French statistics make the distinction between residence permits issued for a duration of three months to less than one year, which apply to temporary immigration, and those whose duration is one year or longer, which are characteristic of permanent immigration. Thus, the permanent entries for the year include some first arrivals, regularized cases and former temporary residents who have been made permanent. From 1990 to 2001, there were 1.36 million permanent entries, or an annual average of 115,000 people, with a peak in 1998 when cases were regularized. Sixty per cent of these cases related to family reunification. Since 1997, there have been more than 100,000 entries from outside the European Community annually, that is, first Africans,...