18 communes of the Seine-et-Oise department (which was also abolished in 1968) to form the new Val-de-Marne department. The official number 94 was assigned to this department, a number previously used for the Territoires du Sud territory in the Saharan part of French Algeria. To the west of Paris, 27 communes of the Seine department were grouped with nine communes of Seine-et-Oise to form the new Hauts-de-Seine department. The official number 92 was assigned to this department, a number previously used for the department of Oran in French Algeria. Finally, to the north and northeast the 24 remaining communes of the Seine department were grouped with 16 communes of the Seine-et-Oise department to form the new Seine-Saint-Denis department. The official number 93 was assigned to this department, a number previously used for the department of Constantine in French Algeria. Taken together, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne and Seine-Saint-Denis are known in France as the "small ring" (), as opposed to the "large ring" () of the more distant suburbs. The small ring plus the City of Paris total , more than the former Seine department (). The Métropole du Grand Paris, an administrative structure created in 2016, comprises Paris and the three departments of the , plus seven additional communes in the . Demographics At the 2006 census, the population of the communes that had previously comprised the Seine department was 5,496,468. The population of the department peaked in 1968 at 5,700,754. It then lost inhabitants until 1999 (with a nadir of 5,203,818 inhabitants at the 1999 census) as residents increasingly relocated to the more distant suburbs of the metropolitan area of Paris, but since 1999 it has regained some inhabitants, with a population increase of 292,650 inhabitants between 1999 and 2006. This new population growth after a long period of decline is comparable to what is observed in the central areas of other large Western metropolises such as Inner London. Of the new departments created in 1968, Paris was the most populous in 2006 with 2,181,371 inhabitants. The Paris department is currently the second-most populous of France behind that of Nord. See also Departments of France References Former departments of France in France States and territories established in 1790 States and territories disestablished in 1968 Enclaves and exclaves 1790 establishments in France 1968 disestablishments in France