Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/382

 370 FRANCE PROVINCES. Departments. Popula- tion in 1872. Capitals. in population xroucv laii^s buuru aiiiuug me great European states, being inferior only to Russia and Germany. The gradual increase in population since 1700 is shown in the follow- ing table, made up from the official censuses : Years. Population. Years. Population. 1700 19,669,820 1836 83,540,910 CENTBAL DI- VISION. Isle of France Champagne. . Lorraine Orleanais Touraine Berry Nivernais .... Bourbonnais. Marche f Seine 2,220,060i 580,180 i 396,804 i 841,490 552,439 820,217 886,157 255,687 251,196 284,725; 365,137 392,988 353,021 282,622 268,801 317,027 277,693 335,392 339,917 390,812 274,668 566,463 281,867 822,447 802,746 56,781 303,088 291,251 287,634 863,608 874,510 598,844 863,290 670,247 550,611 642,963 622,295 490,852 589,582 602,206 350,637 446,603 518,471 820,598 831,243 401,446 465.653 867,520 705,149 480,141 819,289 281,404 221,610 402,474 800,528 284,717 235,156 426,700 246,298 191,856 479,362 352,718 285,927 429,878 420,131 135,190 308,732 880,277 575,784 320,417 118,898 263,451 139,382 554,911 293,751 267,955 273,027 199.031 258,501 Paris. Versailles. Beauvais. Melun. Laon. Mezieres. Chalons-sur- Marne. Troyes. Chaumont. Bar-le-Duc. Nancy. Epinal. Orleans. Chartres. Blois. Tours. Chateauroux. Bourges. Nevers. Moulins. Gueret. Clermont-Fer- rand. Aurillac. Limoges. Tulle. Belfort. Vesoul. Besancon. Lons-le-Saul- nierl Auxerre. Dijon. Macon. Bourg. Lyons. Montbrison. Quimper. St. Brieuc. Vannes. Eennes. Nantes. Laval. Le Mans. Angers. Poitiers. Niort. Napoleon-Ven- dee. La Eochelle. Angouleme. Bordeaux. Perigueux. Agen. Cahors. Montauban. Rodez. Mont-de-Mar- san. Auch. Tarbes. Pau. Foix. Perpignan. Toulouse. 'Albi. Carcassonne. Montpellier. Nimes. . Mende. Le Puy. Privas. Grenoble. Valence. Gap. Avignon. Digne. Marseilles. Draguignan. Chambery. Annecy. Nice. Ajaccio. Seine-et-Oise Oise Seine-et-Marne Aisne 1762 21,769,163 1841 34,230,178 1780 24,800,000 1846 35,401,761 1790 26,500,000 1851 85,781,628 1801 27,849,003 1856 86,039,364 1806 29,107,425 1861 37,472,732 Meurthe-et-Moselle Vosges Loiret 1820 80,491,187 1866 88,067,064 1831 82560954 1872 86,102,921 According to this table, within a period of a century and a half the population has not even doubled; but it must be borne in mind that during the middle part of this period the popu- lation was heavily taxed by the bloody wars of the empire, by which France lost no fewer than 1,700,000 men on the battle field. A comparison of the movement of population in France with that of the other European coun- tries shows that the average increase in France has been smaller than in any other. The annual average increase from 1821 to 1872 has never been more than 0*69 per cent. ; from 1851 to 1856, it was 0'21 ; from 1856 to 1861, O'll ; from 1861 to 1866, 0-37. Only a few departments which contain the largest cities have doubled their population since 1790 ; quite as many had in 1872 fewer inhabitants than in 1790. The period from 1866 to 1872 was more unfavor- able than any preceding one ; for even leaving out of account the territory ceded to Germany, it showed an absolute decrease of population. While the present territory of France in 1866 had 36,469,856 inhabitants, it had in 1872 only 36,102,921 ; a decrease of 366,935 (0'16 per cent, per annum). In only 14 depart- ments, nearly all containing large cities, had there been an increase. The cities with upward of 30,000 inhabitants showed an aggregate in- crease of 136,496, though in some there had also been a considerable decrease, as in Brest (13,575), Toulon (7,999), and Toulouse (2,084). The causes of the slowness of increase and of the recent positive decrease in French popula- tion are too various to be considered here, and many conflicting opinions have been given con- cerning them. Legislation which has been in- directly repressive of marriage has undoubted- ly had much to do with the matter ; and many classes of the people have been led by the laws concerning property to take all possible pre- cautions against the increase of their families. Especially, modern French statesmen agree in confessing that the law of March 7, 1793, which abolishes testamentary freedom, and obliges parents to an equal division of their property among their children, has increased the "ste- rility of marriages." The average population to the square mile is 177; the density is greater in the north than in the south. Of the male sex there were 17,980,476, of the female 18,- 122,445 ; owing to the war, the decrease of the former since 1866 had been almost double that < Eure-et-Loir ( Loir-et-Cher Indre-et-Loire j Cher Nievre Allier Creuse Auvergne Limousin E. DIVISION. Alsace Franche- Comte Burgundy Lyonnais W. DIVISION. Brittany Maine. ( Puy-de-D6me 1 Cantal j Haute-Vienne The territory of Belfort f Haute-Saone. J Doubs j jura (Yonne Cote-d'Or Saone-et-Loire Ain j Rhone j Loire fFinistere C6tes-du-Nord .... { Morbihan Ille-et-Vilaine.. . . . . (.Loire-Inferieure.... j Mayenne Anjou ....... Poitou j Sarthe Maine-et-Loire ( Yienne < Deux-Sevres . Aunis and Saintonge.. Angoumois. . . Gulenne 8. DIVISION. Gascony Bearn. ( Vendee Charente-Inferieure Charente (" Gironde Dordosrne . ! Lot-et-Garonne 1 Lot Tarn-et-Garonne. . . Aveyron j Gers [ Hautes-Pyrenees . . Basses-Pyrenees. . . Ariege Pyrenees Orientales f Haute-Garonne Tarn Aude Herault.. Foix Eoussillon Languedoc... Dauphiny Avignon Provence Gard Lozere Haute-Loire Ardeche Isere Drome Hautes-Alpes Basses- Alpes Bouches-du-Rhone. Var Savoie Nice ' Haute-Savoie Alpes-Maritimes. . . Corsica
 * Correze