Documentation on Municipal and Sub-Municipal Geography

For sub-municipal publications, the basic unit is the IRIS statistical block group which also provides the basis for the TRIRIS and Large District levels. All municipalities of at least 10,000 inhabitants and most municipalities from 5,000 to less than 10,000 inhabitants are divided into IRIS.

On 1st January 2012, the reference territory of the data published for the population census covered Metropolitan France and the following four Overseas Departments (DOM): Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion Island and Martinique.

Mayotte became a DOM on 31 March 2011, but kept its own census collection and results publication system.

The Overseas Territorial Authorities (COM) also have their own census and their own results publication system.

Each year, the census data comes from the source “Census year N-2” and is provided for all geographical levels in accordance with the geographical boundaries in force on 1st January of year N.

So in 2013, the census data comes from the source “Population census 2010” on the basis of the geographical boundaries of 1st January 2012. This geography becomes the reference geography for publication of census results. It takes account of any territorial modifications there might have been up to that date.

There is one exception: in the presence of data from the 1999 population census, the geographical boundaries on 1st January 1999 cohabit alongside those of the reference. Territorial modifications after 1st January 1999 are not addressed.