The population actually present at the date of the Census in 1886 was 37,886,566, and in 1891, 38,133,385. Of the total population present in 1891, 18,932,354 (49 65 per cent.) were males, and 19, 201,031 (50-35 per cent.) females.

It will be seen that between 1891 and 1896 there has been a decrease of population in 63 departments, and an increase in 24 the total net increase being 175,027.

Notwithstanding a moderate death-rate, the population of France increases more slowly than that of most States of Western Europe, owing to the low rate of births. Between the years 1811 and 1820 the average annual surplus of births over deaths was 57 per thousand of population; between 1851 and 1860 it was 29; and between 1881 and 1885 it was 1.6. The average number of births per marriage was (1881-85) about 3; in 1891 it was 2.1.

The changes of area and population since 1801 (date of the first census taken) are seen from the following table. The third, fourth, and fifth columns give [in brackets] for the first five censuses the population, its density, and its average annual increase on the present territory of France, and are thus comparable with the data for the censuses posterior to the loss of Alsace and Lorraine.

The foreigners (natives of Europe) residing in France in 1896 numbered 1,027,491, and constituted 2·66 per cent. of the aggregate population. The numbers in 1891 were :

Of the total in 1891, 420,842 were born in France. The number of French citizens abroad in 1891 was 517,000.

According to the results of the census of 1891, the actual population according to occupations was as follows:

:

The movement of the population is very unequal over France, and from year to year the deaths are in excess of the births in from 32 to 60 depart.

ments out of 87.

The birth-rate for all France in 1896 was 227; in 1897 22-4 per 1,000 inhabitants. The death-rate in 1896 was 20-2; in 1897 19.9 per 1,000 inhabitants. In 1895 the number of deaths exceeded that of births; in 1896, owing to the increase in the number of births, as well as to the decrease in

the number of deaths, the births were more numerous than the deaths; in 1897 there was a decrease in the number of births, but there was a greater decrease in the number of deaths, so that there was an increased excess of births over deaths. In 1872 and 1876 the births numbered 966,000; but during the last twenty years the diminution has been almost constant, the death-rate having also considerably decreased.

The number of divorces is rapidly increasing; it was 5,752 in 1891, 5,772 in 1892, and 6, 184 in 1893; 6,419 in 1894, 6,743 in 1895, 7,051 in 1896, 7,460 in 1897, the aggregate number of 72, 852 divorces having been registered since the new law was voted in 1884.

Emigration.

In the years 1857-91, there were 285,873 French emigrants, of whom 59,304 went to the United States. In 1890 to 1893 the numbers of French emigrants, with their destinations, were as follows:

The total number of emigrants from French ports in 1890 was 72,512; 1891, 57,815; 1892, 39, 146; 1893, 34,215.

III. PRINCIPAL TOWNS.

The following, according to the census of 1896, are the towns with a communal population over 30,000:

For

In 1891 the total population of the same towns was 6,996,331. fiscal and electoral purposes the population of each commune is divided into agglomerated, scattered, and separated (comptée à part); the first two constitute the municipal population, and the third consists of garrison, college, prison, and hospital population. In 1891 the total agglomerated population was 23,191,218 (605 per cent.); scattered, 14,061,625 (36.6 per cent.); separate, 1,091,349 (2.9 per cent.); total, 38,343,192. Different from this is the distinction between urban and rural population, a commune being urban where the agglomerated population is over 2,000, and rural where under 2,000. In 1891 the total urban population was 14,311,292 (374 per cent.); the rural, 24,031,900 (62.6 per cent). In 1896, of the 36,170 communes 28,005 had each a population under 1,000; 5,443 had a population from 1,000 to 2,000; 2,134 from 2,000 to 5,000; 337 from 5,000 to 10,000; 134 from 10,000 to 20,000; and 117 over 20,000.

Religion.

There has been no religious census in France since 1872. All religions are equal by law, and any sect which numbers 100,000 adherents is entitled to a grant; but at present only the Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Jews have State allowances. For three years these grants were estimated as follows:

There are 17 archbishops and 67 bishops; the number of Catholic ecclesiastical officials paid by the State in 1899, was 42,417. At the end of 1892, the secular clergy, including teachers, numbered 55,600, and there were 8,358 pupils in ecclesiastical seminaries. The value of the total gifts and legacies made to the Church during the present century up to 1882 is 23,976,733 francs. The Protestants of the Augsburg Confession, or Lutherans, are, in their religious affairs, governed by a General Consistory; while the members of the Reformed Church, or Calvinists, are under a Council of Administration, the seat of which is at Paris. In 1899 there were 638 pastors of the Reformed Church, and 62 Lutheran, while the Jewish rabbis and assistants numbered 57. In the Protestant Theological Facultés of Paris and Montauban there were 137 students in 1898.