Contenu du sommaire : La population française dans son espace - The French population within its own space.

Population dynamics and territorial distribution of humans, according to some historical examples. Universal for all animals and plant species, the log-normal law of spatial distribution of groups of individuals did not seem to apply to humans, except in towns exceeding a certain size. In reality, this law does apply when the assumption is made that the current distribution is the addition of two distributions: a historical one, with a small standard deviation, corresponding to a local market economy based on farming and craft industry, and a recent one, with a large standard deviation, corresponding to a remote-exchange industrial economy. As productivity increases, one can follow how the population shifts from the former to the latter. The demographic transition is more than simply a fertility decline responding to a mortality decline. II is also the shift of a relatively uniform spatial distribution to a very differentiated one, linked to the reduction of land areas for production.

Spatial frictions between population and employment. With census data, we examine whether the distribution of jobs and that of people over the French territory display a greater degree of « harmony » in 1990 than they did in 1982. Counter-urbanization around the cities is still going on. But since the excess of births over deaths is larger in towns than it is in the rural parts of the country, there has been virtually no change in the degree of concentration of people over the territory. The increase of employment, however, benefited more to cities (especially the larger ones) than it did to the country. This widening gap between the distribution of people and that of jobs has resulted in an increase of commuting.

Where does the city end? The «new city dwellers» live further and further from the city itself: inhabited by farmers in the past, the dwellings of the rural aeras are now occupied by a great number of people working every day in metropolis. Even if the country landscape doesn't always change, it is now under influence.

Intercensal migrations during 1982-1990. During the period 1982-1990, between the last censuses, five million people, that says one out of eleven, have changed area (NUTS 1). Like in the seventies, South regions have increased through internal migrations, especially the Mediterranean Coast. On the opposite, North-East regions have lost inhabitants. The Capital region, Ile-de-France, was an emigration region, but the difference between immigrants from other regions and emigrants was smaller than during the period 1975-1982. The economic revival at the end of the eighties was probably profitable. Like in the previous decades, an important part of migrations are linked to the life cycle, particularly at the beginning and at the end of occupational life.

The geography of migrations between Ile-de-France and the « province ». The balance of migration between the Ile-de-France region and the other French regions shows a debit balance which has been however reduced since 1982. The number of immigrants is growing up, and for the first time since 1954 the number of emigrants has been decreasing. The geography of gains and losses has not changed. The balance of migrations remains positive with the other big cities, and with the North-East of France, but shows a deficit with the rural areas, the coastal regions and the nearest areas of the Paris basin. The comparison between the real flows and the flows calculated with a gravity model shows that population movements are important between the Ile-de-France region and the big cities but lesser with the North, the East and the Rhône-Alpes regions.

A Contribution to studies on migration. Selected information on persons who were in Alsace at the time of one or more of the last five population censuses has been grouped in one file. Information on migratory movements is considerably improved as all noted population movements are included in the file and are linked with the principal characteritics of the persons concerned. The relatively large size of the file makes the use of a specific method of analysis (SAPHIR) desirable. The name SAPHIR (Population Analysis and the Historical Approach to Censuses) refers to both one -or more- reference files and to a method of analysis appropriate to the field of study.

Residential mobility in the French great urban centres from 1968 to 1990. This paper concerns the evolution of residencial mobility of the citizens inside urban centers where they are living, for the last twenty years. This analysis is unfinished owing to the fact of handicaps due to the form which the recent statistical data (Census of 1990) are now available: it is not possible particularly to isolate the residential changes between communes in each urban center from those between all the French communes. Nevertheless, it appears that the residential mobility has been clearly less intense and less variing between 1982 to 1990 than during the two previous intercensal périodes, chiefly to the detriment, (?...), of the intra-communal mobility.

Demographic and spatial dynamics in the Middle Garonne countries. The Middle Garonne countries have always had a low and spatially unbalanced demographic growth. The recent demographic growth affects all the districts of the valley. This change allows us to show the mechanisms furthering these geographic links: the part played by modern means of communication, the dynamism or the deterioration of economic activities in the towns, the continous spreading of urban areas, even the smallest ones. A typology helps us to bring out the main dynamics based on the urban framework.

Demographic revival and geographical disparities in the Midi-Pyrénées region. Since 1954, the Midi-Pyrénées region's demographic revival has highly been beneficial to the Greater Toulouse area wich is clearly dominating the urban hierarchy. These disparities result more from an intricate process, in wich are involved interregional migrations, than from a mere resettlement of population from the region to its capital city. The growing gap between Toulouse and all the rest of the Midi-Pyrénées region is keeping pace with a leading trend of periurbanization which contributes to the emergence of a widespread residential area all around Toulouse including all the nearest medium-sized towns. The present statistical and administrative bounds do not allow to take properly into account the metropolitan area as part of the town and territory planning policies.

Geographical analysis of household family structures. The geographic pattern of family structures in France is altering very slowly. The nuclear family is still a dominant character within the northern part of the country, whereas complex households hold their position in the South-West. Nevertheless, for several family types, the dicrepancies get narrower during the last intercensal period. This is particularly the case of complex households .

First female marriage variation by French departments: Evolution since the War. In the fifties and the sixties, proportion of never married women reduced and age at first marriage decreased. These changes go hand and hand with a reduction in traditional differences between departments. But an opposite evolution takes place in the urban areas of Paris, favoured by selected migrations. The fall of nuptiality since the beginning of the seventies has led to increase the department differences. Marriage the best resists where formerly it was the least widespread and the most late.

Do the nuptiality behaviours of the Ile-de-France region anticipate those of France? The study of the nuptiality behaviours in the most urban French region - Ile-de- France - and in France as a whole shows up obvious differences. Yet, when one checks up five factors, those differences seem to correspond with time shifts rather than with a real state of things.

Fertility outside marriage in France since 1968; Evolution of the contrasts between departments. The frequency of births outside marriage (number of births per 1000 unmarried women aged 15 to 44) increased dramatically in all the départements between 1968 and 1990 and contrasts between départements became more pronounced. Taking into account prénuptial conceptions and calculating a global rate for births conceived outside marriage lead to another conclusion: in 1968, the contrasts between the departments were already important and the average rate was high. Because of the decrease in prenuptial conceptions and the subsequent increase in births outside marriage, the rates first decreased in almost all departments; there was then a general rise between 1982 and 1990. Differences of evolution during the 1968-1975 and the 1975-1982 periods are of particular interest because they show discrepancies in the tempo of both diffusion of out of wedlock behaviours and contraceptive knowledge among young people from the beginning of the 1970s onwards.

Differential abortion in French «départements». Statistics of abortion are available by «départements» since 1976. The index of differential abortion shows greater deviations in tiihe and space than those of other social indicators. This is less the result of disparities in women's behaviour (there are fewer abortions in the North of France than in the South) than of deep differences in medical services and in the respect of the law.

Working Population: main trends and regional disparities. The French working population has kept growing during the eighties because of the rising arrival of women on the labour market. But what is most characteristic of this recent evolution is the increasing unemployment and the employment precariousness which can reach up to 40-60% of the 20-25 years old working population. Regional disparities still remain, hardly soften, and the opposition between the north and the south of the country seems to increase.

The districts which benefit from French urban policy show a considerable diversity. In metropolitan France, about 500 urban districts are benefiting from contracts between municipal, regional and central governments. Even if they share, among other features, a high unemployment rate, these districts show considerable differences among regions in terms of public housing districts, inner cities, working-class housing. Furthermore, a particular district can contrast more or less with the surrounding urban unit.

RMI and integration in rural backgrounds. The example of the Mayenne. By their demographic characteristics, the beneficiaries of the RM (Revenu minimum d'insertion) in the French department of Mayenne are similar to the national average: youth, mostly persons living alone, many single-parent families, concentration in cities. Meanwhile, this department is a relevant area to analyze the application of the RMI in rural backgrounds: diversity of the beneficiaries, particular difficulties of réintégration despite a strong mobilization of local figures.

Local policies and distribution of the Elderly: The case of Angers In Angers, a medium size city of Western France, the 1975 and 1990 censuses point out a great mobility of old people (over 75 years). Now, they rather aggregate in the city inner area. As a consequence, the central district gets proportionnally more populated with younger people. These changes in the age structure arise from three main processes: in the central district real estate rehabilitation and restoration add to the sortings out of old people; in the less coveted inner area, the greater number of elderly people results from the development of retirement homes and from the local public policy of keeping elderly citizens at home.

School education, inequalities of opportunities: geographical dimensions. The educational standards of French school children have been rising rapidly. The «baccalauréat» has become the basic qualification of the educational system. But social inequalities and geographical disparities in education have not disappeared, when one takes account of access to higher education, the «drop-outs» from education, or the education of children of rural background. They are becoming an entrenched part of the social and geographical diversity of the French society, inequalities which effectively have a hard life of their own.

Town, schooling system and social inequalities. The progress made in schooling for all stands out even more in the towns where the biggest schools and universities are to be found. However, disparities still exist and sometines are intensified for some groups or places. The survey carried out in the urban area of Bordeaux sheds some light on the means contrived by an educational society, the reality of differentiated poles and the inequality of chances in a given area. Beyond the «democratization» of secondary schooling, which is a always the main concern, one can but wonder if the progress underway will not add even more to the social and spatial diversification of professional channels in the town.

Immigration areas: areas of arrival or areas of settlement? the case of Belleville. Immigrant community structures have been mainly associated with the early phase of immigrant settlement. According to this model, such structures disappear in the course of the «acculturation» process. In this article, we argue that these structures exist during a different phase in immigrant settlement and that they are a response to needs that extend beyond the phase of pure «adaptation» to the host society. We attempt to support this argument through the analysis of residential stability of foreign immigrants, used as an indicator of a settling process.

Immigration areas: areas of arrival or areas of settlement? the case of Belleville. Immigrant community structures have been mainly associated with the early phase of immigrant settlement. According to this model, such structures disappear in the course of the «acculturation» process. In this article, we argue that these structures exist during a different phase in immigrant settlement and that they are a response to needs that extend beyond the phase of pure «adaptation» to the host society. We attempt to support this argument through the analysis of residential stability of foreign immigrants, used as an indicator of a settling process.

What evaluation of the Portuguese immigration in France teaches us? The study of the Portuguese immigration in France presents an efficient pattern for the knowledge of international migrations: about 800 000 people were involved in this movement, acting only some years, out of the States' control. Finally, deeply inserted in the French society, the Portuguese community however had kept its links and networks with the native country.