Editing Demographics of France (section)

==Ethnic groups==
{{bar box
|title=People in metropolitan France according to INSEE (2022)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3633212#tableau-infographie|title=Résultats de la recherche – Insee|website=Insee.fr|access-date=9 February 2024}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|float=left
|bars=
{{bar percent|Born in France with French nationality|Red|86.1}}
{{bar percent|Born in France with foreign nationality|Blue|1.2}}
{{bar percent|Born abroad with French nationality|Red|2.4}}
{{bar percent|Immigrants who acquired French nationality|Red|3.7}}
{{bar percent|Immigrants with foreign nationality|Blue|6.7}}
}}
Note: people born outside of France (including the overseas departments) are referred to as immigrants regardless of their nationality (French or foreign). People without French nationality are referred to as foreigners regardless of their birthplace (France or abroad).

=== Data collection ===
The last national census based on religion occured in 1872 at the start of the Third Republic. After that, excepted from the antisemitic census of the Vichy government, the state of France stopped collecting datas on people's religion or ethnicity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-03 |title=De l'Islam en France à un Islam de France, établir la transparence et lever les ambiguïtés |url=https://www.senat.fr/rap/r15-757/r15-7574.html |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Sénat |language=fr-FR}}</ref> In 1978, a law is voted, banning the collect of individual datas concerning someone's race, religion, trade union or political and philosophical opinion.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-03-19 |title=La difficile utilisation des statistiques ethniques en France |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2019/03/19/la-difficile-utilisation-des-statistiques-ethniques-en-france_5438453_4355770.html |access-date=2025-05-04 |language=fr}}</ref> However, estimates have been made of the ethnic and racial demography of the country in the present.

Some organizations, such as the Representative Council of Black Associations of France ({{langx|fr|link=no|Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France}}, CRAN), have argued in favour of the introduction of [[data collection]] on minority groups but this has been resisted by other organizations and ruling politicians,<ref name="Louis-Georges">{{cite journal |last=Louis-Georges |first=Tin |year=2008 |title=Who is afraid of Blacks in France? The Black question: The name taboo, the number taboo |journal=French Politics, Culture & Society |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=32–44 |doi=10.3167/fpcs.2008.260103}}</ref><ref name="IHT">{{cite news |date=31 January 2007 |title=Black residents of France say they are discriminated against |work=International Herald Tribune |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/world/europe/31iht-bias.4421757.html |access-date=27 October 2009}}</ref> often on the grounds that collecting such statistics goes against France's secular principles and harks back to [[Vichy France|Vichy]]-era [[identity documents]].<ref name="Economist">{{cite news |date=28 March 2009 |title=France's ethnic minorities: To count or not to count |volume=390 |page=62 |newspaper=The Economist |issue=8624 |url=http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=E1_TPPSSPNQ}}</ref> During the [[2007 French presidential election|2007 presidential election]], however, [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], polled on the issue, stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity.<ref name="Chrisafis">{{cite news |last=Chrisafis |first=Angelique |date=24 February 2007 |title=French presidential candidates divided over race census |page=25 |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/24/france.population |access-date=27 October 2009}}</ref> Part of a parliamentary bill that would have permitted the collection of data for the purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the [[Conseil Constitutionnel]] in November 2007.<ref name="Oppenheimer">{{cite journal |last=Oppenheimer |first=David B. |year=2008 |title=Why France Needs to Collect Data on Racial Identity... In a French Way |url=https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_international_comparative_law_review/vol31/iss2/7/ |journal=Hastings International and Comparative Law Review |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=735–752 |ssrn=1236362}}</ref>

However, that law does not concern surveys and polls, which are free to ask those questions if they wish. The law also allows for an exception for public institutions such as the [[INED]] or the [[INSEE]] whose job it is to collect data on demographics, social trends and other related subjects, on condition that the collection of such data has been authorized by the National Commission for Computer-stocked data and Freedom ([[CNIL]]) and the National Council of Statistical Information (CNIS).<ref>[http://plus.lefigaro.fr/note/how-does-france-count-its-muslim-population-20110407-435643 How does France count its Muslim population?], [[Le Figaro]], April 2011</ref>

=== Statistics ===
The modern ethnic French are the descendants of [[Celts]], [[Iberians]], [[Ligures|Ligurians]], [[Italic peoples]] (including [[Ancient Rome|Romans]]), and [[Greeks]] in southern France,<ref>Éric Gailledrat, ''Les Ibères de l'Èbre à l'Hérault (VIe–IVe s. avant J.-C.)'', Lattes, Sociétés de la Protohistoire et de l'Antiquité en France Méditerranéenne, Monographies d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne – 1, 1997</ref><ref>Dominique Garcia: ''Entre Ibères et Ligures. Lodévois et moyenne vallée de l'Hérault protohistoriques''. Paris, CNRS éd., 1993; ''Les Ibères dans le midi de la France''. L'Archéologue, n°32, 1997, pp. 38–40</ref> later mixed with large groups of [[Germanic peoples]] arriving at the end of the [[Roman Empire]] such as the [[Franks]], [[Burgundians]], [[Alamanni]], and [[Goths]],<ref>{{cite web |title=HISTORY OF FRANCE |url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=ekw |access-date=1 September 2017 |website=Historyworld.net}}</ref> [[Moors]] and [[Saracens]] in the south,<ref>"Les Gaulois figurent seulement parmi d'autres dans la multitude de couches de peuplement fort divers (Ligures, Ibères, Latins, Francs et Alamans, Nordiques, Sarrasins...) qui aboutissent à la population du pays à un moment donné ", [[:fr:Jean-Louis Brunaux|Jean-Louis Brunaux]], ''Nos ancêtres les Gaulois'', éd. Seuil, 2008, p. 261</ref><ref>"Notre Midi a sa pinte de sang sarrasin", [[Fernand Braudel]], ''L'identité de la France – Les Hommes et les Choses (1986)'', Flammarion, 1990, p. 215</ref><ref>"Les premiers musulmans arrivèrent en France à la suite de l'occupation de l'Espagne par les Maures, il y a plus d'un millénaire, et s'installèrent dans les environs de Toulouse – et jusqu'en Bourgogne. À Narbonne, les traces d'une mosquée datant du VIIIe siècle sont le témoignage de l'ancienneté de ce passé. Lors de la célèbre, et en partie mythologique, bataille de Poitiers en 732, dont les historiens reconsidèrent aujourd'hui l'importance, Charles Martel aurait stoppé la progression des envahisseurs arabes. Des réfugiés musulmans qui fuyaient la Reconquista espagnole, et plus tard l'Inquisition, firent souche en Languedoc-Roussillon et dans le Pays basque français, ainsi que dans le Béarn", [[:fr:Justin Vaïsse|Justin Vaïsse]], ''Intégrer l'Islam'', Odile Jacob, 2007, pp. 32–33</ref><ref>" Les Sarrasins gardèrent longtemps sur les côtes de la Provence, à la Garde-Freinet, un solide point d'appui et de là purent faire des incursions dans une partie de la France. Au huitième siècle, lors de l'invasion des Berbères dit Arabes, ceux-ci avaient pénétré jusque dans la vallée de la Loire : on parle même de leur venue dans la région orientale de la France, à Luxeuil, dans les Vosges et devant Metz. [...] les observations des anthropologistes ne permettent pas de douter que nombre de familles françaises dans les bassins de la Garonne et du Rhône ne soient issus des envahisseurs musulmans, Berbères modifiés par leur croisement avec les Espagnols, les Arabes et les noirs d'Afrique.", [[Élisée Reclus]],
''Nouvelle géographie universelle: la terre et les hommes, Élisée Reclus'', éd. Hachette, 1881, t. 2, chap. 1-Vue d'ensemble – Le milieu et la race, Ançêtres de Français, p. 45–46</ref><ref>"L'élément sémitique, juif et arabe, était fort en Languedoc. Narbonne avait été longtemps la capitale des Sarrasins en France. (...) Ces nobles du Midi étaient des gens d'esprit qui savaient bien la plupart que penser de leur noblesse. Il n'y en avait guère qui, en remontant un peu, ne rencontrassent dans leur généalogie quelque grand-mère sarrasine ou juive.", [[Jules Michelet]], ''Histoire de France'', éd. Chamerot, 1861, t. 2, p. 335</ref><ref>"Bien que le séjour des Arabes en France n'ait été constitué que par une série de courtes invasions, ils ont laissé des traces profondes de leur passage dans la langue, et [...] ils en ont laissé également dans le sang. [...] L'ethnologie nous en fournit la preuve, en retrouvant, après tant de siècles, des descendants des Arabes sur plusieurs parties de notre sol. Dans le département de la Creuse, dans les Hautes-Alpes, et notamment dans plusieurs localités situées autour de Montmaure (montagne des Maures), dans le canton de Baignes (Charente), de même que dans certains villages des Landes, du Roussillon, du Languedoc, du Béarn, les descendants des Arabes sont facilement reconnaissables.", [[Gustave Le Bon]], ''La Civilisation des Arabes (1884)'', La Fontaine au Roy, 1990, p. 237</ref><ref>"Il est certain que, de nos jours, on peut encore trouver en France des descendants des Sarrasins, notamment dans toute la région du sud de la Loire, dans les monts d'Auvergne, en Guyenne, en Languedoc et en Provence, voire même en Bourgogne.", [[René Martial]], ''La Race française (1934)'', Mercure de France, 1934, p. 101–102</ref> and [[Norsemen|Scandinavians]], [[Vikings]], who became, by mixing with the local population, the [[Normans]] and settled mostly in [[Normandy]] in the 9th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.jerseyheritagetrust.org/edu/resources/pdf/normans.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326114613/http://www.jerseyheritagetrust.org/edu/resources/pdf/normans.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2009 |access-date=26 March 2009}}</ref>

However, genome-wide analyses of both ancient and present-day DNA indicate that the genetic make-up of modern French populations is overwhelmingly derived from groups already living in Gaul during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages; post-Roman inputs from Germanic, Scandinavian, North-African or other peoples account for only minor fractions, invalidating the notion of any massive later admixture.<ref name="Brunel2020">Brunel S. et al. (2020) “Ancient genomes from present-day France unveil 7,000 years of its demographic history.” PNAS 117 (23): 12791-12798.</ref><ref name="Fischer2022">Fischer C.-E. et al. (2022) “Origin and mobility of Iron Age Gaulish groups in present-day France revealed through archaeogenomics.” iScience 25 (4): 104094.</ref><ref name="SaintPierre2020">Saint Pierre A. et al. (2020) “The genetic history of France.” European Journal of Human Genetics 28: 853-865.</ref> 

In 1960 there was approximately 500,000 'coloured' people present in France, constituting 1.2% of the population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Waughray |first=Vernon |date=1960 |title=The French Racial Scene: North African Immigrants in France |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030639686000200105 |journal=Race |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=60–70 |doi=10.1177/030639686000200105 |issn=0033-7277}}</ref> In 2004, French conservative think-tank ''[[Institut Montaigne]]'' estimated that there were 51 million (85%) people of European ethnic origin, 6 million (10%) North African people, 2 million (3.5%) [[West African]] and [[Central Africa|Central African]] peoples and 1 million (1.5%) people of Asian{{clarify|reason=Ambiguous term|date=July 2024}} origin in Metropolitan France, including all generations of immigrant descendants.<ref name="conventioncitoyenne.com">[[Yazid Sabeg]] et Laurence Méhaignerie, [http://www.conventioncitoyenne.com/documents/oubliesdelegalite.pdf Les oubliés de l'égalité des chances], [[Institut Montaigne]], January 2004. Page 80</ref> TIME magazine in 2009 estimated that there was an estimated range of 4 to 7 million Arabs, 3 to 5 million Africans, 1.5 million Asians and around 600,000 Jewish people.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=2018-08-08 |title=Should France Start Counting Its Minority Population? – TIME |magazine=Time |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1887106,00.html |access-date=2022-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808014355/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1887106,00.html |archive-date=8 August 2018 |last1=Crumley |first1=Bruce }}</ref> Solis, a marketing company, estimated the numbers for ethnic minorities (immigrants and 2nd generation) in France in 2009 as 3.26 million [[Maghrebis]] (5.23%), 1.83 million black people (2.94%) (1.08 million [[West Africa|West Africans]] and 757,000 French from [[French West Indies]]), and 250,000 Turkish (0.71%).<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/frances-crisis-of-national-identity-1826942.html France's crisis of national identity], ''[[The Independent]]'', Wednesday, 25 November 2009</ref><ref>[http://www.afrik.com/article16248.html Les personnes originaires d'Afrique, des Dom-Tom et de la Turquie sont 5,5 millions dans l'Hexagone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002085632/http://www.afrik.com/article16248.html|date=2 October 2013}}, Afrik.com, 12 February 2009</ref>

In 2015, Michèle Tribalat released a paper estimating population of ethnic minorities in France in 2011 to constitute 30% if ancestry retracted to 3 generations but with age limit of 60.
15% were of other European origin and another 15% rest.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://eps.revues.org/6073|title=Une estimation des populations d'origine étrangère en France en 2011|first=Michèle|last=Tribalat|date=1 July 2015|journal=Espace Populations Sociétés. Space Populations Societies|issue=2015/1–2|via=eps.revues.org|doi=10.4000/eps.6073|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Newly released figures from France’s national statistical agency, which pulled census data from 2019–2020, revealed that nearly one-third of children aged four years and below are of non-European origin, a number which stands in sharp contrast with those recorded in older generations.

The data, published by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), indicates that among those aged four and below living in ordinary housing (all residences excluding those for students, the elderly, and asylum seekers) in metropolitan France, 41.6% were born outside of France themselves, or are descendants of non-French parents or grandparents, with 29.6% having origins outside of Europe.

By comparison, a mere 7.6% of 60 to 64-year-olds and 3.1% of those over the age of 80 were of non-European origin over three generations, meaning they themselves, their parents, or grandparents were born outside of Europe.

Figures also revealed that 16.2% of all children aged four and below living in France are of Maghreb descent—a term used to describe the predominately Arab regions of northwest Africa, including Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, and Tunisia. One in ten children in the same age group in France are immigrants or are the children of immigrants from elsewhere in Europe, with 7.3% having originated from sub-Saharan Africa, 4% from Asia, and 1.7% from the rest of the world.

The '''[[Île-de-France|Paris region]]''' is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. As of 2006, about 45% of people (6 million) living in the region were either immigrant (25%) or born to at least one immigrant parent (20%).<ref>''[http://www.iau-idf.fr/detail-dune-etude/etude/les-descendants-dimmigres-vivant-en-ile-de-france.html Les descendants d'immigrés vivant en Île-de-France] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028122645/http://www.iau-idf.fr/detail-dune-etude/etude/les-descendants-dimmigres-vivant-en-ile-de-france.html |date=2011-10-28 }}'', IAU Idf, Note rapide Société, n° 531</ref>

Of [[European ethnic groups]] not indigenous to France, the most numerous are people of Italian family origin and it is estimated that about 5 million citizens (8% of the population) are at least partly of Italian origin if their parentage is retraced over three generations.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLo2RqGdv_wC&pg=PA143|title=The Cambridge Survey of World Migration|first=Robin|last=Cohen|date=2 November 1995|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|via=Google Books|isbn=9780521444057}}</ref> This is due to waves of Italian immigration, notably during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Other large European groups of non-native origin are [[Spaniards]], [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]], [[Romanians]], [[Polish people|Poles]], and [[Greeks]]. Also, due to more recent immigration, between five and six million people of [[Maghrebis|Maghrebi]] origin<ref>"Les personnes d'origine maghrébine y sont également au nombre de 5 à 6 millions; 3,5 millions ont la nationalité française (dont 500 000 harkis)", [[Robert Castel]], ''La discrimination négative'', Paris, La République des idées/Seuil, 2007</ref> and approximately 800,000 [[Turks in France|Turks]] inhabit France.<ref name=LExpress>{{cite web |author=L'Express|title=Face à l'islam de France, du déni à la paralysie|date=3 June 2014|url=http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/face-a-l-islam-de-france-du-deni-a-la-paralysie_1548482.html|access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref><ref name=ZamanFrance>{{cite web|author=Zaman France|title=La communauté turque compte 611.515 personnes en France|url=http://www.zamanfrance.fr/article/communaute-turque-compte-611515-personnes-en-france-7311.html|access-date=29 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221153227/http://www.zamanfrance.fr/article/communaute-turque-compte-611515-personnes-en-france-7311.html|archive-date=21 December 2014}}</ref>

An influx of [[Maghrebi Jews]] immigrated to France in the 1950s and after the Algerian War due to the decline of the French empire. Subsequent waves of immigration followed the Six-Day War, when some [[Moroccan Jews|Moroccan]] and [[Tunisian Jews]] settled in France. Hence, by 1968, Maghrebi Jews were about 500,000 and the majority in France. As the majority of these new immigrants were already culturally French, because of their cooperation with colonists, they needed little time to adjust to French society.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} [[Afro-French|Black people]] come from both the French overseas territories ([[French Guiana]], Guadeloupe, [[Martinique]], Réunion, and former colony Haiti) and Sub-Saharan Africa (especially [[Côte d'Ivoire]], Mali, and Senegal). France has the largest black population in Europe.

There is a substantial [[Romani people in France|Romani]] population in France. There is approximately 400,000 Roma living in France.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu-country/france_en |title=EU funding for Roma integration |publisher=Ec.europa.eu |date= |accessdate=2022-08-27}}</ref>