Yvelines (Department, France)

Last modified: 2013-02-24 by ivan sache
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• Administrative data
• Former flag of the General Council
• Municipal flags

  Versailles Aubergenville Beynes Le Chesnay Conflans-Sainte-Honorine Élancourt Fontenay-le-Fleury Magny-les-Hameaux Maisons-Laffitte Maurecourt Mézy-sur-Seine Montesson

  Montigny-le-Bretonneux Les Mureaux Rambouillet Rocquencourt Saint-Cyr-l'École Saint-Lambert Sartrouville Thiverval-Grignon Vélizy-Villacoublay Verneuil-sur-Seine Le Vésinet

• Yacht clubs

See also:

• France
• France: Metropolitan departments
• Clickable map of France (departments)

Administrative data

Code: 78
Region: Île-de-France
Traditional provinces: Île-de-France, Orléanais
Bordering departments: Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-d'Oise

Area: 2,284 km²
Population (2005): 1,395,000 inhabitants

Préfecture: Versailles
Sous-préfectures: Mantes-la-Jolie, Rambouillet, Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Subdivisions: 4 arrondissements, 39 cantons, 262 communes.

In the Middle Ages, the big forest located in the south of Paris was called silva equalina, aquilina, evelina, acquilina... The main remains of this forest are the forests of Fontainebleau, Rambouillet and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
The word aquilina comes from Latin aqua, "water". The forest was watered by several rivers and was rich in sources, marshes and ponds.

The Law of 10 July 1964 on the reorganization of the region of Paris, with effect on 1 January 1968, suppressed the departments of Seine and Seine-et-Oise. The department of Yvelines was made of 262 municipalities from Seine-et-Oise.
General de Gaulle wanted to name the new department "Versailles". The National Assembly rejected this proposal, as well as the name of "Val-de-Seine". In 1962, the poet Jehan Despert, born in Versailles in 1921, proposed to add an "S" to the name of the legendary forest. The new name was adopted by the National Assembly upon proposal by Jean-Paul Palewski, Deputy and President of the General Council of Seine-et-Oise.
In November 1997, the place des Yvelines - Jehan Despert was inaugurated in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, in the presence of the poet. The square is located on the municipalities of Guyancourt and Montigny-le-Bretonneux.

In 1969, the municipalities of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble were transferred from Essonne to Yvelines.

Ivan Sache, 14 November 2009

Former flag of the General Council

Former flag of the General Council of Yvelines - Image by Philippe-Pierre Darras, 6 July 2000