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Seine-et-oiseSeine-et-Oise was a dpartement of France encompassing the western, northern, and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prfecture (capital) was Versailles and its official number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was abolished in 1968. General characteristics Seine-et-Oise was created on March 4, 1790. Its name comes from the two main rivers (Seine River and Oise River) flowing through it. At its disappearance in 1968, Seine-et-Oise consisted of 688 suburban and rural communes surrounding the Seine dpartement to the north, west, and south. It had an area of 5,658 km² (2,184 sq. miles). The division of Seine-et-Oise into arrondissements changed many times. At its disappearance in 1968 it had ten arrondissements: Argenteuil, tampes, Mantes, Montmorency, Palaiseau, Pontoise, Le Raincy, Rambouillet, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and Versailles. Split-up At the first French census in 1801, Seine-et-Oise had 421,535 inhabitants. With the growth of the Paris suburbs, the population of Seine-et-Oise increased markedly, and by 1968 it had reached 2,943,350 inhabitants. It was judged that Seine-et-Oise was now too large and ungovernable, and so on January 1, 1968 it was split into (essentially) three smaller dpartements: Yvelines, Val-d'Oise, and Essonne. A small part of Seine-et-Oise was also merged with parts of the Seine dpartement (also disbanded on January 1, 1968) to create the three new dpartements of Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, and Seine-Saint-Denis. In detail, the splitting up of the Seine-et-Oise dpartement was carried out like this: 262 communes in the central part of the dpartement became the Yvelines dpartement, with Versailles as the prfecture. The official number 78 which was used for Seine-et-Oise was given to the new Yvelines dpartement, which is the largest chunk of the former Seine-et-Oise (40% of the area of Seine-et-Oise). 198 communes in the south of Seine-et-Oise (32% of the area of Seine-et-Oise) became the Essonne dpartement, and the official number 91 was assigned to this dpartement (a number previously used for the Alger dpartement in French Algeria). 185 communes in the north of Seine-et-Oise (22% of the area of Seine-et-Oise) became the Val-d'Oise dpartement, and the official number 95 was assigned to this dpartement (a number never used before). Of the remaining 6% of Seine-et-Oise, 18 communes were grouped with 29 communes of the Seine dpartement to create the Val-de-Marne dpartement. 16 communes of Seine-et-Oise were grouped with 24 communes of the Seine dpartement to create the Seine-Saint-Denis dpartement. Finally, the last 9 communes of Seine-et-Oise were grouped with 27 communes of the Seine dpartement to create the Hauts-de-Seine dpartement. Thus, it should be noted that Yvelines, Val-d'Oise, and Essonne are altogether smaller than the former Seine-et-Oise dpartement (5,658 km² for the Seine-et-Oise dpartement vs. 5,334 km² for the three dpartements). Grande couronne The three dpartements of Yvelines, Essonne, and Val-d'Oise, plus the Seine-et-Marne dpartement, are altogether known in France as the grande couronne (i.e. "large ring", as opposed to the "small ring" of the suburbs closer to Paris). Population At the 1999 French census, if Seine-et-Oise still existed its population would have been 4,554,426 inhabitants, the highest figure ever, as people relocate more and more from the center to the distant suburbs of the metropolitan area of Paris. Of the new dpartements created in 1968 out of Seine-et-Oise, Yvelines was the most populated in 1999 with 1,354,304 inhabitants. Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine are more populous than Yvelines, but only a small part of their territory is made up of the former Seine-et-Oise.
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