Les concentrations ethniques en France : évolution 1968-2005

Abstract

A key obstacle in analysing the evolution of the population by origin in French geographic areas is the scarcity of data on foreign background (place of birth and filiation). A proxy is given by the proportion of children under 18 with a foreign background which is available at each census, since they live with their parents. The SAPHIR file contains this information from 1968 to 2005. The analysis of ethnic concentrations is a prerequisite and brings a valuable help to the use of more sophisticated indicators like the dissimilarity index which is now in common use or other indicators on neighbourhoods.The study of ethnic concentrations from 1968 to 2005 shows a real change. Île-de-France has become a region of huge ethnic concentration which it was not at the end of the sixties. It was then behind the Mediterranean coast regions and Lorraine. At the end of the sixties, the large west quarter of France was virtually free of immigration and its demographic impact. It is no longer true. Finally, ethnic concentrations have become more and more an urban phenomenon, which is the result of a change in the ethnic composition of immigration and a crossover between natives and immigrants families. The former have shown a preference for rural or periurban areas while the later has settled in medium-sized cities in the outskirts of big cities.

Keywords

• ethnic concentrations
• origin
• differential mobility
• youth with foreign background