LANGUEDOC ROUSSILLON - Population
Since the mid 70s, the region has known sharp demographic growth, the highest of metropolitan France. The region welcomes on average each year 20 000 new inhabitants. Over ten years this amounts to the number of inhabitants of the capital of the region. This increase is distributed in a very imbalanced way on the territory, even if as opposed to other regions the population is growing mainly in the communes. Hérault, particularly the urban area of Montpellier - welcomes more than one additional inhabitant out of two. The two other big urban areas - Nimes and Perpignan ? and the coast in general also have strong demographic growth. The demographic buoyancy of the region is principally a result of positive migration flows to the region.
In 1999, Languedoc-Roussillon region counted 2 295 648 inhabitants, making up 3.9% of the population of France. The region ranks 11th in terms of population out of the 26 regions of France. In 1999, the population density was 84 inhabitants/km2, far under the national average of 107.8 inhabitants/km2. The region is positioned 14th in terms of population density out of the 26 regions of France.
Between 1990 and 1999 Languedoc-Roussillon had the highest population growth of all the region of metropolitan France, at a rate of 0.92% per year. Demographic growth is fuelled almost exclusively (90%) by the migratory surplus. In terms of interregional migration among the 22 regions of the metropolitan, Languedoc-Roussillon had the highest number of arrivals per 10 000 inhabitants of metropolitan France: 232.5 over the period 1990 to 1999. It had the highest net immigration rate with 74 more arrivals per 10 000 inhabitants than departures.
The natural demography only increased very slightly, and masks decreases in three out of the five departments of the region, whereas the net migration increased in all the départements.
Languedoc-Roussillon has a fairly elderly population. The proportion of people aged 60 and more is over the national average, accounting for a quarter of the region?s population in 1999. The share of the population aged less than 25 (29%) is under the national average, this is also true for the population between 25 and 59 year olds (46% in the Languedoc-Roussillon against 47.7% at national level). As for the rest of the regions of France forecasts indicate that by 2030 that the proportion of young people will have diminished and that elderly population will have grown substantially.
The age structure is reflected in the birth and mortality rates. The birth rate is below the national average. In 1999 the crude birth rate was 11.2 live births per 1 000 inhabitants compared to the national average of 12.9 live births per 1 000 inhabitants. The infant mortality rate (4.9 deaths of children under 1 year old per 1 000 live births) is slightly above the national average. The crude death rate is also above the national average with 10.8 deaths per 1 000 inhabitants, compared to the national average of 9.1.
In 1999 the foreign population accounted for 5.8% of the total population of the region. This is just above the national average (5.5%). The foreign population comes mainly from countries outside the European Union (60%); this rate is close to the average for the provinces. Compared to the other regions of France, Languedoc-Roussillon had the second largest proportion of Moroccans (33%) after Corsica in its foreign population in 1999.
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