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The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world.

Paris is the capital city of France, as well as the capital of the Île-de-France région, whose territory encompasses Paris and its suburbs. The city of Paris proper is also a département, called Paris département (French: département de Paris).

The city of Paris proper, with 2,125,246 inhabitants at the 1999 census, is the largest city in France. Together with its suburbs and satellite cities it forms the Greater Paris metropolitan area (French: aire urbaine de Paris) covering 14,518 km² (5,606 sq. miles), and with a population of 11,174,743 inhabitants at the 1999 census (11.5 million as of January 2004 estimates). The Greater Paris metropolitan area is the second largest in Europe (after Moscow, and along with London), and approximately the 20th largest in the world. It is also the world's largest French speaking metropolitan area.

Greater Paris metropolitan area, with a total GDP higher than Australia, is the largest financial and business center of Europe, on par with London, harboring more than 30% of France's white-collar population, as well as more than 40% of the headquarters of French companies, with the largest business district of Europe (La Défense), and the 2nd largest stock exchange in Europe (Euronext).

Known worldwide as the City of Light (la Ville Lumière), Paris has been a major tourist destination for centuries. The city is renowned for the beauty of its architecture, its urban perspectives and avenues, as well as the wealth of its museums. Built on an arc of the River Seine, it is divided into two parts: the Right Bank to the north and the smaller Left Bank to the south.

Formerly the capital of a colonial empire stretching over five continents, Paris is still regarded as the heart of the French-speaking world and has retained a strong international position, hosting the headquarters of the OECD and the UNESCO among others. This, combined with its financial, business, political, and tourism activities, have turned Paris into one of the major transportation hubs on Earth, and Paris is recognized as one of a handful of "world cities".

File:Paris flag medium.png
Flag of Paris
File:150px-Blason Paris 3D.PNG
Coat of Arms of Paris

Geography

The location of Paris, shown within Europe (see larger map for increased clarity)

Coordinates

Paris is located at 48°52′ North, 2°19′59″ East (48.866667, 2.333056).

Area

The city (commune) of Paris has an area of 105.397 km² (40.69 sq. miles, or 26,044 acres). Excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, the actual area of the city is only 86.928 km² (33.56 sq. miles, or 21,480 acres).

This is not a very large area, and in fact the commune of Paris is only the 113th largest commune of France (out of 36,782 communes). As a matter of comparison, Greater London has an area of 1,572 km² (607 sq. mi), and New York City has an area of 786 km² (303 sq. miles). This peculiar fact is due to the conservatism of administrative limits in France. Unlike other western metropolises such as London, New York, or Berlin whose limits were extended in the 20th century to include suburbs previously independent, in the case of Paris no such enlargement happened. In fact, the last time Paris was enlarged was in 1860 when Napoleon III and the prefect Haussmann annexed the then suburban communes surrounding Paris, such as Montmartre or Auteuil, extending the area of the city from 34.50 km² (13.3 sq. miles) to 78 km² (30.1 sq. miles), and creating the 20 arrondissements of Paris. Since 1860, the limits of Paris have only marginally changed, reaching the 86.9km² figure indicated above. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes were officially incorporated into the city of Paris.

Thus, the Brooklyn, Greenwich, or Charlottenburg of Paris are still lying outside of the city of Paris proper, and the city of Paris can be more rightly compared to the borough of Manhattan (59.5 km²/23 sq. miles) or to Inner London (319 km²/123 sq. miles). Even the largest business and financial district of Paris, known as La Défense, lies outside of the city limits.

The urban area of Paris (unité urbaine de Paris), however, is much more extended than the administrative city of Paris. It had an area of 2,723 km² (1,051.4 sq. miles) in 1999, about 26 times larger than the city of Paris. As for the metropolitan area of Paris (aire urbaine de Paris), its area in 1999 was 14,518 km² (5,605.5 sq. miles), about 138 times larger than the city of Paris.

The city of Paris proper, excluding the outlying Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, has an almost regular oval shape, with a circumference of 35.5 km.(22 miles). This oval extends 9.5 km.(6 miles) from north to south, and 11 km.(7 miles) from east to west.

Density

Paris from space. The River Seine winds its way through the center of the image. The gray and purple pixels are the urban areas. The patchwork of green, brown, tan and yellow surrounding the city is farmland.

At the 1999 French census the population density in the city of Paris was 20,164 inh. per km² (52,225 inh. per sq. mile). Excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, the density in the city was actually 24,448 inh. per km² (63,321 inh. per sq. mile). As a matter of comparison, the density in Manhattan at the 2000 US census was 25,846 inh. per km² (66,940 inh. per sq. mile), and the density in Inner London at the 2001 UK census was 8,663 inh. per km² (22,438 inh. per sq. mile).

The population density in the city of Paris is very high compared to most western cities, which are rarely as crowded as Paris (except for Manhattan). The density in Paris reminds of the densities met with in Asian cities. In most western cities, people have left the city center in the 20th century to relocate to the distant suburbs, leaving the city center as a business district dead at night. Although the city of Paris has also experienced a decline in population since the 1920s, it has nonetheless seen less inhabitants relocating to the suburbs than has happened in other western cities.

More precisely, people relocating to the suburbs were for the most part replaced by new people attracted to an urban lifestyle, and buildings were not converted into offices as systematically as has happened elsewhere, such as in London where the inhabitants have left the city center since the Second World War, and the density of Inner London is now much lower than that of Paris. This is most striking in the medieval heart of both metropolises: the City of London and the four first arrondissements of Paris were the medieval heart of each metropolis, with densities reaching 75,000 to 100,000 inh. per km² before the Industrial Revolution. Today, the City of London is almost empty, with a population density of only 2,478 inh. per km² (6,417 inh. per sq. mile) in 2001, whereas the four first arrondissements of Paris still have a density of 18,139 inh. per km² (46,979 inh. per sq. mile) in 1999, seven times more dense than in the City of London.

Today, the most crowded arrondissement in the city of Paris is the 11th arrondissement, with a density reaching 40,672 inh. per km² (105,339 inh. per sq. mile) in 1999. Some neighborhoods in the east of this arrondissement are known to have densities of almost 100,000 inh. per km² (260,000 inh. per sq. mile).

Altitude

The altitude of Paris varies, with several prominent hills :

The highest elevation in the urban area of Paris is in the Forest of Montmorency (Val-d'Oise département), 19.5 km. (12 miles) north-northwest of the center of Paris as the crow flies, at 195 meters (640 ft) above sea-level.

Temperatures

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Paris since meteorological records started in 1873 was on December 10, 1879 when the temperature went down to –23.9° C (–11.0° F).

The hottest temperature was recorded on July 28, 1947 when the temperature reached 40.4° C (104.7° F). During the deadly heat wave of 2003, the temperature "only" reached 38.1° C (100.6° F) during the day, but the lowest temperature at night on July 11 and July 12, 2003 was 25.5° C (77.9° F), which is the hottest minimum temperature at night ever registered in Paris, causing the death of many old people whose body temperature could not cool down.

History

Main article: History of Paris

Brief history

The name of the city comes from the name of a Gallic tribe (parisis) inhabiting the region at the time of the Roman conquest. The historical heart of Paris is the Île de la Cité, a small island largely occupied by the huge Palais de Justice and the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. It is connected with the smaller Ile Saint-Louis (another island) occupied by elegant houses built in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Paris was occupied by a Gallic tribe until the Romans arrived in 52 BC. The invaders referred to the previous occupants as the Parisii, but called their new city Lutetia, meaning "marshy place". About fifty years later the city had spread to the left bank of the Seine, now known as the Latin Quarter, and had been renamed "Paris".

Roman rule had ceased by 508, when Clovis the Frank made the city the capital of the Merovingian dynasty of the Franks. Viking invasions during the 800s forced the Parisians to build a fortress on the Ile de la Cité. On March 28, 845 Paris was sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collected a huge ransom in exchange for leaving. The weakness of the late Carolingian kings of France led to the gradual rise in power of the Counts of Paris; Odo, Count of Paris was elected king of France by feudal lords while Charles III was also claiming the throne. Finally, in 987 Hugh Capet, count of Paris, was elected king of France by the great feudal lords after the last Carolingian died.

The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées

During the 11th century the city spread to the Right Bank. In the 12th and 13th centuries, which included the reign of Philip II Augustus (1180-1223), the city grew strongly. Main thoroughfares were paved, the first Louvre was built as a fortress, and several churches, including the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, were constructed or begun. Several schools on the Left Bank were grouped together into the Sorbonne, which counts Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas Aquinas among its early scholars. In the Middle Ages Paris prospered as a trading and intellectual nucleus, interrupted temporarily when the Black Death struck in the 14th century. Under the reign of King Louis XIV, the Sun King, from 1643 to 1715, the royal residence was moved from Paris to nearby Versailles.

The French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Many of the conflicts in the next few years were between Paris and the outlying rural areas.

In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War ended in a siege of Paris and the Paris Commune, which surrendered in 1871 after a winter of famine and bloodshed. The Eiffel Tower, the best-known landmark in Paris, was built in 1889 in a period of prosperity known as La Belle Époque (The Beautiful period).

In 1900 Paris hosted the 1900 Summer Olympics. In late August 1944 after the battle of Normandy, Paris was liberated when the German general Dietrich von Choltitz surrendered after skirmishes to the French 2nd Armoured Division commanded by Philippe de Hauteclocque backed by the Allies.

Population of Paris

See main article: Population of Paris

At the 1999 census, the population of the city of Paris (excluding suburbs) was 2,125,246. The population of the metropolitan area of Paris was 11,174,743.

Historically, the population of the city of Paris peaked in the 1920s, when it reached 2.9 million. However, there has been since then a movement towards living in suburbs, as well as the gentrification of many areas of inner Paris, and the use of available space for offices rather than dwellings, although this phenomenon was not as massive as happened in London or in American cities. These tendencies are controversial, and the current city administration is trying to reverse them.

At the 1999 census, 19.4% of the total population of the metropolitan area were born outside of France; 4.2% of the total population of the metropolitan area were recent migrants (i.e. people who were not living in France in 1990).

Administration

The city of Paris is itself a département of France (Paris, 75), part of the Ile-de-France région. Paris is divided into twenty numerically arranged districts, the arrondissements. These districts are numbered in a spiral pattern with the 1er arrondissement at the center of the city.

The city of Paris also comprises two forests: the Bois de Boulogne on the west and the Bois de Vincennes on the east.

File:Dmonniaux DSC00052 Paris City hall by the Seine.jpg
The Paris City hall behind the river Seine

Prior to 1968, département 75 was the Seine département, which contained the city of Paris and its immediate suburbs. The splitting up of the Seine département resulted in the creation of four new départements: Paris proper (75), and three départements (Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne) forming a ring around Paris, often called la petite couronne (i.e. the "small ring", as opposed to the "large ring" of the more distant suburbs of Paris).

As an exception to the normal rules for French cities, some powers normally vested in the mayor of the city are instead vested in a representative of the national government, the Prefecture of Police which also controls the Paris Fire Brigade. As an example, Paris has no municipal police force, though it has some traffic wardens. This is a legacy of the situation that up to 1977, Paris had no mayor and was essentially run by the prefectoral administration.

Citizens of Paris elect in each arrondissement some municipal council members. Each arrondissement has its own council, which elects the mayor of the arrondissement. Some members of the arrondissement councils form the Council of Paris, which elects the mayor of Paris, and has the double functions of a municipal council and the general council of the département.

Bertrand Delanoë has been the Mayor of Paris since March 18, 2001. Mr Delanoë is openly homosexual.

Former mayors Jacques Chirac and Jean Tiberi were cited in corruption scandals in the Paris region.

Transport

Walkway tunnel in Parisian metro

Paris is served by two principal airports: Orly Airport, which is south of Paris, and the Charles De Gaulle International Airport in nearby Roissy-en-France. A third and much smaller airport, at the town of Beauvais, 45 miles to the north of the city, is used by charter and low-cost airlines. Le Bourget airport nowadays only hosts business jets, air trade shows and the aerospace museum.

Paris is densely covered by a metro system, the Métro, as well as by a large number of bus lines. This interconnects with a high-speed regional network, the RER, and also the train network: commuter lines, national train lines, and the TGV (or derivatives like Thalys or Eurostar for specific destinations). There are two tangential tramway lines in the suburbs: Line T1 runs from Saint-Denis to Noisy-le-Sec, line T2 runs from La Défense to Issy. A third line along the southern orbital road is currently under construction.

Administratively speaking, the public transportation networks of the Paris region are coordinated by the Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France (STIF), formerly Syndicat des transports parisiens (STP). official site Members of the syndicate include the RATP, which operates the Parisian and some suburban busses, the Métro, and sections of the RER; the SNCF, which operates the rest of the RER and the suburban train lines; and other operators.

The city is the hub of France's motorway network, and is surrounded by an orbital road, the Peripherique. On/off ramps of the Peripherique are called 'Portes', as they correspond to the city gates. Most of these 'Portes' have parking areas and a metro station, where non-residents are advised to leave cars. Traffic in Paris is notoriously heavy, slow and tiresome.

 

Paris tourist attractions

The river Seine is well known for its tree-lined quais (walks along the river banks), open-air bookstalls and historic bridges that connect the Right and Left banks. Paris is also famous for its tree-lined boulevards such as the Champs-Élysées, and for its many architectural gems.

View from the Montparnasse Tower (Tour Montparnasse) towards the Eiffel Tower. On the right Napoleon's tomb lies under the golden dome at Les Invalides. The towers of the office and entertainment centre La Défense line the horizon.

Places in Paris one may like to visit:

Monuments and buildings

Museums

The Sacre Coeur, a Roman Catholic basilica.
File:Eiffel Tower - Domes des Invalides.jpg
A Parisian view from the second level of the Eiffel Tower, with Le Dome des Invalides creeping at the horizon, barely past the towering shadow.

Streets and other areas within Paris

  • Montmartre - historic area on the Butte, home to the Basilica of the Sacré Coeur and also famous for the studios and cafés of many great artists.
  • Champs-Élysées - a famous street, a broad boulevard often clogged with tourists.
  • Rue de Rivoli - boutiques for tourists
  • Place de la Concorde - at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, formerly Place de la Revolution, site of the infamous guillotine and the obelisk.
  • Place de la Bastille - where the Bastille prison stood until the Revolution.
  • Montparnasse - historic area on the Left Bank, famous for the studios, music-halls, and cafés of artists.
The Statue of Liberty copy on the river Seine in Paris, France. Given to the city in 1885, it faces west, towards the original Liberty in New York City.

Boutiques, department stores and hotels

Night life

Sports clubs

Paris's main sports clubs are Paris Saint-Germain, football club and Stade Français, rugby club

In the suburbs and the greater Paris region (Île-de-France)

File:La Défense3.jpg
The new Parisian skyline of skyscrapers, La Défense in the background. Le Trocadéro is partially seen in the foreground (image apparently taken from the Eiffel Tower)
  • business districts
    • La Défense - major office, cinema and shopping complex, west of Paris

Name of Paris and its inhabitants

Paris is pronounced /'pæɹɪs/ in English, and /paʀi/ in French.

The original Latin name of Paris was Lutetia (/lutetja/), known in French as Lutèce (/lytɛs/). The name was later changed into Paris, based on the name of the Gallic parisi tribe.

Traditionally Paris is known as Paname (/panam/) in French slang , but this name is gradually losing currency.

The inhabitants of Paris are known as Parisians in English, as Parisiens (/paʀizjɛ̃/) in French, and as Parigots (/paʀigo/) in French slang.

Events

View over Paris from the Grand Gallery of Notre Dame
File:Paris Landsat.jpg
Another simulated-colour satellite image of Paris taken on the Landsat 7. This image zooms closer into the heart of the city.

Paris hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1900 and 1924. The 1998 World Cup was hosted by France; several matches were held in Paris proper at Parc des Princes, and several others, including the final, were held at Stade de France in the suburb of Saint-Denis.

External links

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