FRANCE (see 10.775*). The convulsions of the World War deeply disturbed the work of the statistical machinery of France, both central and local. Ten departments of the country were for several years in enemy occupation, and the result was that in 1921 no proper statistical information as to the population and its activities during that period was obtainable. In many places local records had been destroyed, and the central statistical bureau was deprived of many of its workers.
Population. The quinquennial census, which was first taken in 1831, was interrupted in 1916 by the war. It was again taken in March 1921. The last previous complete census returns, those of 1911, showed the total pop. to be 39,604,992, including 1,152,096 foreigners, a slight decrease as compared with the 1906 figures. The organized efforts made to stem the fall in the birth-rate and to reduce infant mortality by the granting of preferential treatment to large families and by hygiene had not met with the success they deserved, and the losses in war-time came to aggravate the problem.
The census taken in March 1921 (provisional figures) gave France a total pop. of 37,499,394, of whom 1,415,128 were foreigners. These figures do not include the French troops abroad in the occupied territories of Germany, nor the French forces in the plebiscite zone of Upper Silesia and the mandate territory of Syria, nor do they include the pop. of the recovered provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. As the distribution of parlia- mentary representation is based upon pop., it should be noted that the two constituencies of Aveyron contain 181,821 and 145,942 French inhabitants; the two divisions of the Bouches- du-Rhone have 507,224 and 187,715; the two of Calvados, 229,478 and 148,061; the two of the Loire-Inferieure, 331,630 and 314,316; the Maine-et-Loire 253,395 and 219,209; the Pas- de-Calais, 545,023 and 406,572; the Basses-Pyrenees 219,193 and 161,686; and the four divisions of the Seine have as French pop. 955*539, 785,232, 996,174 and 1,440,652. Table 3 gives the details of the departmental population. Including Alsace- Lorraine, the census showed a total pop. of 39,402,739, of whom 1,550,449 were foreigners.
Male pop. in 1911 numbered 19,254,444; the female pop. was 19,937,689, an excess of females over males of 683,245. This pre- ponderance of females in France has been steadily more marked since 1886. For every 1,000 males there were 1,014 females in 1891, 1,033 in 1901 and 1,035 in 1911, when the proportion was 50-87 females, as compared with 50-80 in 1901. The growth in female population is due both to increased female births and to increased female longevity. Congestion in urban areas at the expense of agricultural districts was a marked feature of 1911 returns, and it was anticipated that this movement would be shown even more clearly in 1921 returns.
TABLE I. Towns of over 100,000 Inhabitants.
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1906
1911
Paris
2,7",93i
2,847,229
Lyons
430,186
523,796
Marseilles
421,116
550,619
Bordeaux ......
237,767
261,678
Lille
196,624
217,807
St. Etienne
130,940
148,656
Le Havre
129,403
136,159
Toulouse
125,856
149,576
Roubaix
H9,955
122,723
Nantes
118,244
170,535
Rouen
in ,402
124,987
Reims
102,800
U5.I78
Nice
99,556
142,940
Nancy
98,302
119,949
Toulon . ...
87,997
104,582
TABLE 2. Towns of 50,000-100,000 Inhabitants (ion).
Amiens
93,207
Orleans
72,096
Limoges
92,181
Le Mans
69,361
Angers
83,786
Troyes
55,486
Brest ....
90,540
St. Denis
71,759
Nimes
80,437
Levallois-Perret
68,703
Montpellier
80,230
Clermont-Ferrand
65,386
Dijon
76,847
Versailles
60,458
Tourcoing .
82,644
Besancon
57,978
Rennes
79,372
Boulogne-sur- Seine
57,027
Tours . .
73,398
St. Quentin
55,571
Calais.
72,322
Boulogne-sur-Mer
53,128
Grenoble .
77,438
Beziers
51,042
TABLE 3. Departmental Population (1921)
Department
Total Pop.
1-rrnrh
Foreign
Ain
315,757
307,398
8,359
Aisne ....
421-515
402,285
19,230
Allier
370,950
369,377
i,573
Alpes (Basses-)
91,882
87,070
4,812
Alpes (Hautes-)
89,275
86,852
2,423
Alpes-Maritimes .
357,759
257,042
100,717
Ardeche
294,308
293,258
1,050
Ardennes ....
277,791
253,989
23,802
Ariege
172,851
168,309
4,542
Aube
227,745
224,575
3,170
Aude
286,532
260,061
26,471
Aveyron
332,94
327,763
5,177
Bouches-du-Rh&ne
841,996
694,939
H7.057
Calvados ....
384,501
377,539
6,962
Cantal
199,401
198,924
477
Charente ....
316,249
3H,877
1,372
CharenteTnfeVieure
418,310
416,148
2,162
Cher .....
304,800
303,793
1,007
Correze
273,808
273,484
324
Corse
281,959
275,58i
6,378
C6te-d'Or ....
321,088
316,970
4,118
C6tes-du-Nord
557,824
557,091
733
Creuse
228,344
227,900
444
Dordogne ....
396,702
394,955
1,747
Doubs
284,975
270,978
13,997
Dr6me
263,509
261,026
2,483
Eure
303,092
294,703
8,389
Eure-et-Loir ....
251,259
249,426
1,833
Finistere
762,514
762,048
466
Card
396,169
382,020
H,I49
Garonne (Haute-) .
424,482
413,505
io,977
Gers
194,406
189,664
4,742
Gironde
819,404
794,057
25,347
Herault . -
488,215
436,004
52,211
Ille-et-Vilaine.
558,574
556,800
1-774
Indre
260,535
259,802
733
Indre-et-Loire.
327,743
325,203
2,540
Isere
525.522
503,169
22,353
Jura
229,062
223,278
5,784
Landes
263,937
261,414
2,523
Loir-et-Cher ....
251,528
249,889
1,639
Loire
637,130
618,169
18,961
Loire (Haute-)
268,893
268,365
528
Loire-Inferieure
649,723
645,978
3,745
Loiret
337,224
334,738
2,486
Lot
176,889
1/6,139
750
Lot-et-Garonne
239,972
234.734
5,238
Lozere
108,822
108,820
2
Maine-et-Loire
474,786
472,604
2,182
Manche
425-512
. 423.457
2,055
Marne
366,734
355,661
11,073
Marne (Haute-)
198,865
195,185
3,680
Mayenne ....
262,447
261,903
544
Meurthe-et-Moselle
503,810
459,889
43,921
Meuse
207,309
196,687
10,622
Morbihan ....
546,047
545,623
424
Nievre
270,148
267,395
2,753
Nord
T 788,518
1,616,772
171,746
Oise
387,760
370,105
f *f / 1" 17,655
Orne
274,814
272,772
2,042
Pas-de-Calais ....
989,967
951,595
38,372
Puy-de-D&me.
490,560
487,534
3,026
Pyrenees (Basses-)
402,981
380,879
22,102
Pyrenees (Hautes-)
185,760
180,246
5,514
Pyrenees-Orientales
217,503
183,068
34,435
Rhin (Haut-) (Belfort) .
94,338
89,590
4,748
Rhdne . . . .
956,566
917,957
38,609
Sa&ne (Haute-)
228,348
225,028
3.320
Sa6ne-et-Loire
554,816
550,227
4,589
Sarthe . . . .
389,235
387,523
1,712
Savoie . . . .
225,034
211,988
13,046
Savoie (Haute-)
235,668
223,522
12,146
Seine . . . .
4,411,446
4,177,597
233,849
Seine-Inferieure
880,671
862,793
17,878
Seine-et-Marne
349,257
339,276
9,981
Seine-et-Oise .
921,673
887,523
34, 1 50
Sevres (Deux-)
3IO,O6O
309,421
639
Somme . . . .
452,624
440,202
12,422
Tarn. . . .
295,588
290,852
4,736
Tarn-et-Garonne
159,559
158,124
1-435
Var . . .
322,945
270,450
52,495
Vaucluse . . . .
219,602
210,845
8,757
Vendee . . . .
397,292
396,596
696
Vienne . . . .
306,248
305,431
817
Vienne (Haute-)
350,235
349,522
713
Vosges . . .
383,684
377,847
5,837
Yonne . . .
273,"8
270,468
2,650
- These figures indicate the volume and page number of the previous article.
