Apart from its numerous motorways and rail links, it has a series of port zones along the Seine and Marne. Île-de-France is the focus of France’s various communications networks. A large Disneyland theme park in Marne-la-Vallée also is a significant tourist draw. Of historical interest are the châteaus of Versailles, Mantes-la-Jolie, Rambouillet, Fontainebleau, Vaux-le-Vicomte, and Champs. The région is a major tourist destination for international visitors. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. As a result, industry has become concentrated in the outer urban areas and especially in the five new towns developed since the 1960s: Évry, Marne-la-Vallée, Sénart, Cergy-Pontoise, and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. The centre of the région has lost most of its industries, and inner suburbs in Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, and Hauts-de-Seine have experienced factory closures. Industry is not spread equally throughout.

In industry, major activities include printing and publishing food processing and the manufacturing of electrical and electronic goods, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and mechanical products. It remains a major industrial hub, although employment is concentrated overwhelmingly in the service sector. The région is the country’s preeminent decision-making centre, in both the public and private sectors. Île-de-France dominates economic activity in France, despite successive attempts to encourage businesses in other parts of the country. In general, farm holdings are large, highly mechanized, and produce high yields, yet they employ only a very small percentage of the workforce. Owing to the great urban sprawl of Paris, agriculture is concentrated in the outer areas of Île-de-France, particularly in the département of Seine-et-Marne. In Val-d’Oise between Pontoise and Montmorency, mushrooms are grown on a large scale in limestone caves. Fruit, vegetables, and flowers are also grown. The région’s fertile loams support the cultivation of wheat, corn (maize), barley, sunflowers, rapeseed, legumes, and sugar beets. Many of the communes belonging to Île-de-France are still classified as rural despite their proximity to Paris. There has been an internal redistribution in the région as people have moved from the congestion and expense of the inner districts of the capital to the outer suburbs and adjacent small towns where housing costs are lower and jobs have been relocated or created. Since the 1960s, natural increase has remained strong, because of the région’s youthful population, but growth has slowed, largely as a result of migrational loss. Île-de-France had a fourfold growth in population between 18. In the century between 18, when most areas of France were losing population, Paris attracted migrants from all over the country, as well as a large number of immigrants. Île-de-France is the most densely populated région in France. Baron Haussmann's modernization plan transformed many areas of Paris through the addition of wider boulevards, better lighting and water sanitation, new parks, and improved rail transportation.

Walton gmc