Seine

Seine was a former administrative department of France whose territory covered Paris and much of the capital's inner suburban area. Created in 1790 as the department of Paris during the reorganization of France after the Revolution, it was renamed the department of Seine in 1795 after the river running through the region. Its prefecture was Paris, and its official departmental number was 75, a designation later transferred to the modern Paris department. The department was unusual in both geography and administration. It was entirely surrounded by the former department of Seine-et-Oise, making it France's only enclaved department. For much of its existence, the prefect of Seine also exercised direct administrative authority over Paris. Paris consequently had less municipal autonomy than most French communes; for most of the period after the Revolution it lacked a mayor, apart from a short interval. This arrangement reflected the central government's desire to supervise the political and administrative center of France. Seine expanded demographically as Paris industrialized and suburbanized. In the 1801 census it had 631,585 inhabitants, with the large majority living inside Paris. By 1929 its organization included Paris and 80 surrounding suburban communes, divided among the arrondissements of Paris, Sceaux and Saint-Denis. The department covered approximately 480 square kilometers, around 22 percent of which was the City of Paris and 78 percent suburbs. Population growth eventually made the department difficult to administer as a single unit. At its 1968 peak, Seine had about 5.7 million residents, making it by far France's most populous department. The government therefore replaced the existing structure on 1 January 1968. Paris became a department in its own right, while the surrounding communes were distributed among Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne. Each of those three departments also incorporated communes from the simultaneously abolished Seine-et-Oise department. Although Seine no longer exists as an administrative department, its former territory remains central to the organization of metropolitan Paris. The three successor suburban departments are commonly called the Petite Couronne, or inner ring, together with Paris. These four departments form the core of the wider Paris metropolitan area and are included within the Métropole du Grand Paris, created in 2016 along with additional municipalities from the outer suburbs.

The department was established on 4 March 1790 as the department of Paris, one of the territorial units created during the French Revolution's restructuring of France. In 1795 it adopted the name Seine, referring to the major river crossing Paris and the surrounding region. Paris served as the prefecture throughout the department's existence. The department's institutional design gave the central state a particularly strong role in governing the capital. For most of the period after 1794, Paris was the only commune in France without a mayor, with the prefect of Seine exercising authority over the city as well as administering the department. This arrangement remained influential as Paris grew from a revolutionary capital into the political, industrial and commercial center of modern France. Seine initially contained Paris and its nearby surroundings. Population growth during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries transformed it into a densely urbanized metropolitan department. By 1929 it comprised the City of Paris and 80 suburban communes, arranged in three arrondissements: Paris, Sceaux and Saint-Denis. Its territory measured roughly 480 square kilometers and was completely enclosed by Seine-et-Oise, a geographic feature that made it unique among French departments. The department's demographic expansion was substantial. It had 631,585 inhabitants in 1801, with approximately 87 percent living in Paris and 13 percent in the suburbs. By the 1968 census its population had reached 5,700,754, divided broadly between Paris and the suburbs. The scale and complexity of this population, combined with the growth of suburban communities, led authorities to conclude that Seine had become too large to govern effectively as one department. A territorial reform took effect on 1 January 1968. The City of Paris became a department by itself and retained the number 75 previously assigned to Seine. Twenty-nine former Seine communes were combined with 18 communes from Seine-et-Oise to create Val-de-Marne, assigned number 94. Twenty-seven Seine communes and nine Seine-et-Oise communes formed Hauts-de-Seine, assigned number 92. The remaining 24 Seine communes joined 16 from Seine-et-Oise to form Seine-Saint-Denis, assigned number 93. Seine-et-Oise was abolished at the same time. The former department's population continued to change after dissolution. The communes that had belonged to Seine had about 5.2 million inhabitants in 1999 and approximately 5.5 million in 2006, following a period in which residents moved from the inner area toward more distant suburbs before renewed central-area growth. The successor departments, together with Paris, now constitute the Petite Couronne and remain a key part of the Paris metropolitan administrative landscape.

• 2016

  Creation of the Métropole du Grand Paris

  [1]Seine (department)en.wikipedia.org

  The Paris department and the three former inner-ring successor departments became part of the Métropole du Grand Paris, alongside additional municipalities from the outer suburbs.

• 1968

  Dissolution and territorial reorganization

  [1]Seine (department)en.wikipedia.org

  On 1 January, Seine was replaced by the departments of Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, with parts of the former Seine-et-Oise also incorporated into the new departments.

• 1929

  Expansion to Paris and 80 suburban communes

  [1]Seine (department)en.wikipedia.org

  The department's later territorial configuration comprised Paris and 80 surrounding suburban communes, organized into the arrondissements of Paris, Sceaux and Saint-Denis.

• 1801

  Early nineteenth-century census

  [1]Seine (department)en.wikipedia.org

  The first census of the French Republic recorded 631,585 inhabitants, making Seine one of the most populous departments in the Napoleonic Empire.

• 1795

  Renaming as the department of Seine

  [1]Seine (department)en.wikipedia.org

  The department was renamed Seine after the river that flows through Paris and the surrounding region.

• 1790

  Creation as the department of Paris

  [1]Seine (department)en.wikipedia.org

  France created the department of Paris on 4 March 1790 during the post-Revolutionary territorial reorganization.

A historical territorial and administrative entity rather than a commercial brand.

1. 1Seine (department)en.wikipedia.org