City flag
City coat of arms
Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur
(Latin: "Tossed by the waves, she does not sink")
The Eiffel Tower (foreground) and the skyscrapers of Paris's suburban La Défense business district (background).
Location
Time Zone
CET (UTC +1)
Coordinates
48°52′0″N, 2°19′59″E
Administration
Country
France
Region
Île-de-France
Department
Paris (75)
Subdivisions
20 arrondissements
Mayor
Bertrand Delanoë (PS)
(2008-2014)
City Statistics
Land area¹
86.9 km²
Population²
(Jan. 2006 estimate)
2,167,994
- Ranking
1st in France
- Density
24,948/km² (2006)
Urban Spread
Urban Area
2 723 km² (1999)
- Population
9,644,507 (1999)
Metro Area
14,518.3 km² (1999)
- Population
12,067,000 (2007)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
Paris (pronounced /ˈpærɨs/ in English; (help·info) in French) is the capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the River Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (also known as the "Paris Region"; French: Région parisienne). The city of Paris within its administrative limits (largely unchanged since 1860) has an estimated population of 2,167,994 (January 2006). The Paris unité urbaine (or urban area) extends well beyond the administrative city limits and has an estimated population of 9.93 million (in 2005). The Paris aire urbaine (or metropolitan area) has a population of nearly 12 million, and is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe.
An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. According to 2005 estimates by the PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting firm, the Paris urban area is Europe's biggest city economy, and is fifth in the world's list of cities by GDP.
The Paris Region, with €500.8 billion (US$628.9 billion), produced more than a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP) of France in 2006. The Paris Region hosts 37 of the Fortune Global 500 companies in several business districts, notably La Défense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe. Paris also hosts many international organizations such as UNESCO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the informal Paris Club.
Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with over 30 million foreign visitors per year. There are numerous iconic landmarks among its many attractions, along with world-famous institutions and popular parks.
Main article: List of museums in Paris
Paris has always been a destination for traders, students and those on religious pilgrimages, but its 'tourist industry' began on a large scale only with the appearance of rail travel, namely from state organisation of France's rail network from 1848. Among Paris' first mass attractions drawing international interest were, from 1855, the above-mentioned Expositions Universelles that would bring Paris many new monuments, namely the Eiffel Tower from 1889. These, in addition to the capital's Second Empire embellishments, did much to make the city itself the attraction it is today.
Paris' museums and monuments are among its highest-esteemed attractions; tourism has motivated both the city and national governments to create new ones. The city's most prized museum, the Louvre, welcomes over 8 million visitors a year, being by far the world's most visited art museum. The city's cathedrals are another main attraction: its Notre Dame de Paris and the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur receive 12 million and eight million visitors respectively. The Eiffel Tower, by far Paris' most famous monument, averages over six million visitors per year and more than 200 millions since its construction. Disneyland Resort Paris is a major tourist attraction not only for visitors to Paris, but to Europe as well, with 14.5 million visitors in 2007.
The Louvre is one of the largest and most famous museums, housing many works of art, including the Mona Lisa (La Joconde) and the Venus de Milo statue. Works by Pablo Picasso and Auguste Rodin are found in Musée Picasso and Musée Rodin respectively, while the artistic community of Montparnasse is chronicled at the Musée du Montparnasse. Starkly apparent with its service-pipe exterior, the Centre Georges Pompidou, also known as Beaubourg, houses the Musée National d'Art Moderne. Art and artifacts from the Middle Ages and Impressionist eras are kept in Musée Cluny and Musée d'Orsay respectively, the former with the prized tapestry cycle The Lady and the Unicorn. Paris' newest (and third largest) museum, the Musée du quai Branly, opened its doors in June 2006 and houses art from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.
Many of Paris' once-popular local establishments have come to cater to the tastes and expectations of tourists, rather than local patrons. Le Lido, The Moulin Rouge cabaret-dancehall, for example, are a staged dinner theatre spectacle, a dance display that was once but one aspect of the cabaret's former atmosphere. All of the establishment's former social or cultural elements, such as its ballrooms and gardens, are gone today. Much of Paris' hotel, restaurant and night entertainment trades have become heavily dependent on tourism, with results not always positive for Parisian culture.
Sports
Stade de France.
Paris' most popular sport clubs are the football club Paris Saint-Germain FC, the basketball team Paris Basket Racing, and the rugby union club Stade Français. The 80,000-seat Stade de France was built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and is used for football and rugby union, and is used annually for French rugby team's home matches of the Six Nations Championship and sometimes for big matches for the Stade Français rugby team.
In addition to Paris Saint-Germain FC, the city has a number of other amateur football clubs: Paris FC, Red Star, RCF Paris and Stade Français Paris. The last is the football section of the omnisport club of the same name, most notable for its rugby team.
The city's major rugby side is Stade Français. Racing Métro 92 Paris (who now play in Rugby Pro D2) is another rugby team, which actually contested the first ever final against Stade Français in 1892. Paris also hosted the 1900 and 1924 Olympic Games and was venue for the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups.
Although the starting point and the route of the famous Tour de France varies each year, the final stage always finishes in Paris and since 1975, the race has finished on the Champs-Elysées. Tennis is another popular sport in Paris and throughout France. The French Open, held every year on the red clay of the Roland Garros National Tennis Centre near the Bois de Boulogne, is one of the four Grand Slam events of the world professional tennis tour. The 2006 UEFA Champions League Final between Arsenal and FC Barcelona was played in the Stade de France. Paris hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup final at Stade de France on 20 October 2007.
Economy
Grande Arche
La Défense
Main article: Economy of Paris
With a 2005 GDP of €478.7 billion (US$595.3 billion), the Paris region has one of the highest GDPs in Europe, making it an engine of the global economy: were it a country, it would rank as the fourteenth largest economy in the world. The Paris Region is France's premier centre of economic activity: while its population accounted for 18.7% of the total population of metropolitan France in 2005, its GDP was about 28.5% of the same. Activity in the Paris urban area, though diverse, doesn't have a leading specialised industry (such as Los Angeles with entertainment industries or London and New York with financial industries in addition to their other activities). Recently the Paris economy has been shifting towards high value-added service industries (finance, IT services, etc.) and high-tech manufacturing (electronics, optics, aerospace, etc).
The Paris region's most intense economic activity through the central Hauts-de-Seine département and suburban La Défense business district places Paris' economic centre to the west of the city, in a triangle between the Opéra Garnier, La Défense and the Val de Seine. Paris' administrative borders have little consequences on the limits of its economic activity: although most workers commute from the suburbs to work in the city, many commute from the city to work in the suburbs.
Although the Paris economy is largely dominated by services, it remains an important manufacturing powerhouse of Europe, especially in industrial sectors such as automobiles, aeronautics, and electronics. Over recent decades, the local economy has moved towards high value-added activities, in particular business services.
The 1999 census indicated that of the 5,089,170 persons employed in the Paris urban area, 16.5% worked in business services, 13.0% in commerce (retail and wholesale trade), 12.3% in manufacturing, 10.0% in public administrations and defence, 8.7% in health services, 8.2% in transportation and communications, 6.6% in education, and the remaining 24.7% in many other economic sectors. Among the manufacturing sector, the largest employers were the electronic and electrical industry (17.9% of the total manufacturing workforce in 1999) and the publishing and printing industry (14.0% of the total manufacturing workforce), with the remaining 68.1% of the manufacturing workforce distributed among many other industries. Tourism and tourist related services employ 6.2% of Paris' workforce, and 3.6% of all workers within the Paris Region.
Demographics
Demographics within the Paris Region
(according to the INSEE 2005 estimates)
Ile-de-France départements
Areas
Population
2006 est.
Area
Density
1999-2005
pop. growth
City of Paris
(département 75)
2,168,000
105 km2 (41 sq mi)
20,648/km² (53,478/sq mi)
+1.33%
Inner ring
(Petite Couronne)
(Depts. 92, 93, 94)
4,310,000
657 km2 (254 sq mi)
6,560/km² (16,990/sq mi)
+5.34%
Outer ring
(Grande Couronne)
(Depts. 77, 78, 91, 95)
5,013,000
11,249 km2 (4,343 sq mi)
446/km² (1,155/sq mi)
+4.25%
Ile-de-France
(entire région)
11,491,000
12,011 km2 (4,637 sq mi)
957/km² (2,479/sq mi)
+4.08%
Statistical Growth (INSEE 1999 census)
Areas
Population
1999 census
Area
Density
1990-1999
pop. growth
Urban area
(Paris agglomeration)
9,644,507
2,723 km2 (1,051 sq mi)
3,542/km² (9,174/sq mi)
+1.85%
Metro area
(Paris aire urbaine)
11,174,743
14,518 km2 (5,605 sq mi)
770/km² (1,994/sq mi)
+2.90%
Main article: Demographics of Paris
The population of the city of Paris was 2,125,246 at the 1999 census, lower than its historical peak of 2.9 million in 1921. The city's population loss mirrors the experience of most other core cities in the developed world that have not expanded their boundaries. The principal factors in the process were a significant decline in household size, and a dramatic migration of residents to the suburbs between 1962 and 1975. Factors in the migration included de-industrialisation, high rent, the gentrification of many inner quarters, the transformation of living space into offices and improved affluence among working families. The city's population loss was one of the most severe among international municipalities and the largest for any that had achieved more than 2,000,000 residents. These losses are generally seen as negative for the city; the city administration is trying to reverse them with some success, as the population estimate of July 2004 showed a population increase for the first time since 1954, reaching a total of 2,144,700 inhabitants.
Density
Paris is the most densely populated city in the world having a population of more than 1,000,000. Its density, excluding the outlying woodland parks of Boulogne and Vincennes, was 24,448 inhabitants per square kilometre (63,320/sq mi) in the 1999 official census, which could be compared only with some Asian megapolis. Even including the two woodland areas its population density was 20,164 inhabitants per square kilometre (52,224.5/sq mi), the fifth most densely populated commune in France following Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Vincennes, Levallois-Perret, and Saint-Mandé, all of which border the city proper. The most sparsely populated quarters are the western and central office and administration-focussed arrondissements. The city's population is densest in the northern and eastern arrondissements; the 11th arrondissement had a density of 40,672 inhabitants per square kilometre (105,340/sq mi) in 1999, and some of the same arrondissement's eastern quarters had densities close to 100,000/km² (260,000/sq mi) in the same year.
Paris agglomeration
The City of Paris covers an area much smaller than the urban area of which it is the core. At present, Paris' real urbanisation, defined by the pôle urbain (urban area) statistical area, covers 2,723 km2 (1,051 sq mi), or an area about 26 times larger than the city itself. The administration of Paris' urban growth is divided between itself and its surrounding départements: Paris' closest ring of three adjoining departments, or petite couronne ("small ring") are fully saturated with urban growth, and the ring of four departments outside of these, the grande couronne départements, are only covered in their inner regions by Paris' urbanisation. These eight départements form the larger administrative Île-de-France région; most of this region is filled, and overextended in places, by the Paris aire urbaine.
The Paris agglomeration has shown a steady rate of growth since the end of the late 16th century French Wars of Religion, save brief setbacks during the French Revolution and World War II. Suburban development has accelerated in recent years: with an estimated total of 11.4 million inhabitants for 2005, the Île-de-France région shows a rate of growth double that of the 1990s.
Immigration
By law, French censuses do not ask questions regarding ethnicity or religion, but do gather information concerning country of birth. From this it is still possible to determine that the Paris and its aire urbaine (metropolitan area) is one of the most multi-cultural in Europe: at the 1999 census, 19.4% of its total population was born outside of metropolitan France. At the same census, 4.2% of the Paris aire urbaine's population were recent immigrants (i.e people who migrated to France between the 1990 and 1999 censuses), in their majority from mainland China and Africa.
The first wave of international migration to Paris started as early as in 1820 with the arrivals of German peasants fleeing the agricultural crisis in Germany. Several waves of immigration followed continuously until today: Italians and central European Jews during the 19th century; Russians after the revolution of 1917 and Armenians escaping from the genocide; colonial citizens during World War I and later; Poles between the two world wars; Spaniards, Italians, Portuguese and North Africans from the 1950s to the 1970s; North African Jews after the independence of those countries; Africans and Asians since then.
Administration
Paris, its administrative limits unchanged since 1860, is one of few cities that has not evolved politically with its real demographic growth; this issue is at present being discussed in plans for a "Grand Paris" (Greater Paris) that will extend Paris' administrative limits to embrace much more of its urban tissue.
Capital of France
Paris is the capital of France, and therefore is the seat of France's national government.
For the executive, the two chief officers each have their own official residences, which also serve as their offices. The President of France resides at the Élysée Palace in the 8th arrondissement, while the Prime Minister's seat is at the Hôtel Matignon in the 7th arrondissement. Government ministries are located in various parts of the city – many are located in the 7th arrondissement, near the Matignon.
The two houses of the French Parliament are also located on the Left Bank. The upper house, the Senate, meets in the Palais du Luxembourg in the 6th arrondissement, while the more important lower house, the Assemblée Nationale, meets in the Palais Bourbon in the 7th. The President of the Senate, the second highest public official in France after the President of the Republic, resides in the "Petit Luxembourg", a smaller palace annex to the Palais du Luxembourg.
France's highest courts are located in Paris. The Court of Cassation, the highest court in the judicial order, which tries most criminal and civil cases, is located in the Palais de Justice on the Île de la Cité, while the Conseil d'État, which provides legal advice to the executive and acts as the highest court in the administrative order, judging litigation against public bodies, is located in the Palais Royal in the 1st arrondissement.
The Constitutional Council, which is an advisory body which is the ultimate authority on the constitutionality of laws and government decrees, also meets in the Palais Royal.
City government
Arrondissements of Paris
Main articles: Paris mayors and Arrondissements of Paris
Paris has been a commune (municipality) since 1834 (and also briefly between 1790 and 1795). At the 1790 division (during the French Revolution) of France into communes, and again in 1834, Paris was a city only half its modern size, but in 1860 it annexed bordering communes, some entirely, to create the new administrative map of twenty municipal arrondissements the city still has today. These municipal subdivisions describe a clockwise spiral outward from its most central, the 1st arrondissement.
In 1790, Paris became the préfecture (seat) of the Seine département, which covered much of the Paris region. In 1968, it was split into four smaller ones: the city of Paris became a distinct département of its own, retaining the Seine's departmental number of 75 (originating from the Seine département's position in France's alphabetical list), while three new départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne were created and given the numbers 92, 93 and 94 respectively. The result of this division is that today Paris' limits as a département are exactly those of its limits as a commune, a situation unique in France.
Municipal offices
Luxembourg Palace
Paris City Hall
Each of Paris' 20 arrondissements has a directly elected council (conseil d'arrondissement), which in turn elects an arrondissement mayor. A selection of members from each arrondissement council form the Council of Paris (conseil de Paris), which in turn elects the mayor of Paris.
In medieval times Paris was governed by a merchant-elected municipality whose head was the provost of the merchants: in addition to regulating city commerce, the provost of the merchants was responsible for some civic duties such as the guarding of city walls and the cleanliness of city streets. The creation of the provost of Paris from the 13th century diminished the merchant Provost's responsibilities and powers considerably: a direct representative of the king, in a role resembling somewhat the préfet of later years, the Provost of Paris oversaw the application and execution of law and order in the city and its surrounding prévôté (county). Many functions from both provost offices were transferred to the office of the crown-appointed lieutenant general of police upon its creation in 1667.
Paris' last Prévôt des marchands was assassinated the afternoon of the 14th of July 1789 uprising that was the French Revolution Storming of the Bastille. Paris became an official "commune" from the creation of the administrative division on 14 December the same year, and its provisional "Paris commune" revolutionary municipality was replaced with the city's first municipal constitution and government from 9 October 1790. Through the turmoil of the 1794 Thermidorian Reaction, it became apparent that revolutionary Paris' political independence was a threat to any governing power: the office of mayor was abolished the same year, and its municipal council one year later.
Although the municipal council was recreated in 1834, Paris spent most of the 19th and 20th centuries, along with the larger Seine département of which it was a centre, under the direct control of the State-appointed préfet of the Seine, in charge of general affairs there; the state-appointed Prefect of Police was in charge of police in the same jurisdiction. Paris, save for a few brief occasions, would have no mayor until 1977, and the Paris Prefecture of Police is still under state control today.
Despite its dual existence as commune and département, Paris has a single council to govern both; the Council of Paris, presided by the mayor of Paris, meets either as a municipal council (conseil municipal) or as a departmental council (conseil général) depending on the issue to be debated.
Paris' modern administrative organisation still retains some traces of the former Seine département jurisdiction. The Prefecture of Police (also directing Paris' fire brigades), for example, has still a jurisdiction extending to Paris' petite couronne of bordering three départements for some operations such as fire protection or rescue operations, and is still directed by France's national government. Paris has no municipal police force, although it does have its own brigade of traffic wardens.
Departments of Île-de-France
Capital of the Île-de-France région
As part of a 1961 nation-wide administrative effort to consolidate regional economies, Paris as a département became the capital of the new région of the District of Paris, renamed the Île-de-France région in 1976. It encompasses the Paris département and its seven closest départements. Its regional council members, since 1986, have been chosen by direct elections. The prefect of the Paris département (who served as the prefect of the Seine département before 1968) is also prefect of the Île-de-France région, although the office lost much of its power following the creation of the office of mayor of Paris in 1977.
Intercommunality
Few of the above changes have taken into account Paris' existence as an agglomeration. Unlike in most of France's major urban areas such as Lille and Lyon, there is no intercommunal entity in the Paris urban area, no intercommunal council treating the problems of the region's dense urban core as a whole; Paris' alienation of its suburbs is indeed a problem today, and considered by many to be the main causes of civil unrest such as the suburban riots in 2005. A direct result of these unfortunate events were propositions for a more efficient metropolitan structure to cover the city of Paris and some of the suburbs, ranging from a socialist idea of a loose "metropolitan conference" (conférence métropolitaine) to the right-wing idea of a more integrated Grand Paris ("Greater Paris").
Education
In the early ninth century, the emperor Charlemagne mandated all churches to give lessons in reading, writing and basic arithmetic to their parishes, and cathedrals to give a higher education in the finer arts of language, physics, music and theology; at that time Paris was already one of France's major cathedral towns and beginning its rise to fame as a scholastic centre. By the early 13th century the Île de la Cité Notre-Dame cathedral school had many famous teachers, and the controversial teachings of some of these led to the creation of a separate Left-Bank Sainte-Genevieve University that would become the centre of Paris' scholastic Latin quarter best represented by the Sorbonne university.
Twelve centuries later, education in Paris and the Paris region (Île-de-France région) employs approximately 330,000 persons, 170,000 of whom are teachers and professors teaching approximately 2.9 million children and students in around 9,000 primary, secondary, and higher education schools and institutions.
Primary and secondary education
Multi-ethnic children in a Primary Education School in Paris
Paris is home to several of France's most prestigious high-schools such as Lycée Louis-le-Grand and Lycée Henri-IV. Other high-schools of international renown in the Paris area include the Lycée International de Saint Germain-en-Laye and the École Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel.
Higher education
The University of Paris
Lycée Louis-le-Grand
As of the academic year 2004-2005, the Paris Region's 17 public universities, with its 359,749 registered students, is the largest concentration of university students in Europe. The Paris Region's prestigious grandes écoles and scores of university-independent private and public schools have an additional 240,778 registered students, that together with the university population creates a grand total of 600,527 students in higher education that year.
Universities
The cathedral of Notre-Dame was the first centre of higher education before the creation of the University of Paris. The universitas was chartered by King Philip Augustus in 1200, as a corporation granting teachers (and their students) the right to rule themselves independently from crown law and taxes. At the time, many classes were held in open air. Non-Parisian students and teachers would stay in hostels, or "colleges", created for the boursiers coming from afar. Already famous by the 13th century, the University of Paris had students from all of Europe. Paris' Rive Gauche scholastic centre, dubbed "Latin Quarter" as classes were taught in Latin then, would eventually regroup around the college created by Robert de Sorbon from 1257, the Collège de Sorbonne. The University of Paris in the 19th century had six faculties: law, science, medicine, pharmaceutical studies, literature and theology.
Following the 1968 student riots, there was an extensive reform of the University of Paris, in an effort to disperse the centralised student body. The following year, the formerly unique University of Paris was split between thirteen autonomous universities ("Paris I" to "Paris XIII") located throughout the City of Paris and its suburbs. Each of these universities inherited only some of the departments of the old University of Paris, and are not generalist universities. Paris I, II, V and X, inherited the Law School; Paris V inherited the School of Medicine as well; Paris VI and VII inherited the scientific departments; etc.
In 1991, four more universities were created in the suburbs of Paris, reaching a total of seventeen public universities for the Paris (Île-de-France) région. These new universities were given names (based on the name of the suburb in which they are located) and not numbers like the previous thirteen: University of Cergy-Pontoise, University of Évry Val d'Essonne, University of Marne-la-Vallée and University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Other institutions include the University of Westminster's Centre for International Studies, the American University of Paris, and the American Business School of Paris.
There is also a University of London Institute in Paris(ULIP) which offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in French Studies ratified by the University of London.
Grandes écoles
The Paris region hosts France's highest concentration of the prestigious grandes écoles, which are specialised centres of higher education outside the public university structure. The prestigious public universities are usually considered grands établissements. Most of the grandes écoles were relocated to the suburbs of Paris in the 1960s and 1970s, in new campuses much larger than the old campuses within the crowded city of Paris, though the École Normale Supérieure has remained on rue d'Ulm in the 5th arrondissement. The Paris area has a high number of engineering schools, led by the prestigious Paris Institute of Technology (ParisTech) which comprises several colleges such as École Polytechnique, École des Mines, École Centrale Paris, Supélec, Arts et Métiers, Télécom Paris, and École des Ponts et Chaussées. There are also many business schools, including , HEC, ESSEC, INSEAD, and ESCP-EAP European School of Management. Although the elite administrative school ENA has been relocated to Strasbourg, the political science school Sciences-Po is still located in Paris' Left bank 7th arrondissement.
The grandes écoles system is supported by a number of preparatory schools which offer courses of two to three years duration called Classes Préparatoires, also known as classes prépas or simply prépas. These courses provide entry to the grandes écoles. Many of the best prépas are located in Paris, including Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Lycée Henri-IV, Lycée Saint-Louis, Lycée Janson de Sailly and Lycée Carnot. Two other top-ranking prépas (Lycée Hoche and Lycée Privé Sainte-Geneviève) are located in Versailles, near Paris. Student selection is based on school grades and teacher remarks. Prépas attract most of the best students in France and are known to be very demanding in terms of work load and psychological stress.
Transportation
Thalys with destinations to Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands
T3 Tramway
Main articles: Transport in Paris and List of railway stations in Paris
The role of Paris as an international trade centre has caused its transportation system to develop considerably throughout history, and it continues its growth at a fast pace today. The public transit networks of the Paris region are coordinated by the Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France (STIF), formerly Syndicat des transports parisiens (STP). The members of this syndicate are the Ile-de-France region and the eight departments of this region. The syndicate coordinates public transport and contracts it out to the RATP (operating 654 bus lines, the Métro, three tramway lines, and sections of the RER), the SNCF (operating suburban rails, a tramway line and the other sections of the RER) and the Optile consortium of private operators managing 1,070 minor bus lines.
The Métro is Paris' most important transportation system. The system, with 300 stations (384 stops) connected by 214 km (133.0 mi) of rails, comprises 16 lines, identified by numbers from 1 to 14, with two minor lines, 3bis and 7bis, so numbered because they used to be branches of their respective original lines, and only later became independent. In October 1998, the new line 14 was inaugurated after a 70-year hiatus in inaugurating fully new métro lines. Because of the short distance between stations on the Métro network, lines were too slow to be extended further into the suburbs as is the case in most other cities. As such, an additional express network, the RER, has been created since the 1960s to connect more distant parts of the urban area. The RER consists in the integration of modern city-centre subway and pre-existing suburban rail. Nowadays, the RER network comprises 5 lines, 257 stops and 587 km (365 mi) of rails.
Additionally, Paris is served by a light rail network of 4 lines, the tramway: Line T1 runs from Saint-Denis to Noisy-le-Sec, line T2 runs from La Défense to Issy, line T3 runs from Pont de Garigliano to Porte d'Ivry, line T4 runs from Bondy to Aulnay-sous-Bois.
Paris is a central hub of the national rail network. The six major railway stations, Gare du Nord, Gare Montparnasse, Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare d'Austerlitz, and Gare Saint-Lazare, are connected to three networks: the TGV serving 4 High-speed rail lines, the normal speed Corail trains, and the suburban rails (Transilien).
Paris offers a bike sharing system called Vélib' with more than 10,000 public bicycles distributed at 750 parking stations which can be rented for short and medium distances including one way trips.
Furthermore, Paris is served by two major airports: Orly Airport, which is south of Paris, and the Charles de Gaulle International Airport, nearby Roissy-en-France, which is one of the busiest in the world. A third and much smaller airport, Beauvais Tillé Airport, located in the town of Beauvais, 70 km (43 mi) to the north of the city, is used by charter and low-cost airlines. The fourth airport, Le Bourget nowadays only hosts business jets, air trade shows and the aerospace museum.
The city is also the most important hub of France's motorway network, and is surrounded by three orbital freeways: the Périphérique which follows the approximate path of 19th century fortifications around Paris, the A86 motorway in the inner suburbs, and finally the Francilienne motorway in the outer suburbs. Paris has an extensive road network with over 2,000 km (1,243 mi) of highways and motorways. By road Brussels can be reached in three hours, Frankfurt in 6 hours and Barcelona in 12 hours. By train London is now just 2h 15min away, Brussels can be reached in more or less 1h30min, and the south of France with cities like Marseilles or Bordeaux in 3 hours.
Water and sanitation
Canal Saint-Martin.
Paris in its early history had only the Seine and Bièvre rivers for water. Later forms of irrigation were: a first-century Roman aqueduct from southerly Wissous (later left to ruin); sources from the Right bank hills from the late 11th century; from the 15th century an aqueduct built roughly along the path of the abandoned Wissous aqueduct; finally, from 1809, the canal de l'Ourcq provided Paris with water from less polluted rivers to the northeast of the capital. Paris would only have its first constant and plentiful source of drinkable water from the late 19th century: from 1857, the civil engineer Eugène Belgrand, under Napoleon III's Préfet Haussmann, oversaw the construction of a series of new aqueducts that brought sources from locations all around the city to several reservoirs built atop the Capital's highest points of elevation. From then on the new reservoir system became Paris' principal source of drinking water, and the remains of the old system, pumped into lower levels of the same reservoirs, were from then used for the cleaning of Paris' streets. This system is still a major part of Paris' modern water supply network.
Paris has over 2,400 km of underground passageways dedicated to the evacuation of Paris' liquid wastes. Most of these date from the late 19th century, a result of the combined plans of the Préfet Baron Haussmann and the civil engineer Eugène Belgrand to improve the then very unsanitary conditions in the Capital. Maintained by a round-the-clock service since their construction, only a small percentage of Paris' sewer réseau has needed complete renovation. The entire Paris network of sewers and collectors has been managed since the late 20th century by a computerised network system, known under the acronym "G.A.AS.PAR", that controls all of Paris' water distribution, even the flow of the river Seine through the capital.
International relations
Paris has one sister city and a number of partner cities.
Sister city
Rome, Italy, since 1956 (Seule Paris est digne de Rome; seule Rome est digne de Paris / Solo Parigi è degna di Roma; Solo Roma è degna di Parigi / "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; Only Rome is worthy of Paris").
Partner cities
Algiers, Algeria, since 2003.
Amman, Jordan, since 1987.
Athens, Greece, since 2000.
Beijing, China, since 1997.
Beirut, Lebanon, since 1992.
Berlin, Germany, since 1987.
Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 1999.
Cairo, Egypt, since 1985.
Casablanca, Morocco, since 2004.
Chicago, United States, since 1996.
Copenhagen, Denmark, since 2005.
Geneva, Switzerland, since 2002.
Jakarta, Indonesia, since 1995.
Kyoto, Japan, since 1958.
Lisbon, Portugal, since 1998.
London, United Kingdom, since 2001.
Madrid, Spain, since 2000.
Mexico City, Mexico, since 1999.
Montreal, Canada, since 2006.
Moscow, Russia, since 1992.
Porto Alegre, Brazil, since 2001.
Prague, Czech Republic, since 1997.
Quebec City, Canada, since 2003.
Rabat, Morocco, since 2004.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since 1997.
Saint Petersburg, Russia, since 1997.
San‘a’, Yemen, since 1987.
San Francisco, United States, since 1996.
Santiago, Chile, since 1997.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, since 2004.
Seoul, South Korea, since 1991.
Karachi, Pakistan
Sofia, Bulgaria, since 1998.
Sydney, Australia, since 1998.
Tbilisi, Georgia, since 1997.
Tokyo, Japan, since 1982.
Tunis, Tunisia, since 2004.
Warsaw, Poland, since 1999.
Washington, D.C., United States, since 2000.
Yerevan, Armenia, since 1998.
See also
Large Cities Climate Leadership Group
Megacity
Paris Exposition
University of London Institute in Paris
References
^ a b Excluding Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes
^ (French) Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. "" Estimation de population par département, sexe et grande classe d’âge – Années 1990 à 2006"". Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
^ (French) Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. ""Population des villes et unités urbaines de plus de 1 million d'habitants de l'Union Européenne"". Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ (French) Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. ""Aire Urbaine '99 – pop totale par sexe et âge"". Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Stefan Helders, World Gazetteer. ""World Metropolitan Areas"". Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
^ Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group and Network, Loughborough University. ""Inventory of World Cities"". Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
^ "London ranked as world's six largest economy". ITWeek. Retrieved on 2008-08-04.
^ PriceWaterhouseCoopers, "UK Economic Outlook, March 2007", page 5. ""Table 1.2 – Top 30 urban agglomeration GDP rankings in 2005 and illustrative projections to 2020 (using UN definitions and population estimates)"" (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
^ (French) Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. "Produits Intérieurs Bruts Régionaux (PIBR) en valeur en millions d'euros" (XLS). Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
^ Fortune. "Global Fortune 500 by countries: France". Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
^ Logistics-in-Europe.com, Vertical Mail. ""Paris Ile-de-France, a head start in Europe"". Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
^ (French) Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. "Le tourisme se porte mieux en 2004" (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
^ The City of Antiquity, official history of Paris by The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau
^ a b c Mairie de Paris. "Paris, Roman City - Chronology". Retrieved on 2006-07-16.
^ Mairie de Paris. "Paris, Roman City - The City". Retrieved on 2006-07-16.
^ Jones, Colin (2005) Paris: The Biography of a City (New York, NY: Penguin Viking), pp. 318–319.
^ Amicale Genealogie, La Petite Gazette Généalogique. ""Le Cholera"" (in French). Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Jones, Colin (2005) Paris: The Biography of a City (New York, NY: Penguin Viking), pp. 324–325.
^ a b Jones, Colin (2005) Paris: The Biography of a City (New York, NY: Penguin Viking), p. 334.
^ Jones, Colin (2005) Paris: The Biography of a City (New York, NY: Penguin Viking), pp. 388–391
^ Overy, Richard (2006). Why the Allies Won. Pimlico, pp. 215–216. ISBN 1845950658.
^ Bell, Kelly. "Dietrich von Choltitz: Saved of Paris From Destruction During World War II". www.TheHistoryNet.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
^ (French) Émilie Willaert, professor of History and Geography. "La région parisienne en chantier". Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
^ (French) Jérome Toulza, Université de Marne-la-Vallée. "La conception du RER". Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
^ Mathieu Flonneau. "City infrastructures and city dwellers: Accommodating the automobile in twentieth-century Paris". The Journal of Transport History. Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
^ (French) Thomas Sauvadet. "Les jeunes de la cité - Processus de ghettoïsation et mode de socialisation". Université Paris 8. Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
^ (French) Hervé Vieillard-Baron, professor at the Université Paris 8. "Les quartiers sensibles, entre disqualification visible et réseaux invisibles". Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
^ (French) "Roland de Laage (Devoteam) : "L'Ouest parisien, ce sont des départements technologiques à haute valeur ajoutée"". Journal du net (16 January 2006). Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
^ (French) Pierre Beckouche. "Une région parisienne à deux vitesses - L'accroissement des disparités spatiales dans l'Ile-de-France des années 1980". Strates - Matériaux pour la recherche en sciences sociales. Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
^ "Disposable income per NUTS level 2 regions in Europe". Eurostat. Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
^ "Special Report: Riots in France". BBC News (2005-11-09). Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
^ (French) Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. ""Géographie de la capitale - Le climat"". Retrieved on 2006-05-24.
^ "World Weather Information Service - Paris". Retrieved on April 14, 2008.
^ Insert footnote text here
^ a b "Produits intérieurs bruts régionaux en valeur de 1990 à 2005" (XLS) (in French). Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
^ World Bank. "Total GDP 2005" (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
^ "Estimations de la population des régions au 1er janvier" (in French). Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
^ ""Les emplois dans les activités liées au tourisme: un sur quatre en Ile-de-France"" (PDF) (in French). Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ ""Chiffres-Clefs – Unité Urbaine – Paris"" (in French). Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. Retrieved on 2006-05-28.
^ Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. ""Enquêtes annuelles de recensement 2004 et 2005"" (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ ""Enquêtes annuelles de recensement: premiers résultats de la collecte 2004"" (PDF) (in French). Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. ""Aire urbaine 99 : Paris - Migrations (caractère socio-économique selon le lieu de naissance)"" (in French). Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
^ Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. ""Aire urbaine 99 : Paris - Migrations (caractère démographique selon le lieu de résidence au 01/01/90)"" (in French). Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
^ Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. ""Flux d'immigration permanente par motif en 2003"" (in French). Retrieved on 2006-06-25.
^ Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration. ""Histoire de l'immigration en France"" (in French). Retrieved on 2006-06-25.
^ (French) 20mins.fr. ""Sarkozy relance le projet d'un Grand Paris"". Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
^ Henry E. Bourne. "Improvising a Government in Paris in July 1789". The American Historical Review. Retrieved on 2006-09-14.
^ (French) La Préfecture de la Région d'Ile-de-France. "L'enseignement". Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
^ a b Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Paris – Île-de-France (2006). "Paris Region : key figures 2006" (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-07-04.
^ (French) Céline Rozenblat, Patricia Cicille, Delegation for Spatial Planning and Regional Action (Datar) (2006). "Les villes européennes – Analyse comparative (page 42)" (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-07-04.
^ Syndicat des Transports d'Ile-de-France (STIF). ""Le web des voyageurs franciliens"" (in French). Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Mairie de Paris. ""Les égouts parisiens"" (in French). Retrieved on 2006-05-15.
^ Mairie de Paris. "Les pactes d'amitié et de coopération". Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
^ Mairie de Paris. "International relations : special partners". Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
Further reading
Vincent Cronin (1989). Paris on the Eve, 1900-1914. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-312-04876-9.
Vincent Cronin (1994). Paris:City of Light, 1919-1939. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-215191-X.
Jean Favier (1997-04-23). Paris (in French). Fayard. ISBN 2-213-59874-6.
Jacques Hillairet (2005-04-22). Connaissance du Vieux Paris (in French). Rivages. ISBN 2-86930-648-2.
Colin Jones (2004). Paris: The Biography of a City. New York: Penguin Viking. ISBN 0670033936.
External links
Find more about Paris on Wikipedia's sister projects:
Dictionary definitions
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Learning resources
Paris portal
Official Paris website
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Ile-de-France tourism website
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Paris travel guide from Wikitravel
Wikia has a wiki on this subject: Paris
Administrative structures
v • d • e
Communes in the metropolitan area of Paris
Population over 2 million
City of Paris
Population over 75,000
Argenteuil · Asnières-sur-Seine · Aulnay-sous-Bois · Boulogne-Billancourt · Champigny-sur-Marne · Colombes · Courbevoie · Créteil · Montreuil · Nanterre · Rueil-Malmaison · Saint-Denis · Saint-Maur-des-Fossés · Versailles · Vitry-sur-Seine
Population over 50,000
Antony · Aubervilliers · Le Blanc-Mesnil · Bondy · Cergy · Clichy · Drancy · Évry · Fontenay-sous-Bois · Issy-les-Moulineaux · Ivry-sur-Seine · Levallois-Perret · Maisons-Alfort · Neuilly-sur-Seine · Noisy-le-Grand · Pantin · Sarcelles · Sartrouville · Sevran · Villejuif
Population over 25,000
Alfortville · Athis-Mons · Bagneux · Bagnolet · Bezons · Bobigny · Bois-Colombes · Brunoy · Cachan · Champs-sur-Marne · Charenton-le-Pont · Châtenay-Malabry · Châtillon · Chatou · Chelles · Le Chesnay · Choisy-le-Roi · Clamart · Clichy-sous-Bois · Conflans-Sainte-Honorine · Corbeil-Essonnes · La Courneuve · Draveil · Élancourt · Épinay-sur-Seine · Ermont · Franconville · Fresnes · Gagny · La Garenne-Colombes · Garges-lès-Gonesse · Gennevilliers · Gonesse · Goussainville · Grigny · Guyancourt · L'Haÿ-les-Roses · Herblay · Houilles · Le Kremlin-Bicêtre · Livry-Gargan · Malakoff · Mantes-la-Jolie · Massy · Meaux · Melun · Meudon · Montfermeil · Montigny-le-Bretonneux · Montrouge · Les Mureaux · Neuilly-sur-Marne · Nogent-sur-Marne · Noisy-le-Sec · Palaiseau · Le Perreux-sur-Marne · Pierrefitte-sur-Seine · Plaisir · Poissy · Pontault-Combault · Pontoise · Puteaux · Ris-Orangis · Rosny-sous-Bois · Saint-Cloud · Saint-Germain-en-Laye · Saint-Ouen · Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois · Sannois · Savigny-sur-Orge · Savigny-le-Temple · Stains · Sucy-en-Brie · Suresnes · Taverny · Thiais · Trappes · Tremblay-en-France · Vanves · Vigneux-sur-Seine · Villemomble · Villeneuve-Saint-Georges · Villepinte · Villiers-le-Bel · Villiers-sur-Marne · Vincennes · Viry-Châtillon · Yerres
Population under 25,000
1,460 other communes
v • d • e
Préfectures of départements of France
Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) • Laon (Aisne) • Moulins (Allier) • Digne-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) • Gap (Hautes-Alpes) • Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) • Privas (Ardèche) • Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes) • Foix (Ariège) • Troyes (Aube) • Carcassonne (Aude) • Rodez (Aveyron) • Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) • Caen (Calvados) • Aurillac (Cantal) • Angoulême (Charente) • La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) • Bourges (Cher) • Tulle (Corrèze) • Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud) • Bastia (Haute-Corse) • Dijon (Côte-d'Or) • Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) • Guéret (Creuse) • Périgueux (Dordogne) • Besançon (Doubs) • Valence (Drôme) • Évreux (Eure) • Chartres (Eure-et-Loir) • Quimper (Finistère) • Nîmes (Gard) • Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) • Auch (Gers) • Bordeaux (Gironde) • Montpellier (Hérault) • Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) • Châteauroux (Indre) • Tours (Indre-et-Loire) • Grenoble (Isère) • Lons-le-Saunier (Jura) • Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) • Blois (Loir-et-Cher) • Saint-Étienne (Loire) • Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) • Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) • Orléans (Loiret) • Cahors (Lot) • Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) • Mende (Lozère) • Angers (Maine-et-Loire) • Saint-Lô (Manche) • Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne) • Chaumont (Haute-Marne) - Laval (Mayenne) • Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) • Bar-le-Duc (Meuse) • Vannes (Morbihan) • Metz (Moselle) • Nevers (Nièvre) • Lille (Nord) • Beauvais (Oise) • Alençon (Orne) • Arras (Pas-de-Calais) • Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) • Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) • Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) • Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) • Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) • Colmar (Haut-Rhin) • Lyon (Rhône) • Vesoul (Haute-Saône) • Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire) • Le Mans (Sarthe) • Chambéry (Savoie) • Annecy (Haute-Savoie) • Paris (Paris) • Rouen (Seine-Maritime) • Melun (Seine-et-Marne) • Versailles (Yvelines) • Niort (Deux-Sèvres) • Amiens (Somme) • Albi (Tarn) • Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) • Toulon (Var) • Avignon (Vaucluse) • La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée) • Poitiers (Vienne) • Limoges (Haute-Vienne) • Épinal (Vosges) • Auxerre (Yonne) • Belfort (Territoire de Belfort) • Évry (Essonne) • Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) • Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) • Créteil (Val-de-Marne) • Cergy (Val-d'Oise)
Overseas departments
Cayenne (French Guiana) • Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) • Fort-de-France (Martinique) • Saint-Denis (Réunion)
v • d • e
Préfectures of régions of France
Metropolitan France
Strasbourg (Alsace) · Bordeaux (Aquitaine) · Clermont-Ferrand (Auvergne) · Dijon (Bourgogne) · Rennes (Bretagne) · Orléans (Centre) · Châlons-en-Champagne (Champagne-Ardenne) · Ajaccio (Corsica) · Besançon (Franche-Comté) · Paris (Île-de-France) · Montpellier (Languedoc-Roussillon) · Limoges (Limousin) · Metz (Lorraine) · Toulouse (Midi-Pyrénées) · Lille (Nord-Pas de Calais) · Caen (Basse-Normandie) · Rouen (Haute-Normandie) · Nantes (Pays de la Loire) · Amiens (Picardie) · Poitiers (Poitou-Charentes) · Marseille (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) · Lyon (Rhône-Alpes)
Overseas regions
Cayenne (French Guiana) · Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) · Fort-de-France (Martinique) · Saint-Denis (Réunion)
v • d • e
Departments of France
Ain • Aisne • Allier • Alpes-de-Haute-Provence • Hautes-Alpes • Alpes-Maritimes • Ardèche • Ardennes • Ariège • Aube • Aude • Aveyron • Bouches-du-Rhône • Calvados • Cantal • Charente • Charente-Maritime • Cher • Corrèze • Corse-du-Sud • Haute-Corse • Côte-d'Or • Côtes-d'Armor • Creuse • Dordogne • Doubs • Drôme • Eure • Eure-et-Loir • Finistère • Gard • Haute-Garonne • Gers • Gironde • Hérault • Ille-et-Vilaine • Indre • Indre-et-Loire • Isère • Jura • Landes • Loir-et-Cher • Loire • Haute-Loire • Loire-Atlantique • Loiret • Lot • Lot-et-Garonne • Lozère • Maine-et-Loire • Manche • Marne • Haute-Marne • Mayenne • Meurthe-et-Moselle • Meuse • Morbihan • Moselle • Nièvre • Nord • Oise • Orne • Pas-de-Calais • Puy-de-Dôme • Pyrénées-Atlantiques • Hautes-Pyrénées • Pyrénées-Orientales • Bas-Rhin • Haut-Rhin • Rhône • Haute-Saône • Saône-et-Loire • Sarthe • Savoie • Haute-Savoie • Paris • Seine-Maritime • Seine-et-Marne • Yvelines • Deux-Sèvres • Somme • Tarn • Tarn-et-Garonne • Var • Vaucluse • Vendée • Vienne • Haute-Vienne • Vosges • Yonne • Territoire de Belfort • Essonne • Hauts-de-Seine • Seine-Saint-Denis • Val-de-Marne • Val-d'Oise
Overseas departments: Guadeloupe • Martinique • French Guiana • Réunion
Paris in the European Union
v • d • e
Capitals of European states and territories
Capitals of non-sovereign territories or constituent nations shown in bold italics
Central
Southern
Western
Northern
Berlin, Germany
Bratislava, Slovakia
Budapest, Hungary
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Prague, Czech Republic
Vienna, Austria
Warsaw, Poland
Eastern
Ankara, Turkey 1
Astana, Kazakhstan 1
Baku, Azerbaijan 1
Bucharest, Romania
Chişinău, Moldova
Kiev, Ukraine
Minsk, Belarus
Moscow, Russia 1
Sofia, Bulgaria
Tbilisi, Georgia 1
Yerevan, Armenia 2
Athens, Greece
Belgrade, Serbia
Gibraltar, Gibraltar
Nicosia, Cyprus 2
Podgorica, Montenegro
Rome, Italy
San Marino, San Marino
Pristina, Kosovo 3
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
Tirana, Albania
Valletta, Malta
Vatican City, Vatican City
Zagreb, Croatia
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Andorra la Vella, Andorra
Barcelona, Catalonia 5
Belfast, Northern Ireland 4
Berne, Switzerland
Brussels, Belgium 6
Cardiff, Wales 4
Douglas, Isle of Man
Dublin, Ireland
Edinburgh, Scotland 4
Lisbon, Portugal
London, England 4 / UK
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Madrid, Spain
Monaco, Monaco
Paris, France
St. Helier, Jersey
Santiago de Compostela, Galicia5
Seville, Andalusia 5 St. Peter Port, Guernsey
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Vitoria, The Basque Country5
Copenhagen, Denmark
Helsinki, Finland
Longyearbyen, Svalbard
Mariehamn, Åland Islands
Oslo, Norway
Reykjavík, Iceland
Riga, Latvia
Stockholm, Sweden
Tallinn, Estonia
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
Vilnius, Lithuania
1 Transcontinental country. 2 Entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe. 3 Partially recognised or unrecognised country. 4 Part of the United Kingdom. 5 Part of Spain. 6 Also the seat of the European Union, see Location of European Union institutions and Brussels and the European Union.
v • d • e
Capital cities of the Member States of the European Union
Amsterdam · Athens · Berlin · Bratislava · Brussels · Bucharest · Budapest · Copenhagen · Dublin · Helsinki · Lisbon · Ljubljana · London · Luxembourg City · Madrid · Nicosia · Paris · Prague · Riga · Rome · Sofia · Stockholm · Tallinn · Valletta · Vienna · Vilnius · Warsaw
v • d • e
European Capitals of Culture
1985 Athens · 1986 Florence · 1987 Amsterdam · 1988 West Berlin · 1989 Paris · 1990 Glasgow · 1991 Dublin · 1992 Madrid · 1993 Antwerp · 1994 Lisbon · 1995 Luxembourg City · 1996 Copenhagen · 1997 Thessaloniki · 1998 Stockholm · 1999 Weimar · 2000 Reykjavík · Bergen · Helsinki · Brussels · Prague · Kraków · Santiago de Compostela · Avignon · Bologna · 2001 Rotterdam · Porto · 2002 Bruges · Salamanca · 2003 Graz · 2004 Genoa · Lille · 2005 Cork · 2006 Patras · 2007 Luxembourg City and Greater Region · Sibiu · 2008 Liverpool · Stavanger · 2009 Linz · Vilnius · 2010 Essen · Pécs · Istanbul · 2011 Turku · Tallinn · 2012 Maribor · Guimarães
International events
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Summer Olympic Games host cities
1896: Athens • 1900: Paris • 1904: St. Louis • 1908: London • 1912: Stockholm • 1920: Antwerp • 1924: Paris • 1928: Amsterdam • 1932: Los Angeles • 1936: Berlin • 1948: London • 1952: Helsinki • 1956: Melbourne/Stockholm • 1960: Rome • 1964: Tokyo • 1968: Mexico City • 1972: Munich • 1976: Montreal • 1980: Moscow • 1984: Los Angeles • 1988: Seoul • 1992: Barcelona • 1996: Atlanta • 2000: Sydney • 2004: Athens • 2008: Beijing • 2012: London 2016: TBA 2020: TBA
v • d • e
Host cities of the Francophonie summits (fr: Sommet de la Francophonie)
1986 Versailles, France · 1987 Quebec City, Canada · 1989 Dakar, Senegal · 1991 Paris, France · 1993 Grand Bay, Mauritius · 1995 Cotonou, Benin · 1997 Hanoi, Vietnam · 1999 Moncton, Canada · 2002 Beirut, Lebanon · 2004 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso · 2006 Bucharest, Romania · 2008 Quebec City, Canada
v • d • e
World's fifty most-populated urban areas
Tokyo – Yokohama
New York
Seoul – Incheon
Mumbai
Jakarta
Delhi
Mexico City
São Paulo
Manila
Osaka – Kobe – Kyoto
Cairo
Los Angeles
Kolkata
Shanghai
Moscow
Buenos Aires
Beijing
Shenzhen
Rio de Janeiro
Istanbul
Paris
Lagos
Karachi
Nagoya
Chicago
London
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kinshasa
Lima
Tehran
Dhaka
Bogotá
Ruhr Area
(Essen–Düsseldorf)
Chennai
Guangzhou
Hong Kong
Lahore
Bangalore
Taipei
Johannesburg – East Rand
Hyderabad
Dongguan
Baghdad
Toronto – Hamilton
Santiago
Miami
San Francisco – San Jose
Philadelphia
St. Petersburg
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris"
Categories: Departments of France | Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games | Host cities of the Francophonie Summits | 3rd century BC establishments | Capitals in Europe | Orthodox Jewish communities | Paris | World Heritage Sites in France | River citiesHidden categories: Cleanup from July 2008 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles including recorded pronunciations | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since November 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since August 2008 | Articles with unsourced statements since May 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since January 2007
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The name Paris pronounced in English and (help·info) in French, derives from that of its pre-Roman-era inhabitants, the Gaulish tribe known as the Parisii. The city was called Lutetia (/lutetja/) (more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum, "Lutetia of the Parisii"), during the first- to sixth-century Roman occupation, but during the reign of Julian the Apostate (361–363) the city was renamed as Paris.
Paris has many nicknames, but its most famous is "The City of Light" (La Ville-lumière), a name it owes both to its fame as a centre of education and ideas and its early adoption of street lighting. Paris since the early 20th century has also been known in Parisian slang as Paname (; Moi j'suis d'Paname (help·info), i.e. "I'm from Paname").
Paris' inhabitants are known in English as "Parisians" ( or ) and in French as Parisiens ( (help·info)). Parisians are often pejoratively called Parigots ( (help·info)) by those living outside the Paris region, but the term may be considered endearing by Parisians themselves.
See Wiktionary for the name of Paris in various languages other than English and French.
Roman bath beneath the Latin Quarter.
The Louvre castle from the 15th century Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.
The earliest archaeological signs of permanent habitation in the Paris area date from around 4200 BC. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senone
