Demographic Components of the French Population

The main overall characteristic of the French population has been its tendency to converge towards the northern part of the country with the Paris metropolis as the center of concentration. The population is multi-racial with certain traits being reminiscent of the American population and is largely stable with controlled immigration and births in place.
General overview
According to the 2011 census, France had a population of 65.8 million, making it the 20th most populous country on the planet. The main components highlight several characteristics:
Major characteristics

• The highest natural population growth for France rose to 302,432 in 2006 and the fertility rate rose from its lowest point of 1.68 to 2.01 in 2010. For five years between 2006 and 2011, population growth averaged 0.58% while babies born in Metropolitan France had at least one parent who was born outside France. All these point to a steadily rising population.

• Estimates put the components of the French population as being 51 million whites (85%), 6 million people from North Africa (10%), 2 million blacks (3.5%) and 1 million people of Asian origin living in Metropolitan France.

• Each year, France allows about 200,000 immigrants into its borders and is the leading destination for asylum seekers in Western Europe, processing a total of 50,000 applicants each year. A total of 140,033 immigrated to France in 2004. Of these immigrants 90,250 hailed from Africa and 13,710 from Europe. In a typical liberal gesture, France granted citizenship status to 137,000 people, mostly from Morocco, Algeria and Turkey. France's immigration is strictly controlled, again leading to a stable population increase.

• City populations feature in the distribution of the population with the largest cities categorized according to population numbers. The count begins with Paris with the largest population of 11.8 million, then Lyon with 1.8 million, Marseille with 1.6 million, next Lille with 1.2 million, then Toulouse with 1.1 million, Bordeaux with 1 million, Nice with just under 1 million, Nantes with 786,305 residents and Strasbourg with 641,853 inhabitants.

• Normally, the enumeration of ethnicity and ancestry as distinct components of the French population is not allowed by law, but some entities are permitted to undertake surveys on these two sensitive areas. Estimates now show that 40% of the people in France are partial descendants of the different waves of immigrants, who arrived in the country from 1921 and 1935, when almost 1.1 million immigrants came to France to settle.

• The exceptionally high population growth for France has sent an alarming warning to its leaders. Figures reported in 2011 confirmed that overall, the population was growing at a faster rate than most other countries worldwide. More alarming were that the figures excluded immigration arrivals and that the growth accounted for nearly the sum total of natural growth recorded for the European Union in 2003.

• Rural depopulation has recently attracted the attention of France's politicians. The phenomenon has been in progress since the industrial revolution when people from the countryside flocked to the cities to look for work and a better way of life. The process is continuing and it was found that between 1960 and 1999, fifteen rural communities experienced a drop in their populations. The most prominent case for depopulation occurred in Creuse which lost 24% of its population.

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