Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in Northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Populations légales 2019: 78 Yvelines
INSEE Its

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, home to the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, the principal residence of the King of France from 1682 until 1789, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

since 1979. Yvelines' subprefectures are

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

Mantes-la-Jolie Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, f ...

and

Rambouillet Rambouillet (, , ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is located beyond the outskirts of Paris, southwest of its Kilometr ...

History

Yvelines was created from the western part of the former department of

Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...

on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a ''décret d'application'' (a decree specifying how a law should be enforced) from 26 February 1965. It inherited Seine-et-Oise's official number of 78 since it took up the largest portion of its territory. In addition to this, it inherited Seine-et-Oise's prefecture,

. Yvelines derives its name from the Forest of Yveline, next to

. It gained the

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

of Châteaufort and

Toussus-le-Noble Toussus-le-Noble () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. History In 1969, the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble were separated from the Essonne department and added to Yvelin ...

from the adjacent department of

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, which grew up around Louis XIV's château, was also the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

for more than a century under the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

and again between 1871 and 1879 during the early years of the Third Republic. Since then the château has continued to welcome the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

when it is called upon to sit in a

congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

sitting (with both houses sitting together) in order to enact

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

changes or to listen to a formal declaration by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Geography

Situation

Yvelines is bordered by the departments of

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.< ...

on the north,

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

on the east,

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, is part of the Paris metropolitan area, but the rest of the department is rural, much of it covered by the

Forest of Rambouillet The forest of Rambouillet (, ), also known as the forest of Yveline ( ) is a large forest covering some 200 km² (77 square miles), located to the west of Paris, in the Île-de-France region of France. The town of Rambouillet, after which it ...

(also known as the Forest of Yveline, from which the name of the department is derived). Two

regional parks In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

can be found in Yvelines:

Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Natural Park Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Natural Park (, ) is a protected area in the Île-de-France region of northern France. It is a verdant rural area outside Paris, designated as a regional natural park because it contains a wide variety of unique ...

and part of

Vexin Vexin () is a historical county of northern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank (north) of the Seine running roughly east to west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle (about 20 km from Rouen), and north to south betw ...

Français Park. Yvelines is home to one of France's best known golf courses, La Tuilerie-Bignon, in the village of

Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. History Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche was built around 4 core hamlets near the Forest of M ...

Principal towns

Besides

(the

and most populous commune) and the subprefectures of

, and

, important cities include

Conflans-Sainte-Honorine Conflans-Sainte-Honorine () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris. The commune was originally named for its g ...

Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...

Les Mureaux Les Mureaux () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Population Transport Les Mureaux is served by Les ...

Houilles Houilles () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is a northwestern suburb of Paris, located from the center of Paris. History Until 2000, the command post of the French Navy's Ball ...

Plaisir Plaisir () is a commune located in the heart of the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is located in the western outer suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. It borders among others on Élancourt (sout ...

Sartrouville Sartrouville () is a communes of France, commune in the Yvelines departments of France, department, Île-de-France, north central France. it is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Name In the ...

Chatou Chatou () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest ...

Le Chesnay Le Chesnay () is a former commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, fr ...

, and the new

agglomeration community An agglomeration community (, ) is a consortium of communes (municipalities) in France, created as a government structure by the Chevènement Law of 1999. It is one of four forms of intercommunality, less integrated than a or a communauté ur ...

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines () is a new town and an agglomeration community in the French department of Yvelines. It is one of the original five villes nouvelles ( new towns) of Paris and was named after the Saint Quentin Pond, which was chosen ...

. As of 2019, there are 21 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants. The 10 most populous communes are:

Demographics

In French, a man from the Yvelines is called ''Yvelinois'' (plural ''Yvelinois''); a woman is ''Yvelinoise'' (plural ''Yvelinoises).

Population development since 1876

Place of birth of residents

Tourism

Palaces and châteaux

Château de Breteuil The Château de Breteuil (previously called the Château de Bevilliers) is a château situated in the Vallée de Chevreuse in Yvelines department of France, to the southwest of Paris. The château was designated a monument historique in 1973. Th ...

* Château du Haut-Buc *

Château de Dampierre The Château de Dampierre () is a château in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, in the ''Vallée de Chevreuse'', France. History Built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1675–1683 for the Charles Honoré d'Albert, duc de Luynes, de Chaulnes et de Chevreuse, d ...

Château de Jouy-en-Josas A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

Château de Maisons The Château de Maisons (now Château de Maisons-Laffitte ), designed by François Mansart from 1630 to 1651, is a prime example of French Baroque architecture and a reference point in the history of French architecture. The château is located in ...

Château de Rambouillet The Château de Rambouillet (), also known in English as the Castle of Rambouillet, is a château in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines department, in the region in northern France, southwest of Paris. It was the summer residence of the Presi ...

Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a former royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the department of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the '' Musée d'Archéologie nationale'' (Nationa ...

Château of Thoiry A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

Château de Vaux-sur-Seine A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

* Château de Mauvières * Château du Pont * Château de Villette * Château de Millemont

Museums

* Museum of National Antiques (Saint-Germain-en-Laye) * Museum of River and Canal Craft (Conflans-Sainte-Honorine) * Horse-drawn Coach Museum (Versailles) * Toy Museum (Poissy) * Sheep Museum (Rambouillet) * Cloth Museum of Jouy (

Jouy-en-Josas Jouy-en-Josas () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is located in the southwestern outer suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris, on the departmental border with Essonne. Jouy- ...

) * National Barn Museum of Port-Royal (

Magny-les-Hameaux Magny-les-Hameaux () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Population Education There are four preschools: Ecole Francis Jammes, Ecole André Gide, Ecole Petit Prince, and Ecole Jean Ba ...

) * International Museum of Naive Art * Musée Lambinet (Versailles) * Musée de la Grenouillère (Croissy-sur-Seine) * Musée Fournaise (Chatou)

Artists' and writers' houses

Maurice Denis Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with '' Les Nabis'', symbolism, ...

's house, the Musée départemental Maurice Denis (Saint-Germain-en-Laye) *

André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. In 2025, all of Derain’s work entered the public domain in the United States. Life and career Early ...

's house (Chambourcy) *

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

Château de Monte-Cristo The Château de Monte-Cristo is a writer's house museum located at Le Port-Marly in the Yvelines department of northern France. It was originally built as a residence for writer Alexandre Dumas. History The château was designed by the archite ...

(

Port-Marly Le Port-Marly () is a commune in the outer western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region, north of Versailles. In 2019, Le Port-Marly had a population of 5,481. Population See also * C ...

) *

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

's house/museum (

Montfort-l'Amaury Montfort-l'Amaury () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It is located north of Rambouillet. The name comes from Amaury I de Montfort, the first ''seigneur'' (lord) of Montfort. Geography ...

) *

Jean-Claude Richard Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Non (1727 – 25 November 1791) was a French painter and printmaker. He was born, and also died, in Paris. He is often rather misleadingly known as the "Abbé de Saint-Non"; although intended for the church by his f ...

's family estate (

) *

Elsa Triolet Ella Yuryevna Kagan (; – 16 June 1970), known as Elsa Triolet (), was a Russian-French writer and translator. Biography Ella Yuryevna Kagan was born into a Jewish family of Yuri Alexandrovich Kagan, a lawyer, and Yelena Youlevna Berman, ...

-Aragon's house (

Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. Population Twin towns * Freudenberg am Main (1993) * Terras de Bouro (2004) See also *Communes of the Yvelines department ...

) *

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

House (

Bougival Bougival () is a suburban commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is located west from the centre of Paris, on the left bank of the River Seine, on the departmental border with Hauts-de-Seine. In ...

) *

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

's house (

Médan Médan () is a village in the Yvelines department, Île-de-France region, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, about 25 km from the capital. Inhabitants of Médan are called ''Médanais''. Geography Médan is located in the Seine V ...

)

Parks and gardens

* Chèvreloup Arboretum (

Rocquencourt Rocquencourt refers to two places in France: * Rocquencourt, Yvelines Rocquencourt () is a former commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Le Chesna ...

) * Marly Estate (

Marly-le-Roi Marly-le-Roi () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the administrative region of Île-de-France, France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Marly-le-Roi was the location of the Château de Marly, ...

) * Vaux-sur-Seine Castle Garden (

Vaux-sur-Seine Vaux-sur-Seine (, literally ''Vaux on Seine'') is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Yvelines department A commune is an alternative term for an intentiona ...

) * The King's Vegetable Garden (Versailles) * Outdoor and entertainment base of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (

Trappes Trappes () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines departments of France, department, Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It is a banlieue located in the western outer suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, c ...

) File:Versailles chateau.jpg,

Palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

and

Gardens of Versailles The Gardens of Versailles ( ) occupy part of what was once the ''Domaine royal de Versailles'', the royal demesne of the Palace of Versailles, château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the Palace of Versailles, palace, the gardens cover so ...

File:The Grand Trianon Castle in Summer.JPG, The

Grand Trianon The Grand Trianon () is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of Louis XIV as a retreat for himself and his ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of th ...

File:Le hameau de la Reine (Versailles) (8040177482).jpg, The Hameau de la Reine File:Venus of Brassempouy.jpg, The

Venus of Brassempouy The Venus of Brassempouy (French: ''la Dame de Brassempouy'', , meaning "Lady of Brassempouy", or ''Dame à la Capuche'', "Lady with the Hood") is a fragmentary ivory figurine from the Upper Palaeolithic, apparently broken from a larger figure at ...

from the collection of the

File:Jumeauville lavoir01.jpg,

Lavoir A lavoir (, wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by s ...

of Jumeauville

Politics

In both local and national elections, the department generally supports

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

political candidates.

Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 199 ...

, who served as

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...

from 1988 to 1991 under President

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

, was an MP for the department in the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. The president of the Departmental Council is Pierre Bédier, first elected in 2014.

Presidential elections 2nd round

Members of the National Assembly

In the 2024 legislative election, Yvelines elected the following representatives to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

Senators

In the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, Yvelines is represented by: *

Toine Bourrat Toine is a Dutch given name and a nickname with both masculine and feminine uses. It is a short form of Antoine and a diminutive form of Antonius, Anton, Antoon, Anthonis, Anthoon, Antonie, and Antonis used in Belgium, Netherlands, Suriname, So ...

(

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

), since 2020 * Marta de Cidrac ( LR), since 2017 *

Gérard Larcher Gérard Philippe René André Larcher (; born 14 September 1949) is a French politician serving as president of the Senate since 2014, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2011. A member of The Republicans, he has been a Senator for the Yv ...

( LR), since 2007 (President of the Senate since 2014) * Michel Laugier (

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi Hills, Enugu State, Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People Given name * Udi Aloni (born 1959), Israeli-American film ...

), since 2017 * Martin Lévrier (

REM Rem or REM may refer to: Music * R.E.M., an American rock band * ''R.E.M.'' (EP), by the band Green * "R.E.M." (song), by Ariana Grande Science and technology * Rapid eye movement sleep, a phase of sleep * Roentgen equivalent man (rem), a unit ...

), since 2017 *

Sophie Primas Sophie Primas (; born 7 June 1962) is a French politician who has served as Spokesperson of the Government of France, Spokesperson in the Bayrou government, government of Prime Minister François Bayrou since December 2024. A member of The Republ ...

( LR), since 2011

References

External links

*
Prefecture of Yvelines
*
Departmental council of Yvelines
*
History of Famous People and Yvelines
{{Authority control Departments of Île-de-France 1968 establishments in France States and territories established in 1968