Les Clayes-sous-Bois () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center. The Clayes-sous-Bois inhabitants are called "Clétiens" (possibly translated "Cletians").
Geography
The commune of Les Clayes-sous-Bois is located about 14 km from Versailles and 30 km from Paris, in the southwest of the Versailles plain. The commune is highly urbanized, with mostly single-family housing, except for the southern part of the commune, which is covered by a part of the Bois-d'Arcy forest.
It borders the cities of Chavenay, Villepreux, Bois-d'Arcy, Trappes to and Plaisir.
The commune is irrigated in the South by the Maldroit river, a tributary of the Mauldre.
It is located entirely in the Mauldre watershed, managed since 1992 by the COBAHMA, under the aegis of the Yvelines General Council, and for which a water development and management plan (SAGE) has been implemented. However, it is partially in the Maldroit sub-basin (south and west) and for the rest (north-east) in the rivulet de Gally sub-basin, although not crossed by the rivulet itself.
Economy
Les Clayes-sous-Bois, like most towns in the Île-de-France region, has a large number of businesses (619), mainly in commerce and services, located in five industrial and commercial zones. One of the most important of these is Atos a computer center.
Three regional shopping centers to the north of the municipality, bordering the railroad tracks, constitute the other most important areas with Alpha Park, Alpha Park 2 and One Nation Paris (an outlet of luxury stores opened in late 2013).
Located on Avenue du Général-Leclerc, the communal market is open on Thursdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.44
In 2010, the median fiscal income per household was €37.589, which ranked Les Clayes-sous-Bois 4.075th among the 31.525 municipalities with more than 39 households in metropolitan France.
Policy and population
After being part of the group of communes of the West Paris region, Les Clayes-sous-Bois became part of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines agglomeration community on 1 January 2016
Twinnings
The twinning with Röthenbach was established by the mayors André Boulay and Karl Fischer in 1964, one year after the signature of the "Élysée Treaty", a friendship treaty signed at the Élysée Palace by the German chancellor Konrad Adenauer and the French president Charles de Gaulle.The group of "the Friends of the Woods" already existed since 1962, it organized meetings between the young people of the two cities. In 1964, immediately afterward, a twinning committee was created. On Easter 1965, a soccer match between the teams of the two towns took place. In October 1995, the 30th anniversary of the twinning was celebrated with discussions between veterans and the organization of painting exhibitions and tennis matches. In September 1999, the Twinning Committee introduced German classes in the "Maison des jeunes et de la culture des Clayes " (Youth Center of the town). In both cities, the Twinning Committee initiated language classes, trips, youth exchanges between schools and between artists, as well as other activities such as : petanque tournament on July 14 and meetings between the firemen of both cities. The city is also twinned with the city of Ponte da Barca (Portugal) since 2002.
Population
The population of the commune is relatively young. The rate of people over 60 years of age (22%) is lower than the national rate (26%). Like the national and departmental allocations, the female population of the municipality is higher than the male population.
The distribution of the commune's population by age group in 2017 is as follows:
49.1% men (0 to 14 years old = 21.7%, 15 to 29 years old = 19.2%, 30 to 44 years old = 18.8%, 45 to 59 years old = 20.8%, over 60 years old = 19.5%); 50.9% women (0-14 = 18.7%, 15-29 = 15.9%, 30-44 = 19.9%, 45-59 = 21.0%, over 60 = 24.4%).
History
Prehistory
Prehistoric elements such as carved axes and bronze bracelets have been discovered on the site of Les Clayes and are now exhibited in the national archaeology museum of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, testifying its occupation since prehistoric times.
Middle Ages
A stone path, of which there are still vestiges, passed through the village. It is nowadays the "Chemin aux Bœufs" ( the Oxen Road) . As its name indicates, this secondary road was used for cattle transport from Normandy; the animals were then inspected in Chavenay and put on sale at the Poissy and Saint-Germain-en-Laye markets .