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Essonne

Essonne
Department
Prefecture building of the Essonne department, in Évry
Prefecture building of the Essonne department, in Évry
Coat of arms of Essonne
Coat of arms
Location of Essonne in France
Location of Essonne in France
Coordinates: 48°30′N 02°17′E / 48.500°N 2.283°E / 48.500; 2.283Coordinates: 48°30′N 02°17′E / 48.500°N 2.283°E / 48.500; 2.283
Country France
Region Île-de-France
Prefecture Évry
Subprefectures Étampes
Palaiseau
Government
 • President of the General Council François Durovray (LR)
Area
 • Total 1,804 km2 (697 sq mi)
Population (2013)
 • Total 1,253,931
 • Rank 15th
 • Density 700/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Department number 91
Arrondissements 3
Cantons 21
Communes 196
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Essonne (pronounced: [ɛ.sɔn]) is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. It is named after the Essonne River.

It was formed on 1 January 1968 when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments.

The Essonne department was created on 1 January 1968, from the southern portion of the former department of Seine-et-Oise.

In June 1963 Carrefour S.A. opened the first hypermarket in the Paris region at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (although the word "hypermarché" was first used only in 1966). Based on the ideas put forward by the American logistics pioneer , the centre offered on a single 2,500 m2 (26,909.78 sq ft) site a hitherto unknown combination of wide choice and low prices, supported by 400 car parking spaces.

In 1969, the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble were separated from Essonne and added to the department of Yvelines.

Essonne belongs to the region of Île-de-France.

It has borders with the departments of:

All of northern Essonne department belongs to the Parisian agglomeration and is very urbanized. The south remains rural.

In descending order, the cities over 25,000 population are: Évry, Corbeil-Essonnes, Massy, Savigny-sur-Orge, Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Viry-Châtillon, Athis-Mons, Palaiseau, Draveil, Yerres, Les Ulis, and Vigneux-sur-Seine. Milly-la-Forêt is an example of its more rural communes.


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