The aire urbaine (French for "urban area") is a statistical region created by the INSEE (National statistics bureau of France) that is comprised by a commuter belt (couronne périurbaine) surrounding a contiguous urban core (pôle urbain). As defined, it is similar (though not identical) to the more general term, "metropolitan area", used in English.
The aire urbaine is a demographic unit that is based on France's nation-wide map of abutting communes (municipalities). It centers on a core of communes (the pôle urbain) that represents a distinct and unified connurbation, a zone of economically- and socially-interdependent communities displaying interconnected and unbroken urban growth.
This center forms a "pole of attraction" for a "periurban ring" or "commuter belt" (couronne périurbaine). Communes having at least 40% of their resident populations commuting back and forth to the pôle urbain, or commuting to other communes having the same relation to the pôle urbain, are defined as being part of the aire urbaine commuter belt. The result is a precise demographic map of a center of urban growth and its socio-economic reach into the surrounding area.
Note that there is a slight difference between a pôle urbain and another commonly-used demographic term, the unité urbaine (the "urban unit"). The unité urbaine is a contiguous urban area supporting at least five thousand jobs, and the pôle urbain is an urban area not contained within the couronne périurbaine (commuter belt) of any other pôle urbain.
The following is a list of the fifteen largest urban areas of France, based on population data gathered at the 2006 census. The classification of the population is sometimes different from the INSEE number.
| Classif. | Insee number (1999) |
Urban area | Population (2006) |
Yearly percent change (1999-2006) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 001 | Paris [1] | 11,769,433 | +0.7% |
| 2 | 002 | Lyon [2] | 1,748,271 | +0.8% |
| 3 | 003 | Marseille [3] | 1,601,095 | +0.8% |
| 4 | 004 | Lille [4] (figures do not include the part of Lille's metropolitan area which lies on Belgian territory) |
1,164,716 | +0.3% |
| 5 | 005 | Toulouse [5] | 1,102,887 | +1.9% |
| 6 | 007 | Bordeaux [6] | 999,149 | +1.1% |
| 7 | 006 | Nice [7] | 991,903 | +0.9% |
| 8 | 008 | Nantes [8] | 763,118 | +1.0% |
| 9 | 009 | Strasbourg [9] (figures do not include the part of Strasbourg's metropolitan area which lies on German territory, see Strasbourg-Ortenau) |
638,670 | +0.6% |
| 10 | 010 | Toulon [10] | 595,884 | +0.8% |
| 11 | 011 | Douai-Lens [11] | 546,723 | –0.2% |
| 12 | 012 | Rennes [12] | 571,753 | +1.3% |
| 13 | 014 | Grenoble [13] | 531,440 | +0.5% |
| 14 | 013 | Rouen [14] | 523,236 | +0.1% |
| 15 | 015 | Montpellier [15] | 510,391 | +1.5% |
The aire urbaine (French for "urban area") is a statistical region created by the INSEE (the national statistics bureau of France) that is comprised by a commuter belt (couronne périurbaine) surrounding a contiguous urban core (pôle urbain). As defined, it is similar (though not identical) to the more general term, "metropolitan area", used in English.
The aire urbaine is a demographic unit that is based on France's nation-wide map of abutting communes (municipalities). It centers on a core of communes (the pôle urbain) that represent a distinct and unified connurbation, a zone of economically- and socially-interdependent communities displaying interconnected and unbroken urban growth.
This center forms a "pole of attraction" for a "periurban ring" or "commuter belt" (couronne périurbaine). Communes having at least 40% of their resident populations commuting back and forth to the pôle urbain, or commuting to other communes having the same relation to the pôle urbain, are defined as being part of the aire urbaine commuter belt. The result is a precise demographic map of a center of urban growth and its socio-economic reach into the surrounding area.
Note that there is a slight difference between a pôle urbain and another commonly-used demographic term, the unité urbaine (the "urban unit"). The unité urbaine is a contiguous urban area supporting at least five thousand jobs, and the pôle urbain is an urban area not contained within the couronne périurbaine (commuter belt) of any other pôle urbain.
The following is a list of the fifteen largest aires urbaines of France, based on population data gathered at the 1999 census:
| Aire urbaine | Population (March 1999) | Yearly percent change (1990-1999) |
|---|---|---|
|
01- Paris | 11,174,743 | +0.32% |
|
02- Lyon | 1,648,216 | +0.68% |
|
03- Marseille | 1,516,340 | +0.46% |
| 04- Lille (figures do not include the part of Lille's metropolitan area which lies on Belgian territory) | 1,143,125 | +0.32% |
|
05- Toulouse | 964,797 | +1.54% |
|
06- Nice | 933,080 | +0.51% |
|
07- Bordeaux | 925,253 | +0.67% |
|
08- Nantes | 711,120 | +1.10% |
| 09- Strasbourg (figures do not include the part of Strasbourg's metropolitan area which lies on German territory, see Eurodistrict) | 612,104 | +0.81% |
|
10- Toulon | 564,823 | +0.69% |
| 552,682 | – 0.17% | |
|
12- Rennes | 521,188 | +1.32% |
|
13- Rouen | 518,316 | +0.29% |
|
14- Grenoble | 514,559 | +0.65% |
|
15- Montpellier | 459,916 | +1.89% |
|
|
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