Essonne is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes. Essonne was formed on 1 January 1968, when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments. Its prefecture is Évry-Courcouronnes. Its INSEE and postcode number is 91.

History

The Essonne department was created on 1 January 1968, from the southern portion of the former department of Seine-et-Oise. In June 1963, Carrefour S.A. opened the first hypermarket in the Paris region at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (although the word "hypermarché" was first used only in 1966). Based on the ideas put forward by the American logistics pioneer Bernardo Trujillo, the centre offered on a single 2500 m² site a hitherto unknown combination of wide choice and low prices, supported by 400 car parking spaces. In 1969, the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble were separated from Essonne and added to the department of Yvelines.

Geography

Essonne belongs to the region of Île-de-France. It has borders with the departments of: All of northern Essonne department belongs to the Parisian agglomeration and is very urbanized. The south remains rural.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Évry-Courcouronnes, the prefecture. the 5 most populous communes are: In descending order, the other communes over 25,000 population are: Athis-Mons, Palaiseau, Vigneux-sur-Seine, Viry-Châtillon, Ris-Orangis, Yerres, Draveil, Grigny, Brétigny-sur-Orge, Étampes, Brunoy and Les Ulis. Milly-la-Forêt is a notable example of its more rural communes.

Main sights

Politics

The department's most high-profile political representative has been Manuel Valls, who was Prime Minister of France from 31 March 2014 to 6 December 2016. Valls visited its main town, Évry, to deliver remarks following the Charlie Hebdo massacre of January 2015. The president of the Departmental Council is François Durovray, elected in 2015.

Presidential election, second round

Members of the National Assembly

Demographics

Population development since 1876:

Place of birth of residents

Tourism

Sister regions

Essonne is twinned with: