Immigration Census finds that 5% of France's residents are foreigners

[Maciamo]

Expatica : 5 million immigrants living in France: census

France is Europe's biggest immigrant country, home to nearly five million foreigners, and their numbers have risen markedly in recent years, according to a study by the INSEE national statistics institute published Thursday.

The findings, derived from 2004 data, showed that immigration from other countries in Europe was generally falling ?\ except for Britons and Portuguese ?\ and that the influx from Algeria and Morocco was growing.
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More than a third of them (35 percent) came from what are now the 25 EU countries, while slightly fewer (31 percent) come from north Africa, principally Algeria and Morocco.

Most of the remainder (29 percent) come from Asian countries ?\ especially Turkey ?\ and from sub-Saharan Africa, principally from former French colonies. Their numbers leapt considerably between 1999 and 2004.
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According to Sarkozy, between 80,000 and 100,000 illegal immigrants arrive in France each year.

This census only takes into account foreigners, not immigrants that have adopted French nationality. It is estimated that 5 million Muslims live in France, most of whom are from Algerian or Moroccan descent. However, the census number indicate that less than 2 millions of Algerian or Moroccan nationality live in France, because over half of them have since become French citizens. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of people coming from families who migrated to France in the last 3 generations was closer to 10 million, i.e. 1/6 of the country's population. Sarkozy, the leading presidential candidate, is himself the grandson of a Hungarian immigrant.