatives to the National Assembly:

ConstituencyMember[10]Party
Yvelines's 1st constituencyCharles RodwellRE
Yvelines's 2nd constituencyAnne BergantzMoDem
Yvelines's 3rd constituencyBéatrice PironRE
Yvelines's 4th constituencyMarie LebecRE
Yvelines's 5th constituencyYaël Braun-PivetRE
Yvelines's 6th constituencyNatalia PouzyreffRE
Yvelines's 7th constituencyAurélien RousseauPP
Yvelines's 8th constituencyBenjamin LucasG.s.
Yvelines's 9th constituencyDieynaba DiopPS
Yvelines's 10th constituencyAurore BergéRE
Yvelines's 11th constituencyWilliam MartinetLFI
Yvelines's 12th constituencyKarl OliveRE

Senators

In the Senate, Yvelines is represented by:

See also

References

  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 4 May 2022.
  2. ^ Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE
  3. ^ Busson (abbé G.) Ledru(abbé A.) Actus pontificum Cenomannis in urbe degentium (1902), .
  4. ^ "Communiqué de la présidence de la République" (in French). Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  5. ^ Populations de référence 2023: 78 Yvelines, INSEE
  6. ^ "Historique des Yvelines". Le SPLAF
  7. ^ "Les résultats du second tour de l'élection présidentielle". France 24. 19 April 2022.
  8. ^ l'Intérieur, Ministère de. "Présidentielles". interieur.gouv.fr
  9. ^ "Résultats de l'élection présidentielle de 1995 par département - Politiquemania". www.politiquemania.com
  10. ^ Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français". Assemblée nationale