There used to be a saying among French Catholics: "If the traditionalists win, then the liturgical language of France will be Latin. If they lose, it will be Arabic."
Muslim immigration into France accounts for the high fertility.
Muslim immigration into France accounts for the high fertility.
he birthrates of Muslim women in Europe have been falling significantly for some time. In the Netherlands, for example, the TFR among Dutch-born women rose between 1990 and 2005 from 1.6 to 1.7. In the same period for Moroccan-born women in Holland it fell from 4.9 to 2.9, and for Turkish-born women in Holland from 3.2 to 1.9. In Austria, the TFR of Muslim women fell from 3.1 to 2.3 from 1981 to 2001. In 1970 Turkish-born women in Germany had on average two children more than German-born women. By 1996 the difference had fallen to one child and has now dropped to 0.5. These sharp falls reflect important cultural shifts, which include the impact of universal female education, rising living standards, the effect of local cultural norms and availability of contraception.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/Walker/2008/04/30/Walke...
http://rfmcdpei.livejournal.com/408410.html http://historyandfutility.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/why-eurab...
I just read the linked article at UPI. It is unclear on the matter.
To this decades-old immigration that is still growing strong, we must add recent immigrants, who are much more religious and have much higher fertility rates.
The second development to note is that INED, France's National Institute of Demographic Studies, has done some detailed research and concluded that France's immigrant population is responsible for only 5 percent of the rise in the birthrate and that France's population would be rising anyway even without the immigrant population.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/Walker/2008/04/30/Walke...
http://www.ined.fr/en/resources_documentation/publications/d...
It might be one of the "Recent Demographic Developments in France"