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Gif-sur-Yvette

Coordinates: 48°42′06″N 2°08′02″E / 48.7018°N 2.1339°E / 48.7018; 2.1339
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Gif-sur-Yvette
Gif-sur-Yvette Town Hall
Gif-sur-Yvette Town Hall
Coat of arms of Gif-sur-Yvette
Location of Gif-sur-Yvette
Map
Gif-sur-Yvette is located in France
Gif-sur-Yvette
Gif-sur-Yvette
Gif-sur-Yvette is located in Île-de-France (region)
Gif-sur-Yvette
Gif-sur-Yvette
Coordinates: 48°42′06″N 2°08′02″E / 48.7018°N 2.1339°E / 48.7018; 2.1339
CountryFrance
RegionÎle-de-France
DepartmentEssonne
ArrondissementPalaiseau
CantonGif-sur-Yvette
IntercommunalityCA Paris-Saclay
Government
 • Mayor (2023–2026) Yann Cauchetier[1]
Area
1
11.60 km2 (4.48 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
22,352
 • Density1,900/km2 (5,000/sq mi)
DemonymGiffois
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
91272 /91190
Elevation57–172 m (187–564 ft)
(avg. 61 m or 200 ft)
Websitewww.ville-gif.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Gif-sur-Yvette (French pronunciation: [ʒif syʁ ivɛt] , lit. "Gif-on-Yvette") is a commune in southwestern Île-de-France, France. It is located in the Vallée de Chevreuse, 22.9 km (14.2 mi) from the centre of Paris (at Notre-Dame), in the Essonne department on the departmental border with Yvelines. In 2021, it had a population of 22,352.

Geography

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The town is crossed by and named after the river Yvette. The total area is 11.60 km2 (4.48 sq mi) and 4.07 km2 (1.57 sq mi) is green spaces and woods.

Place names

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The commune of Gif-sur-Yvette is composed of three main parts:

  • In the valley: Rougemonts, Mérantaise, Mairie, Féverie, Coupières, Damiette, Courcelle, L'Abbaye, Les Coudraies;
  • On the Moulon Plateau: Moulon (uninhabited, aside from a research and educational institute);
  • On the Hurepoix Plateau: Hacquinière, Belleville and Chevry.

The commune includes a number of woods such as the Hacquinière wood and the D'Aigrefoin wood.

Neighbouring communes

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The neighbouring communes are Villiers-le-Bâcle, Saint-Aubin, Saclay, Orsay, Bures-sur-Yvette, Gometz-le-Châtel, Gometz-la-Ville and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.

History

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Human presence on the Moulon Plateau originates in Neolithic times. Agriculture was developed, notably during the Roman era. Between the 12th and the 18th century, an important Benedictine abbey was housed in Gif. In the 19th century, amid the Industrial Revolution, Gif remained largely agricultural, with operating mills in particular.

Château de Button

In the 1770s, the Château de Button by architect Pierre Desmaisons was completed in Gif. In 1946, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) installed an office and research facility on the property.[3]

In 1867, the town was linked to Paris by train with the Ligne de Sceaux in the valley, which would later become the southern branch of the current-day RER B line.

Église Saint-Rémi in Gif-sur-Yvette

Following the First World War, the Gif commune experienced an important demographic change, with an increasing population. The town took the name of Gif-sur-Yvette in 1930.

Just after the Second World War, Gif-sur-Yvette acquired an international scientific reputation, with the CNRS and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) moving there. The CEA discovered radioactive contamination in a private home in Gif-sur-Yvette in 1974; the home had been built upon a site where needles containing radon gas were once manufactured,[4] starting in 1915. The needles were used to sterilise infected tissue—an idea developed by Marie Curie.

The town was extended in 1975, with the creation of the Chevry neighbourhood, from areas ceded by the Gometz-la-Ville and Gometz-le-Châtel communes.

Main sights

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The Église Saint-Rémi (Saint Rémi church), a structure of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, was built in the 12th century. It was registered as a historic monument in 1938.[5]

Some ruins remain of a Benedictine abbey which was built in the 12th century and became a national property in 1789 amid the French Revolution. It was officially registered in 1963.[citation needed]

Demographics

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Inhabitants of Gif-sur-Yvette are known as Giffois (masculine) and Giffoises (feminine) in French.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 815—    
1800 810−0.09%
1806 800−0.21%
1821 738−0.54%
1831 733−0.07%
1836 712−0.58%
1841 717+0.14%
1846 818+2.67%
1851 815−0.07%
1856 790−0.62%
1861 769−0.54%
1866 753−0.42%
1872 691−1.42%
1876 732+1.45%
1881 702−0.83%
1886 849+3.88%
1891 734−2.87%
1896 776+1.12%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 814+0.96%
1906 887+1.73%
1911 991+2.24%
1921 997+0.06%
1926 1,240+4.46%
1931 1,513+4.06%
1936 1,508−0.07%
1946 1,649+0.90%
1954 2,678+6.25%
1962 4,058+5.33%
1968 7,298+10.28%
1975 12,945+8.53%
1982 17,166+4.11%
1990 19,754+1.77%
1999 21,364+0.87%
2007 21,736+0.22%
2012 20,346−1.31%
2017 21,379+1.00%
Source: EHESS[6] and INSEE (1968–2017)[7]

Economy

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Gif-sur-Yvette is situated in the "Science Valley" of the Yvette River. Numerous research organisations exist in the area, such as the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS), the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, CEA), Supélec (École supérieure d'électricité), the LGEP (Laboratoire de génie électrique de Paris, associated with Supélec), SOLEIL Synchrotron (Source Optimisée de Lumière d'Energie Intermediaire du LURE) and the Institute of Plant Biotechnology. Further, Gif-sur-Yvette is home to the former Centre national d'étude et de formation of the National Police.[8]

The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) operates, since 1950, a "permanent central college" in Gif-sur-Yvette, the Benoît Frachon Centre, situated along the Yvette River.

Transport

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Gif-sur-Yvette is served by two stations on Paris RER line B: Gif-sur-Yvette and Courcelle-sur-Yvette. Like all the train stations on this line, one train goes towards/past Paris (Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 TGV or Mitry-Claye) and the other goes towards the other end of the line : Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. The trains arrive generally at 15-minute intervals.

People

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Twin towns

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  • Germany Olpe, Germany, since 2001

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 6 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ (in French) Château du CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette.
  4. ^ "France's 20th century radium craze still haunts Paris". Reuters. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  5. ^ Base Mérimée: Eglise Saint-Rémi, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  6. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Gif-sur-Yvette, EHESS (in French).
  7. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE.
  8. ^ Loisy, Florian. "Le centre de formation de la police de Gif, si grand, si vide et si joli", Le Parisien (in French), 2 March 2016.
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