Neuilly-sur-Seine (French pronunciation: [nøji syʁ sɛn] ; lit. 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban commune in Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France. An immediate western suburb of Paris, it is physically separated from the capital centre only by the Périphérique to its east and the Bois de Boulogne to its south.
Neuilly is mainly made up of residential neighborhoods and hosts several corporate headquarters and foreign embassies. One of the most affluent areas of France, it is the wealthiest and most expensive suburb of Paris. Although, as of 2020, it is the commune with only the fourth highest median per capita income (€52,570 per year) in France, if Neuilly is grouped together with the city's adjacent 16th and 17th arrondissements, they form the most affluent residential area in the country.
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History
Originally, Pont de Neuilly was a small hamlet under the jurisdiction of Villiers, a larger settlement mentioned in medieval sources as early as 832 and now absorbed by the commune of Levallois-Perret. It was not until 1222 that the little settlement of Neuilly, established on the banks of the Seine, was mentioned for the first time in a charter of the Abbey of Saint-Denis: the name was recorded in Medieval Latin as Portus de Lulliaco, meaning "Port of Lulliacum". In 1224 another charter of Saint-Denis recorded the name as Lugniacum. By 1226, the settlement was also referred to as Luingni in medieval records.
In 1316, however, in a ruling of the parlement of Paris, the name was recorded as Nully. During the 14th century, the settlement was also referred to as Nulliacum, while the name alternated between Luny and Nullybefore eventually evolving into Neuilly.
Various explanations and etymologies have been proposed to explain these discrepancies in the names of Neuilly recorded over the centuries. The original name of Neuilly may have been Lulliacum or Lugniacum, which may later have evolved into Nulliacum / Nully. Some interpret Lulliacum or Lugniacum as meaning "estate of Lullius (or Lunius)", probably a Gallo-Roman landowner. This interpretation is based on a common pattern in French place names, many of which derive from the name Gallo-Roman landowners combined with the suffix "-acum".
Other researchers, however, object that it is unlikely that Neuilly owes its name to a Gallo-Roman patronym, because during the Roman occupation of Gaul the area of Neuilly was inside the large Forest of Rouvray, of which the Bois de Boulogne is all that remains today, and was probably not a settlement. These researchers contend that it is only after the fall of the Roman Empire and the Germanic invasions that the area of Neuilly was deforested and settled. Thus, they think that the name Lulliacum or Lugniacum comes from the ancient Germanic word lund meaning "forest", akin to Old Norse lundr meaning "grove", to which the placename suffix "-acum" was added. The Old Norse word lundr has indeed left many placenames across Europe, such as the city of Lund in Sweden, the Forest of the Londe in Normandy, or the many English placenames containing "lound", "lownde", or "lund" in their name, or ending in "-land". This interesting theory, however, fails to explain why the "d" of lund is missing in Lulliacum or Lugniacum.
Politics
Neuilly used to be one of the most right-wing towns in France, regularly voting for the candidate of the traditional right by landslide margins. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy was mayor of Neuilly from 1983 to 2007. Amidst a poor national showing of 20%, Neuilly gave right-wing candidate François Fillon 65% of its vote in the first round of the 2017 presidential election.
In more recent elections, which have tended to be polarized between Emmanuel Macron's centrist coalition and the right-populist National Rally, Neuilly has broken for Macronist parties like En Marche! and Ensemble instead.
Population
The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine ceded part of its territory to the new commune of Levallois-Perret in 1866.
Main sites
It was the site of the Château de Neuilly, an important royal residence during the July Monarchy. The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1886.
Transport
Neuilly-sur-Seine is served by the Paris Métro and the RER, Paris's regional rail network. Paris Métro Line 1 has three stations in the commune, all along Avenue Charles-de-Gaulle, which is part of the Axe historique: Porte Maillot, Les Sablons and Pont de Neuilly. RER C and E stop at Neuilly–Porte Maillot, which is connected to Porte Maillot on the Métro.
RATP, Paris's public transport operator, also operates bus services in the commune on lines 43, 73, 82, 93, 157, 158, 163, 164, and 174 during the day and N11 and N24 at night.[1] Archived 29 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine
Economy
Located near France's main business district La Défense, Neuilly-sur-Seine also hosts several corporate headquarters:
Bureau Veritas, Chanel, Marathon Media, JCDecaux, Thales Group, M6 Group, Sephora, PricewaterhouseCoopers France, Parfums Christian Dior (in 2019), Orangina France, Grant Thornton International France.
Organisations
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has its European and North Atlantic (EUR/NAT) Office in Neuilly.
Education
Public schools in Neuilly:
Eight écoles maternelles (preschools): Achille Peretti, Charcot, Dulud, Gorce-Franklin, Michelis, Poissoniers, Roule, Saussaye
Ten elementary schools: Charcot A, Charcot B, Gorce-Franklin, Huissiers, Poissoniers, Peretti, Michelis A, Michelis B, Saussaye A, and Saussaye B
Two lower secondary schools: Collège André Maurois and Collège Théophile Gautier.
Collège et Lycée Pasteur
Lycée Saint-James
Lycée professionnel Vassily Kandinsky
Domestic private schools:
École primaire Sainte-Croix
École primaire Sainte-Marie
École primaire Saint-Dominique
École Saint-Pierre / Saint Jean
Collège Saint-Pierre / Saint-Jean
Collège et Lycée Sainte-Croix
Collège et Lycée Sainte-Marie
Collège et Lycée Saint-Dominique
Lycée professionnel Georges Guérin
International private schools:
Liceo Español Luis Buñuel, Spanish international secondary and baccalaureate school
Twin towns – sister cities
Neuilly-sur-Seine is twinned with:
Hanau, Germany (1964–2002)
Uccle, Belgium (from 1981)
Windsor, England, United Kingdom (from 1955)