Boulogne-Billancourt is one of the wealthiest regions in the Parisian area and in France.[3] Formerly an important industrial site, it has successfully reconverted into business services and is now home to major communication companies headquartered in the Val de Seinebusiness district.
Etymology
The original name of the commune was Boulogne-sur-Seine (meaning "Boulogne upon Seine").
Before the 14th century, Boulogne was a small village called Menuls-lès-Saint-Cloud (meaning "Menuls near Saint-Cloud"). In the beginning of the 14th century, King Philip IV of France ordered the building in Menuls-lès-Saint-Cloud of a church dedicated to the virgin of the sanctuary of Boulogne-sur-Mer, then a famous pilgrimage center in northern France. The church, meant to become a pilgrimage centre closer to Paris than the distant city of Boulogne-sur-Mer, was named Notre-Dame de Boulogne la Petite ("Our Lady of Boulogne the Minor"). Gradually, the village of Menuls-lès-Saint-Cloud became known as Boulogne-la-Petite, and later as Boulogne-sur-Seine.
In 1924, Boulogne-sur-Seine was officially renamed Boulogne-Billancourt to reflect the development of the industrial neighbourhood of Billancourt annexed in 1860.
As for the name Billancourt, it was recorded for the first time in 1150 as Bullencort, sometimes also spelled Bollencort. It comes from Medieval Latincortem, accusative of cors, meaning "enclosure", "estate", suffixed to the Germanic patronym Buolo (meaning "friend, brother, kinsman"), thus having the meaning of "estate of Buolo".
History
On 1 January 1860, the City of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighbouring communes. On that occasion, the communes of Auteuil and Passy were disbanded and divided between Boulogne-Billancourt (then called Boulogne-sur-Seine) and the city of Paris. Boulogne-sur-Seine received a small part of the territory of Passy, and about half of the territory of Auteuil (including the area of Billancourt, which belonged to the disbanded commune of Auteuil).
In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne, which was hitherto divided between the communes of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine, was annexed in its entirety by the city of Paris. On that occasion, Boulogne-Billancourt, to which most of the Bois de Boulogne belonged, lost about half of its territory. Since then, Boulogne-Billancourt has been surrounded to the west, south and east by the Seine and to the north and north-east by the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
Boulogne-Billancourt is known for being the birthplace of three major French industries. It was the location, in 1906 for the very first aircraft factory, that of Appareils d'Aviation Les Frères Voisin,[5] which was then followed by those of many other aviation pioneers, and the tradition continues with several aviation related companies still operating in the area.
The automobile industry had a large presence with Renault on Île Seguin, as well as Salmson building both cars and aircraft engines. Finally, the French film industry started here and, from 1922 to 1992 it was the home of the Billancourt Studios, and since becoming a major location for French film production. It was used as the setting of the TV show Code Lyoko.
Demographics
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
3,600
—
1800
2,481
−5.18%
1806
2,378
−0.70%
1821
3,266
+2.14%
1831
5,323
+5.01%
1836
5,993
+2.40%
1841
6,906
+2.88%
1846
7,847
+2.59%
1851
7,602
−0.63%
1856
11,378
+8.40%
1861
13,944
+4.15%
1866
17,343
+4.46%
1872
18,965
+1.50%
1876
21,556
+3.25%
1881
25,825
+3.68%
1886
30,084
+3.10%
1891
32,569
+1.60%
1896
37,418
+2.81%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1901
44,416
+3.49%
1906
49,969
+2.38%
1911
57,027
+2.68%
1921
68,008
+1.78%
1926
75,559
+2.13%
1931
86,234
+2.68%
1936
97,379
+2.46%
1946
79,410
−2.02%
1954
93,998
+2.13%
1962
106,641
+1.59%
1968
109,008
+0.37%
1975
103,578
−0.73%
1982
102,582
−0.14%
1990
101,743
−0.10%
1999
106,367
+0.50%
2007
111,045
+0.54%
2012
117,126
+1.07%
2017
120,071
+0.50%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
The ecologic neighbourhood of the Trapèze in Boulogne-Billancourt: the district stands on 74 hectares and will be able to house up to 18,000 inhabitants at the end of its construction. 65% of the district's energy is brought by geothermal power, which heats and freshens the buildings. Solar panels and a vegetable greenhouse were installed in the aim to link the district to sustainable energies. Bicycle and "soft" travels will of course be put first to reduce the pollution caused by cars, as well as other vehicles which do not run on electricity.[8]
The Musée Albert-Kahn at 14, Rue du Port, Boulogne-Billancourt is a national museum and includes four hectares of gardens, joining landscape scenes of various national traditions. The museum also includes historic photographs and film.
The public collèges (middle schools) in the commune include Jacqueline-Auriol, Bartholdi, Paul-Landowski and Jean-Renoir. The public high schools are the Lycée Jacques-Prévert and the Lycée Polyvalent Étienne-Jules-Marey.[17] Prior to the September 1968 opening of Prévert, the first high school/sixth-form in Boulogne, an annex of Lycée La Fontaine served the city.[18]
The private school Groupe Scolaire Maïmonide Rambam covers maternelle through lycée. There is also the private high school Notre-Dame. The latter's performance and ranking in Boulogne-Billancourt are given by its success of baccalaureate rate in different series. According to the ranking of L'Express in 2015, the national rank of Notre-Dame de Boulogne was 170 out of 2301 and 7 out of 52 at department level. The private schools Dupanloup and Saint-Joseph-du-Parchamp serve maternelle through collège. Private maternelle and élémentaire schools include Saint-Alexandre and Saint-François d’Assise. Jardin de Solférino and La Maison de l'Enfant are private maternelles.[19]
^Davilla, James J.; Soltan, Arthur (1997). French Aircraft of the First World War. Mountain View, CA: Flying Machines Press. p. 541. ISBN978-1891268090.
^"Legal Infos". Carrefour. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012. "This site is published by Carrefour, a limited company (société anonyme) capitalised at €1,698,340,000, headquartered at 33, Avenue Émile Zola, 92100 Boulogne Billancourt, [...]"
^"FAQ". Pika Édition. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.