Bobigny

Bobigny is a commune, or town, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France, France. It is located 9.1 km from the centre of Paris. Bobigny is the prefecture (capital city) of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Bobigny. It is the 11th most populous commune in Seine-Saint-Denis (2019).

Inhabitants are called Balbyniens. Bobigny is the seat of the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture. The first IKEA store in France was located in this commune.

Typology
Bobigny is an urban commune, as it is one of the dense or intermediate density communes, as defined by the Insee communal density grid. It belongs to the urban unit of Paris, an inter-departmental conurbation comprising 411 communes and 10,785,092 inhabitants in 2017, of which it is a suburban commune.

The commune is also part of the functional area of Paris where it is located in the main population and employment centre of the functional area. This area comprises 1,929 communes.

Transport
Bobigny is served by two stations on Paris Métro Line 5: Bobigny – Pantin – Raymond Queneau and Bobigny – Pablo Picasso. It can also be reached from the outer terminus of Paris Métro Line 7 at La Courneuve.

Economy
Valeo has management branches (Valeo Transmissions group and Valeo Friction Materials group) here. It was also the manufacturing base used by Meccano for French Dinky Toys from 1933 until 1970, when the factory was closed and later demolished. Production of Dinky Toys was then transferred to the Meccano factory in Calais until 1972, when the last new model, a Renault 4 la poste, was produced.

Toponymy
Its name is derived from Roman-period Balbiniacum, "the place of Balbo or Balbinus or Balbinius"; or "of the dumb or silent man/men" (Gaulish: Irish Gaelic balbh = "dumb, silent").

History
During World War II, approximately 20,000 Jews were shipped from a railway station in Bobigny. Their ultimate destinations were the Nazi camps.

Education
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.
 * Junior high schools: Collège Auguste Delaune, Collège Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Collège Pierre Sémard, and Collège République et SEGPA
 * Senior high/Sixth-form: Lycée professionnel Alfred Costes, Lycée Louise Michel, Lycée polyvalent André Sabatier
 * École, collège et lycée Charles Péguy is a private school from elementary to senior high/sixth-form

There is also a school of hotel management, École hôtelière de Bobigny.

The Bobigny campus of Paris 13 University is its second-largest. It focuses on the medical sciences, and hosts a strong medical degree.

Personalities
Bobigny is the birthplace of:
 * Charles Itandje (born 1982), football goalkeeper
 * Gaël Monfils, tennis player
 * Valentin Courrent, rugby player
 * Odsonne Edouard, football player

Bobigny is the place of death of:

• Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter.

International relations
Bobigny is twinned with:
 * 🇷🇺 Serpukhov, Moscow Oblast (Russia)
 * 🇩🇪 Potsdam, Brandenburg (Germany)