Bobigny is an urban commune, as it is one of the dense or intermediate density communes, as defined by theInsee communal density grid.[a][4][5][6] It belongs to theurban unit ofParis, an inter-departmental conurbation comprising 407 communes[7] and 10,785,092 inhabitants in 2017, of which it is asuburban commune.[8][9]
The commune is also part of thefunctional area of Paris[b] where it is located in the main population and employment centre of the functional area. This area comprises 1,929 communes.[10][11]
Valeo has management branches (Valeo Transmissions group and Valeo Friction Materials group) here. It was also the manufacturing base used byMeccano for FrenchDinky Toys from 1933 until 1970, when the factory was closed and later demolished. Production of Dinky Toys was then transferred to the Meccano factory inCalais until 1972, when the last new model, a Renault 4 la poste, was produced.
Its name is derived from Roman-periodBalbiniacum, "the place of Balbo or Balbinus or Balbinius"; or "of the dumb or silent man/men" (Gaulish:Irish Gaelicbalbh = "dumb, silent").
The commune has 14 public preschools (écoles maternelles), 15 public elementary schools, four public junior high schools, three public senior high schools/sixth-form colleges, and one private school.[16]
Junior high schools: Collège Auguste Delaune, Collège Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Collège Pierre Sémard, and Collège République et SEGPA[17]
The arms of Bobigny are blazoned : Or, a saltire gules, overall on an inescutcheon azure, a basket filled with fruit and flowers and topped with 7 ears of wheat argent.
The village of Bobigny was under Saint Andrew, hence the cross of Saint Andrew (saltire). The small shield in the middle evokes the agricultural nature of the commune, before the spread of built-up Paris surrounded it.
^According to the zoning of rural and urban municipalities published in November 2020, in application of the new definition of rurality validated on November 14, 2020 by the Interministerial Committee for Rural Areas.
