Editing Metz (section)

== Demographics ==
[[File:Paul Verlaine-Edmond Aman-Jean mg 9503.jpg|thumb|[[Paul Verlaine]] by [[Edmond Aman-Jean]], 1892, oil on canvas, [[museums of Metz|Golden Courtyard museums]]
{{blockquote|Metz with its magnificent open countries, prolific undulating rivers, wooded hillsides, vineyards of fire; cathedral all in volute, where the wind sings as a flute, and responding to it via the Mutte: this big voice of the good Lord!<ref>The Mutte is the name of the large bell of the [[Metz Cathedral|Saint-Stephen cathedral]].</ref>|Paul Verlaine|''Ode to Metz, Invectives'', 1896}}]]

=== Population ===
The inhabitants of Metz are called ''Messin(e)s''. Statistics on the ethnic and religious make up of the population of Metz are haphazard, as the [[French Fifth Republic|French Republic]] prohibits making distinctions between citizens regarding race, beliefs, and political and philosophic opinions in the process of census taking.<ref>A law from 1872 forbids the collection by the state of census data based on questions about religious beliefs. The [[French Third Republic]] considered that kind of information to be private and that any citizen of the Republic should be considered as equal of his mates, regardless his provocative and potentially [[wikt:Special:Search/divisive|divisive]]{{clarify|date=April 2019}}. In accordance with the concept of [[laïcité]], this principle was reaffirmed by the current [[French Fifth Republic]] in a law from 1978, stating that "it is forbidden to collect or process data of a personal nature related to racial or ethnic origins as well as political, philosophic, or religious opinions."</ref>

The French national [[census]] of 2018 estimated the population of Metz to be 116,581, while the population of Metz [[functional area (France)|metropolitan area]] was about 368,000.<ref name=compar>{{cite web |url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/1405599?geo=AAV2020-033+UU2020-57701+COM-57463 |title=Comparateur de territoire: Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 de Metz (033), Unité urbaine 2020 de Metz (57701), Commune de Metz (57463) |access-date=20 June 2022 |publisher=[[INSEE]] |language=fr}}</ref> Through history, Metz's population has been affected by the vicissitudes of the wars and annexations involving the city, which have prevented continuous population growth. More recently, the city has suffered from the restructuring of the military and the metallurgy industry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lorraine.pref.gouv.fr/index.php?headingid=234 |title=Official Lorraine prefecture webpage on the military restructurings. |access-date=30 June 2012 |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108081217/http://www.lorraine.pref.gouv.fr/index.php?headingid=234 |archive-date=8 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The historical population for the current area of Metz municipality is as follows:

{{Historical populations
| 1793|36878 | 1800|32099 | 1806|39131 | 1821|42030 | 1836|42793 | 1841|39767 | 1861|56888 | 1866|54817 | 1871|51332 | 1875|45856 | 1880|53131 | 1885|54072 | 1890|60186 | 1895|59794 | 1900|58462 | 1905|60419 | 1910|54965 | 1921|62311 | 1926|69624 | 1931|78767 | 1936|83119 | 1946|70105 | 1954|85701 | 1962|102771 | 1968|107537 | 1975|111869 | 1982|114232 | 1990|119594 | 1999|123776 | 2007|123580 | 2012|119551 | 2017|116429
| source= EHESS<ref>{{Cassini-Ehess|22347|Metz}}</ref> and INSEE<ref>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-57463#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE</ref>
| percentages = pagr
| cols = 3
| align = none
| graph-pos = bottom
}}

=== Notable people ===
{{Main|List of people from Metz}}
Several well-known figures have been linked to the city of Metz throughout its history. Renowned ''Messins'' include poet [[Paul Verlaine]],<ref name="Verlaine">{{cite web |url=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xskq5v_la-maison-de-verlaine-clip-2012_creation#.UUtxixnmvH0 |title=Verlaine's native house – House of Verlaine (museum), video clip. |date=2 August 2012 |access-date=21 March 2013 |language=fr}}</ref> composer [[Ambroise Thomas]] and mathematician [[Jean-Victor Poncelet]]; numerous well-known German figures were also born in Metz notably during the annexation periods. Moreover, the city has been the residence of people such as writer [[François Rabelais]], [[Cardinal Mazarin]], political thinker [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], artist and the inventor of the motion picture camera [[Louis Le Prince]], French patriot and American Revolutionary War hero Marquis [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette|Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette]], and Luxembourg-born German-French statesman [[Robert Schuman]].