The VIMOS VLT Deep Survey final data release: a spectroscopic sample of
  35016 galaxies and AGN out to z~6.7 selected with 17.5<=i_{AB}<=24.7
  We describe the completed VIMOS VLT Deep Survey, and the final data release
of 35016 galaxies and type-I AGN with measured spectroscopic redshifts up to
redshift z~6.7, in areas 0.142 to 8.7 square degrees, and volumes from 0.5x10^6
to 2x10^7h^-3Mpc^3. We have selected samples of galaxies based solely on their
i-band magnitude reaching i_{AB}=24.75. Spectra have been obtained with VIMOS
on the ESO-VLT, integrating 0.75h, 4.5h and 18h for the Wide, Deep, and
Ultra-Deep nested surveys. A total of 1263 galaxies have been re-observed
independently within the VVDS, and from the VIPERS and MASSIV surveys. They are
used to establish the redshift measurements reliability, to assess
completeness, and to provide a weighting scheme taking into account the survey
selection function. We describe the main properties of the VVDS samples, and
the VVDS is compared to other spectroscopic surveys. In total we have obtained
spectroscopic redshifts for 34594 galaxies, 422 type-I AGN, and 12430 Galactic
stars. The survey has enabled to identify galaxies up to very high redshifts
with 4669 redshifts in 1<=z_{spec}<=2, 561 in 2<=z_{spec}<=3 and 468 with
z_{spec}>3, and specific populations like LAE have been identified out to
z=6.62. We show that the VVDS occupies a unique place in the parameter space
defined by area, depth, redshift coverage, and number of spectra. The VVDS
provides a comprehensive survey of the distant universe, covering all epochs
since z, or more than 12 Gyr of cosmic time, with a uniform selection, the
largest such sample to date. A wealth of science results derived from the VVDS
have shed new light on the evolution of galaxies and AGN, and their
distribution in space, over this large cosmic time. A final public release of
the complete VVDS spectroscopic redshift sample is available at
http://cesam.lam.fr/vvds.
