Seine-Saint-Denis

Geography

The department is surrounded by the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Paris, Val-d'Oise, and Seine-et-Marne. It is thus one of only five French departments surrounded entirely by other departments of the same region.

Seine-Saint-Denis is located to the northeast of Paris. It has a surface area of only 236 km2 (91 sq mi), making it one of the smallest departments in France. Seine-Saint-Denis and two other small departments, Hauts-de-Seine and Val-de-Marne, form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne ("little crown"). Since 1 January 2016, together with Paris, they have formed the area of Greater Paris (Grand Paris).

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Saint-Denis; the prefecture Bobigny is the eleventh-most populous. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 70,000 inhabitants:

Administration

Seine-Saint-Denis is made up of three departmental arrondissements and 40 communes:

Arrondissement of Saint-Denis:

1. Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine
2. Aubervilliers
3. Saint-Denis
4. L'Île-Saint-Denis
5. Épinay-sur-Seine
6. Villetaneuse
7. Pierrefitte-sur-Seine
8. Stains
9. La Courneuve Arrondissement of Bobigny:
10. Dugny
11. Le Bourget
12. Drancy
13. Bobigny
14. Bondy
15. Les Pavillons-sous-Bois
16. Noisy-le-Sec
17. Romainville
18. Pantin
19. Le Pré-Saint-Gervais
20. Les Lilas
21. Bagnolet
22. Montreuil
23. Rosny-sous-Bois
24. Villemomble Arrondissement of Le Raincy:
25. Neuilly-Plaisance
26. Neuilly-sur-Marne
27. Noisy-le-Grand
28. Gournay-sur-Marne
29. Gagny
30. Le Raincy
31. Clichy-sous-Bois
32. Montfermeil
33. Coubron
34. Vaujours
35. Livry-Gargan
36. Sevran
37. Aulnay-sous-Bois
38. Le Blanc-Mesnil
39. Villepinte
40. Tremblay-en-France

History

Seine-Saint-Denis was created in January 1968, through the implementation of a law passed in July 1964. It was formed from the part of the (hitherto larger) Seine department to the north and north-east of the Paris ring road (and the line of the old city walls), together with a small slice taken from Seine-et-Oise.

Seine-Saint-Denis has a history as a left-wing stronghold, belonging to the ceinture rouge (red belt) of Paris. The French Communist Party has maintained a continued strong presence in the department, and still controls the city councils in cities such as Saint-Denis, Montreuil and La Courneuve. Until 2008, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne were the only departments where the Communist Party had a majority in the general councils but the 2008 cantonal elections saw the socialists become the strongest group at the Seine-Saint-Denis general council (while the Communist Party gained a majority in Allier and lost it in 2015).

A commune of Seine-Saint-Denis, Clichy-sous-Bois, was the scene of the death of two youths which sparked the nationwide riots of autumn 2005. In October and November, 9,000 cars were burned and 3,000 rioters were arrested.

In 2017, the area was the location of 18% of all drug offences in metropolitan France. In 2018, the department had the highest crime rate in metropolitan France. When two suspects (known criminals from the department) were arrested in the 2025 Louvre robbery it was noted by The Guardian to have the highest poverty and crime rate in mainland France.

Demographics

Seine-Saint-Denis is the French department with the highest proportion of immigrants: 21.7% at the 1999 census (see table below). An immigrant according to INSEE is anyone born non-French within or outside France and as such, this figure does not include people born French but with a migrant background or from overseas France. The ratio of ethnic minorities is difficult to estimate accurately as French law prohibits the collection of ethnic data for census taking purposes.

In 2018, the poverty rate was twice the national average at 28%, the unemployment rate was 3% above the national average, at 12.7%. In 2018, it was estimated that 8–20% of the population in the department were illegal immigrants.

Population development since 1881:

Education

An education study confirmed falling levels of literacy in the area, where the percentage of pupils who had 25 errors or more increased from 5.4% in 1987 to 19.8% in 2015.

Place of birth of residents

|EU-15=4.4 |non-EU-15=17.3

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Stéphane Troussel, first elected in 2012.

Presidential elections 2nd round

Current National Assembly Representatives

Tourism

File:Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette.jpg|Memorial to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette in Basilica of St Denis File:Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace.jpg|Aerospace Museum in Le Bourget File:Finale Coupe de France 2010-2011 (Lille LOSC vs Paris SG PSG).jpg|Stade de France File:Sevran - Canal de l Ourcq 4.jpg|Canal de l'Ourcq

References

References

1. (4 May 2022). "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux".
2. "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by NUTS 3 regions".
3. [https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/6011060/dep93.pdf Populations légales 2019: 93 Seine-Saint-Denis], INSEE
4. "N° 1014 - Rapport d'information de MM. François Cornut-Gentille et Rodrigue Kokouendo déposé en application de l'article 146-3 du règlement, par le comité d'évaluation et de contrôle des politiques publiques sur l'évaluation de l'action de l'État dans l'exercice de ses missions régaliennes en Seine-Saint-Denis".
5. Henley, Jon. (Oct 26, 2025). "French police arrest two men over €88m Louvre jewel heist". The Guardian.
6. (2018-07-04). "Immigration clandestine : la Seine-Saint-Denis débordée". FIGARO.
7. "Historique de la Seine-Saint-Denis".
8. "Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
9. (19 April 2022). "Les résultats du second tour de l'élection présidentielle".
10. "Présidentielles".
11. "Résultats de l'élection présidentielle de 1995 par département - Politiquemania".
12. Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français".