In 2025, the Ile-de-France region, sometimes called the Paris region, was the most populous in France. It is located in the northern part of France, divided into eight departments and crossed by the Seine River. The region contains Paris, its large suburbs, and several rural areas. The total population in metropolitan France was estimated at around ** million inhabitants. In the DOM (Overseas Department), France had more than *** million citizens spread over the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion, Mayotte, and the South American territory of French Guiana. Ile-de-France: the most populous region in France According to the source, more than ** million French citizens lived in the Ile-de-France region. Ile-de-France was followed by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Occitanie region which is in the Southern part of the country. Ile-de-France is not only the most populated region in France, it is also the French region with the highest population density. In 2020, there were ******* residents per square kilometer in Ile-de-France compared to ***** for Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the second most populated region in France. More than two million people were living in the city of Paris in 2025. Thus, the metropolitan area outside the city of Paris, called the suburbs or banlieue in French, had more than ten million inhabitants. Ile-de-France concentrates the majority of the country’s economic and political activities. An urban population In 2024, the total population of France amounted to over 68 million. The population in the country has increased since the mid-2000s. As well as the other European countries, France is experiencing urbanization. In 2023, more than ** percent of the French population lived in cities. This phenomenon shapes France’s geography.

During the eighteenth century, it is estimated that France's population grew by roughly fifty percent, from 19.7 million in 1700, to 29 million by 1800. In France itself, the 1700s are remembered for the end of King Louis XIV's reign in 1715, the Age of Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. During this century, the scientific and ideological advances made in France and across Europe challenged the leadership structures of the time, and questioned the relationship between monarchial, religious and political institutions and their subjects. France was arguably the most powerful nation in the world in these early years, with the second largest population in Europe (after Russia); however, this century was defined by a number of costly, large-scale conflicts across Europe and in the new North American theater, which saw the loss of most overseas territories (particularly in North America) and almost bankrupted the French crown. A combination of regressive taxation, food shortages and enlightenment ideologies ultimately culminated in the French Revolution in 1789, which brought an end to the Ancien Régime, and set in motion a period of self-actualization.

War and peace

After a volatile and tumultuous decade, in which tens of thousands were executed by the state (most infamously: guillotined), relative stability was restored within France as Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799, and the policies of the revolution became enforced. Beyond France's borders, the country was involved in a series of large scale wars for two almost decades, and the First French Empire eventually covered half of Europe by 1812. In 1815, Napoleon was defeated outright, the empire was dissolved, and the monarchy was restored to France; nonetheless, a large number of revolutionary and Napoleonic reforms remained in effect afterwards, and the ideas had a long-term impact across the globe. France experienced a century of comparative peace in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars; there were some notable uprisings and conflicts, and the monarchy was abolished yet again, but nothing on the scale of what had preceded or what was to follow. A new overseas colonial empire was also established in the late 1800s, particularly across Africa and Southeast Asia. Through most of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, France had the second largest population in Europe (after Russia), however political instability and the economic prioritization of Paris meant that the entire country did not urbanize or industrialize at the same rate as the other European powers. Because of this, Germany and Britain entered the twentieth century with larger populations, and other regions, such as Austria or Belgium, had overtaken France in terms of industrialization; the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War was also a major contributor to this.

World Wars and contemporary France

Coming into the 1900s, France had a population of approximately forty million people (officially 38 million* due to to territorial changes), and there was relatively little growth in the first half of the century. France was comparatively unprepared for a large scale war, however it became one of the most active theaters of the First World War when Germany invaded via Belgium in 1914, with the ability to mobilize over eight million men. By the war's end in 1918, France had lost almost 1.4 million in the conflict, and approximately 300,000 in the Spanish Flu pandemic that followed. Germany invaded France again during the Second World War, and occupied the country from 1940, until the Allied counter-invasion liberated the country during the summer of 1944. France lost around 600,000 people in the course of the war, over half of which were civilians. Following the war's end, the country experienced a baby boom, and the population grew by approximately twenty million people in the next fifty years (compared to just one million in the previous fifty years). Since the 1950s, France's economy quickly grew to be one of the strongest in the world, despite losing the vast majority of its overseas colonial empire by the 1970s. A wave of migration, especially from these former colonies, has greatly contributed to the growth and diversity of France's population today, which stands at over 65 million people in 2020.

This statistic shows the population distribution in France on January 1st, 2025, by age group. In 2025, people aged under 15 accounted for 16.7 percent of the total French population, whereas around 10 percent of the population were 75 years and older. By comparison, the number of members of the population over the age of 65 years has increased even more prominently, reaching 14.57 million in 2025. The number of people living in France has been steadily increasing since 1982, exceeding 68 million in 2025, having thus grown by seven percent during that time.

In 2024, the birth rate in France reached its lowest level since 1982. From 1982 to 2019, the birth rate in France has been fluctuating between more than 11 births and almost 14 births for 1,000 inhabitants. For the first time in this period, the birth rate fell below 11 in 2020. The highest birth rate in France during this period was recorded in 1982. That year there were 14.8 births per 1,000 inhabitants. Since then, the birth rate in the country keeps decreasing. If France keeps being one of the European countries with the highest fertility rate, it is still been impacted by the decline in the birth rate that affects most Western countries. A Declining birth rate Birth rate is the ration between the annual number of live births and the average total population over that year. In 2023, there were 640,000 live births in France, while the French population amounted to 68 million people. The average number of children born per women went from 2.03 in 2010, down to 1.66 in 2023. Births in France With a crude birth rate of 10.9 births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2020, France still has one of the highest birth rates in Europe. The percentage of children born out-of-wedlock in France has been rising since the nineties, reaching 65.2 percent in 2022. Another change can be seen in the average age at childbirth among French women. In 2022, most of women in France were aged 31.1 years old at childbirth, compared to 28.8 years old in 1994.

This statistic provides information on the origin of the population of the City of Brussels.These statistics on origin are based on the following characteristics: the person's current nationality and first registered nationality, as well as the parents' first registered nationality. These characteristics are available in the National Register of Natural Persons (RNPP) managed by the SPF Intérieur. The starting point for determining origin is current nationality. If it is not Belgian, the person falls into the ‘non-Belgian’ category.If the current nationality is Belgian, the first nationality registered is looked at secondarily. If it is non-Belgian, the person falls into the ‘Belgian of foreign origin’ category. If the current nationality and the first registered nationality are Belgian, then the first registered nationality of the parents is examined. If one or both parents have a non-Belgian first registered nationality, then the person belongs to the ‘Belgian of foreign origin’ category.Finally, people who do not belong to any of the above categories are classified in the ‘Belgian of Belgian origin’ category.Nationality is finally subdivided into four main categories: Belgian; Neighbouring country, i.e. Germany, France, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; EU27, excluding Belgium and neighbouring countries; Non-EU27.

In 1800, the population of modern day Algeria was estimated to be around 2.5 million people, and by the turn of the twentieth century it had almost doubled to five million. In the first three decades of the nineteenth century, Algeria was a semi-autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire, however an invasion by France in 1830 was the beginning of 130 years of French rule, and the development of Algeria's modern borders by 1875 (although northern Algeria was treated as an extension of the French metropole, with elected representatives in the Assembly). Although the rest of the century saw both medicinal and economic progress, French rule also dismantled traditional Algerian political and societal structures, as well as the oppression of Islam, particularly in rural areas. Algeria in the early 1900s The first few decades of the twentieth century saw increasing Algerian and Islamic influence in local government. Throughout both World Wars, Algerian soldiers played an integral part in the French military, and were responsible for Algeria's liberation from Nazi Germany, as well as decisive campaigns in Italy and France. Although Algerian troops often made up the first wave of soldiers to go into battle, they did not receive the same treatment or pay as their French counterparts, and Algerian veterans did not receive the same rights as French veterans until 2017. As Europe's control over its colonies weakened in the mid-1900s, independence movements in countries such as Algeria gained momentum, and the Algerian War of Independence was one of the most violent and arduous during this time. Although it began as guerilla warfare in 1952, a series of massacres and reprisals led to all-out war in 1955, between the National Liberation Front (FLN) and the French-Algerian government. Up to one million Algerian's lost their lives in the war, and approximately twenty percent of the Muslim population became refugees. The war ended in March 1962, through the Evian Accords, and Algeria's independence was acknowledged on July 3, 1962. Independent Algeria In the aftermath of the war, there was a mass exodus of ethnic Europeans, as well as the systematic genocide of thousands of pro-French Algerians who remained in the country. Much of Algeria's agriculture had been destroyed, it's economy was left without structure as the majority of those in positions of power returned to Europe, and seventy percent of the workforce was unemployed. Relative peace followed and the country slowly modernized over the next three decades, however military rule failed to sufficiently stabilize the country, and the government's attempts to suppress Islam's influence in politics eventually led to a civil war in 1992. The civil war involved different factions with Islamic and pro-government agendas, and was very regionalized. The high number of massacres eventually led to splits within all paramilitary factions, which the government then capitalized on to re-establish control, and the war effectively ended in 2002. Since then, the military's control over Algerian politics has gradually decreased, and Algeria has become more peaceful and democratic (however they have not had an elected President since April 2019). Increased stability has also allowed the population to grow exponentially, and today it is almost 44 million people, double what it was in the mid-1980s.

The majority of guests on Airbnb are women. Most Airbnb guests are aged 25 to 34.

In 2024, the net migration rate in France reached 152,000. In recent years Europe and France have seen more people arrive than depart. The net migration rate is the difference between the number of immigrants (people coming into an area) and the number of emigrants (people leaving an area) throughout the year. France's highest net migration rate was reached in 2018 when it amounted to 201,000. Armed conflicts and economic migration are some of the reasons for immigration in Europe. The refugee crisis Studies have shown that there were 331,000 immigrant arrivals in France in 2022, which has risen since 2014. The migrant crisis, which began in 2015 in Europe, had an impact on the migration entry flows not only in France but in all European countries. The number of illegal border crossings to the EU over the Eastern Mediterranean route reached a record number of 885,386 crossings in 2015. Immigration in France Since the middle of the 19th century, France has attracted immigrants, first from European countries (like Poland, Spain, and Italy), and then from the former French colonies. In 2023, there were approximately 8.9 million people foreign-born in France. Most of them were living in the Ile-de-France region, which contains Paris, and in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in the Southeastern part of the country. In 2022, the majority of immigrants arriving in France were from Africa and Europe.

In 1789, on the eve of the Haitian (and French) Revolution, the French colony of St Domingue had an estimated population of 556 thousand people. Of these, 500 thousand are thought to have been African slaves (approximately half of the entire Caribbean's slave population at the time), while just over ten percent of the population were whites or free people of color. Following the Haitian Revolution's conclusion in 1804, Haiti would become just the second nation in the Americas to gain its independence, and was the first (and only) country in the world to have been established by former slaves.

This statistic shows the number of immigrants in France in 2023, distributed by geographical origin. It displays that more than *** thousand immigrants were born in Algeria, and more than *** thousand in Morocco.

The Tour de France is a world-famous cycle race that took place for the first time in 1903. Its route crosses France and even passes occasionally into some neighboring countries. Also known as the "Big Loop", the Tour de France is one of the biggest events in the world of cycling. A ********* survey revealed Julian Alaphilippe was presumed to be the most likely rider to win the competition in France.

As of July 15, 2024, over ************ people in Australia had tuned into the Tour de France, with the first stage reaching ******* people nationwide. The iconic race has been won by an Australian on one occasion.

The graph shows public opinion on the defense of secularism in France in 2017. The survey displays that 36 percent of the respondents believed that secularism was rather not sufficiently defended in France. On the other hand, 34 percent declared that they estimated secularism was rather sufficiently defended in France whereas 21 percent of respondents considered secularism was not at all sufficiently defended.

Secularism in France Secularism, or laïcité in French, is a fundamental value and an essential principle of the French Republic. Rooted in the French Revolution, secularism is a concept which establishes separation of church and state, discouraging religious involvement in politics and government affairs, and that states that religions belong to the private sphere. In 1905 the Law on the Separation of the Church and State recognized the "freedom to practice a religion" but also prohibited the state from recognizing or funding any religion. In France most of all religious buildings belong to city councils but are made available to religious organizations. The 1958 French Constitution states that "France is an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic, guaranteeing that all citizens regardless of their origin, race or religion are treated as equals before the law and respecting all religious beliefs" Over the past years the debate on secularism in France has mostly focused on other religion than Catholicism which is the first religion in France before Islam. Questions on the niqab and the burqa, or halal meals at school still raise tension in the French medias.

Despite secularism school holidays in France follow the Christian liturgical year

This graph depicts the proportion of registered voters who voted in the presidential elections in France between 1965 and 2022, by round. It appears that 1974 was the presidential election with the highest voter turnout. That year, ***** percent of French people voted, and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing won the election against François Mitterrand.

In 1800, the region of Germany was not a single, unified nation, but a collection of decentralized, independent states, bound together as part of the Holy Roman Empire. This empire was dissolved, however, in 1806, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras in Europe, and the German Confederation was established in 1815. Napoleonic reforms led to the abolition of serfdom, extension of voting rights to property-owners, and an overall increase in living standards. The population grew throughout the remainder of the century, as improvements in sanitation and medicine (namely, mandatory vaccination policies) saw child mortality rates fall in later decades. As Germany industrialized and the economy grew, so too did the argument for nationhood; calls for pan-Germanism (the unification of all German-speaking lands) grew more popular among the lower classes in the mid-1800s, especially following the revolutions of 1948-49. In contrast, industrialization and poor harvests also saw high unemployment in rural regions, which led to waves of mass migration, particularly to the U.S.. In 1886, the Austro-Prussian War united northern Germany under a new Confederation, while the remaining German states (excluding Austria and Switzerland) joined following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871; this established the German Empire, under the Prussian leadership of Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. 1871 to 1945 - Unification to the Second World War The first decades of unification saw Germany rise to become one of Europe's strongest and most advanced nations, and challenge other world powers on an international scale, establishing colonies in Africa and the Pacific. These endeavors were cut short, however, when the Austro-Hungarian heir apparent was assassinated in Sarajevo; Germany promised a "blank check" of support for Austria's retaliation, who subsequently declared war on Serbia and set the First World War in motion. Viewed as the strongest of the Central Powers, Germany mobilized over 11 million men throughout the war, and its army fought in all theaters. As the war progressed, both the military and civilian populations grew increasingly weakened due to malnutrition, as Germany's resources became stretched. By the war's end in 1918, Germany suffered over 2 million civilian and military deaths due to conflict, and several hundred thousand more during the accompanying influenza pandemic. Mass displacement and the restructuring of Europe's borders through the Treaty of Versailles saw the population drop by several million more.

Reparations and economic mismanagement also financially crippled Germany and led to bitter indignation among many Germans in the interwar period; something that was exploited by Adolf Hitler on his rise to power. Reckless printing of money caused hyperinflation in 1923, when the currency became so worthless that basic items were priced at trillions of Marks; the introduction of the Rentenmark then stabilized the economy before the Great Depression of 1929 sent it back into dramatic decline. When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi government disregarded the Treaty of Versailles' restrictions and Germany rose once more to become an emerging superpower. Hitler's desire for territorial expansion into eastern Europe and the creation of an ethnically-homogenous German empire then led to the invasion of Poland in 1939, which is considered the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. Again, almost every aspect of German life contributed to the war effort, and more than 13 million men were mobilized. After six years of war, and over seven million German deaths, the Axis powers were defeated and Germany was divided into four zones administered by France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the U.S.. Mass displacement, shifting borders, and the relocation of peoples based on ethnicity also greatly affected the population during this time. 1945 to 2020 - Partition and Reunification In the late 1940s, cold war tensions led to two distinct states emerging in Germany; the Soviet-controlled east became the communist German Democratic Republic (DDR), and the three western zones merged to form the democratic Federal Republic of Germany. Additionally, Berlin was split in a similar fashion, although its location deep inside DDR territory created series of problems and opportunities for the those on either side. Life quickly changed depending on which side of the border one lived. Within a decade, rapid economic recovery saw West Germany become western Europe's strongest economy and a key international player. In the east, living standards were much lower, although unemployment was almost non-existent; internationally, East Germany was the strongest economy in the Eastern Bloc (after the USSR), though it eventually fell behind the West by the 1970s. The restriction of movement between the two states also led to labor shortages in t...

This bar chart presents the population of the city of Paris in France in 2020, distributed by district, also called arrondissement in French. It shows that the XVe arrondissement, located on the left bank of the river Seine, was the most populous district with more than 231,000 inhabitants.

It is presumed that the first humans migrated from Siberia to North America approximately twelve thousand years ago, where they then moved southwards to warmer lands. It was not until many centuries later that humans returned to the north and began to settle regions that are now part of Canada. Despite a few short-lived Viking settlements on Newfoundland around the turn of the first millennium CE, the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), became the first European to explore the coast of North America in the late 1400s. The French and British crowns both made claims to areas of Canada throughout the sixteenth century, but real colonization and settlement did not begin until the early seventeenth century. Over the next 150 years, France and Britain competed to take control of the booming fur and fishing trade, and to expand their overseas empires. In the Seven Year's War, Britain eventually defeated the French colonists in North America, through superior numbers and a stronger agriculture resources in the southern colonies, and the outcome of the war saw France cede practically all of it's colonies in North America to the British.

Increased migration and declining native populations

The early 1800s saw a large influx of migrants into Canada, with the Irish Potato Famine bringing the first wave of mass-migration to the country, with further migration coming from Scandinavia and Northern Europe. It is estimated that the region received just shy of one million migrants from the British Isles alone, between 1815 and 1850, which helped the population grow to 2.5 million in the mid-1800s and 5.5 million in 1900. It is also estimated that infectious diseases killed around 25 to 33 percent of all Europeans who migrated to Canada before 1891, and around a third of the Canadian population is estimated to have emigrated southwards to the United States in the 1871-1896 period. From the time of European colonization until the mid-nineteenth century, the native population of Canada dropped from roughly 500,000 (some estimates put it as high as two million) to just over 100,000; this was due to a mixture of disease, starvation and warfare, instigated by European migration to the region. The native population was generally segregated and oppressed until the second half of the 1900s; Native Canadians were given the vote in 1960, and, despite their complicated and difficult history, the Canadian government has made significant progress in trying to include indigenous cultures in the country's national identity in recent years. As of 2020, Indigenous Canadians make up more than five percent of the total Canadian population, and a higher birth rate means that this share of the population is expected to grow in the coming decades.

Independence and modern Canada

Canadian independence was finally acknowledged in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster, putting it on equal terms with the United Kingdom within the Commonwealth; virtually granting independence and sovereignty until the Canada Act of 1982 formalized it. Over the past century, Canada has had a relatively stable political system and economy (although it was hit particularly badly by the Wall Street Crash of 1929). Canada entered the First World War with Britain, and as an independent Allied Power in the Second World War; Canadian forces played pivotal roles in a number of campaigns, notably Canada's Hundred Days in WWI, and the country lost more than 100,000 men across both conflicts. The economy boomed in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a stream of socially democratic programs such as universal health care and the Canadian pension plan were introduced, which contributed to a rise in the standard of living. The post war period also saw various territories deciding to join Canada, with Newfoundland joining in 1949, and Nunavut in 1999. Today Canada is among the most highly ranked in countries in terms of civil liberties, quality of life and economic growth. It promotes and welcomes immigrants from all over the world and, as a result, it has one of the most ethnically diverse and multicultural populations of any country in the world. As of 2020, Canada's population stands at around 38 million people, and continues to grow due to high migration levels and life expectancy, and a steady birth rate.

As recorded by the source, Moroccans ranked as the foreign nationality with more residents in Spain in 2023, closely followed by Romanians. After years of losing its foreign population, Spain’s immigration figures started to pick up in 2015, with the number of people that moved to the Mediterranean country surpassing the number of foreigners that decided to leave.

A matter of balance The net migration rate of Spain changed its course mainly due to the great inflow of foreigners that move to reside in the Mediterranean country. Spain’s immigration flow slowed down after the 2008 financial crisis, albeit the number of foreigners that opted to change their residence saw a significant growth in the last years. In 2022, Colombians ranked first as the foreign nationality that most relocated to Spain, distantly followed by Moroccans and Ukranians.

Spain does not have the highest number of immigrants in Europe In recent years, the European Union confronted a rising number of refugees arriving from the Middle East. Migration figures show that Germany accommodated approximately 15 million foreign-born citizens, ranking it as the country that most hosted immigrants in Europe in 2022. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood slightly over seven million, positioning the Western Mediterranean country third on the European list of foreign-born population. Unfortunately, thousands of persons have died ore gone missing trying to reach Spanish territory, as more and more irregular migrants opt to use dangerous maritime routes to arrive at Southern Europe from Africa's coasts.

In 1938, the year before the outbreak of the Second world War, the countries with the largest populations were China, the Soviet Union, and the United States, although the United Kingdom had the largest overall population when it's colonies, dominions, and metropole are combined. Alongside France, these were the five Allied "Great Powers" that emerged victorious from the Second World War. The Axis Powers in the war were led by Germany and Japan in their respective theaters, and their smaller populations were decisive factors in their defeat. Manpower as a resource In the context of the Second World War, a country or territory's population played a vital role in its ability to wage war on such a large scale. Not only were armies able to call upon their people to fight in the war and replenish their forces, but war economies were also dependent on their workforce being able to meet the agricultural, manufacturing, and logistical demands of the war. For the Axis powers, invasions and the annexation of territories were often motivated by the fact that it granted access to valuable resources that would further their own war effort - millions of people living in occupied territories were then forced to gather these resources, or forcibly transported to work in manufacturing in other Axis territories. Similarly, colonial powers were able to use resources taken from their territories to supply their armies, however this often had devastating consequences for the regions from which food was redirected, contributing to numerous food shortages and famines across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Men from annexed or colonized territories were also used in the armies of the war's Great Powers, and in the Axis armies especially. This meant that soldiers often fought alongside their former-enemies. Aftermath The Second World War was the costliest in human history, resulting in the deaths of between 70 and 85 million people. Due to the turmoil and destruction of the war, accurate records for death tolls generally do not exist, therefore pre-war populations (in combination with other statistics), are used to estimate death tolls. The Soviet Union is believed to have lost the largest amount of people during the war, suffering approximately 24 million fatalities by 1945, followed by China at around 20 million people. The Soviet death toll is equal to approximately 14 percent of its pre-war population - the countries with the highest relative death tolls in the war are found in Eastern Europe, due to the intensity of the conflict and the systematic genocide committed in the region during the war.

The population of Europe was estimated to be 745 million in 2024, an increase of around 4 million when compared with 2012. Over 35 years between 1950 and 1985, the population of Europe grew by approximately 157.8 million. But 35 years after 1985 it was estimated to have only increased by around 38.7 million. Since the 1960s, population growth in Europe has fallen quite significantly and was even negative during the mid-1990s. While population growth has increased slightly since the low of -0.07 percent in 1998, the growth rate for 2020 was just 0.04 percent. Which European country has the biggest population? As of 2024, the population of Russia was estimated to be approximately 144.8 million and was by far Europe's largest country in terms of population, with Turkey being the second-largest at over 87 million. While these two countries both have territory in Europe, however, they are both only partially in Europe, with the majority of their landmasses being in Asia. In terms of countries wholly located on the European continent, Germany had the highest population at 84.5 million, and was followed by the United Kingdom and France at 69.1 million and 66.5 million respectively. Characteristics of Europe's population There are approximately 384.6 million females in Europe, compared with 359.5 million males, a difference of around 25 million. In 1950, however, the male population has grown faster than the female one, with the male population growing by 104.7 million, and the female one by 93.6 million. As of 2024, the single year of age with the highest population was 37, at 10.6 million, while in the same year there were estimated to be around 136 thousand people aged 100 or over.