Paris

Paris is the of. It is situated on the, in northern France, at the heart of the  ("Région parisienne"). The City of Paris has an estimated population of 2,153,600 within its administrative limits. The Paris  (or ) is an area of unbroken urban growth that extends well beyond the administrative city limits and has a population of 9.93 million. A around the unité urbaine completes the  (or ) that, with its population of 12 million, is one of the most heavily populated areas in.

An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris is today one of the world's leading and  centres, and its influence in, , , , ,  and the  all contribute to its status as one of the world's major. The Paris Region is France's foremost centre of economic activity. With €500.8 billion (US$628.9 billion), it produced more than a quarter of the (GDP) of France in 2006. The Paris Region hosts 36 of the companies in several business districts, notably, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe. Paris also hosts many international organizations such as, the , the and the informal.

Paris is the most popular tourist destination 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.

Etymology
The name Paris, in  and  in, derives from that of its pre-Roman-era inhabitants, the ish tribe known as the . The city was called  (more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum, "Lutetia of the Parisii"), during the first- to sixth-century Roman occupation, but during the reign of  (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 ing. Paris since the early 20th century has also been known in Parisian as Paname (, i.e. "I'm from Paname"), slang name that has been regaining favour with young people in recent years.

Paris' inhabitants are known in English as "Parisians" ( or ) and as Parisiens in. Parisians are often pejoratively called Parigots by those living outside the Paris Region, but this is a term sometimes considered endearing by Parisians themselves.


 * See Wiktionary for the name of Paris in various languages other than English and French.

Early beginnings
The earliest archaeological and rather detailed signs of permanent habitation in the Paris area date from around 4200. the area near the river Seine was settled from around 250 BCE by the , a sub-tribe of the ic, who were known as boatsmen and traders. The conquered the Paris basin in 52 BCE, with a permanent settlement by the end of the same century on the   and the  island. The town was originally called, but later Gallicised to Lutèce. It expanded greatly over the following centuries, becoming a prosperous city with a forum, palaces, baths, temples, theatres and an amphitheatre. The collapse of the Roman empire and the third-century Germanic invasions sent the city into a period of decline. By 400 CE Lutèce was largely abandoned by its inhabitants and was little more than a garrison town entrenched into the hastily fortified central island. The city reclaimed its original appellation of "Paris" towards the end of the Romans occupation.

Middle ages
Around 500, Paris was the capital of the  , who commissioned the first  and its first abbey dedicated to his contemporary, later  of the city,. On the death of Clovis, the Frankish kingdom was divided, and Paris became the capital of a much smaller sovereign state. By the time of the dynasty (9th century), Paris was little more than a feudal county stronghold. The Counts of Paris gradually rose to prominence and eventually wielded greater power than the Kings of. was elected king in place of the incumbent, namely for the fame he gained in his defence of Paris during the siege. Although the had survived the Viking attacks, most of the unprotected  city was destroyed; rather than rebuild there, after drying marshlands to the north of the island, Paris began to expand onto the. In 987 AD,, Count of Paris, was elected King of France, founding the which would raise Paris to become France's capital.

From 1190, King enclosed Paris on both banks with a wall that had the  as its western fortress  and in 1200 chartered the  which brought visitors from across. It was during this period that the city developed a spatial distribution of activities that can still be seen: the central island housed government and ecclesiastical institutions, the left bank became a scholastic centre with the University and s, while the right bank developed as the centre of commerce and trade around the central marketplace.

Paris lost its position as seat of the French realm while occupied by the English-allied during the, but regained its title when  reclaimed the city in 1437; although Paris was capital once again, the Crown preferred to remain in its  castles. During the, Paris was a stronghold of the , culminating in the (1572). King re-established the royal court in Paris in 1594 after he captured the city from the Catholic party. During the, Parisians rose in rebellion and the royal family fled the city (1648). King then moved the royal court permanently to  in 1682. A century later, Paris was the centre stage for the, with the in 1789 and the  of the monarchy in 1792.

Nineteenth century
The, the , and the  brought Paris the greatest development in its history. From the 1840s, rail transport allowed an unprecedented flow of migrants into Paris attracted by employment in the new industries in the suburbs. The city underwent a massive renovation under and his , who  of narrow-winding medieval streets to create the network of wide avenues and neo-classical façades of modern Paris. This programme of 'Haussmannization' was designed to make the city both more beautiful and more sanitary for its inhabitants, although it did have the added benefit that in case of future revolts or revolutions, cavalry charges and rifle fire could be used to deal with the insurrection while the rebel tactic of barricading so often used during the Revolution would become obsolete.

epidemics in 1832 and 1849 affected the population of Paris &mdash; the 1832 epidemic alone claimed 20,000 of the then population of 650,000. Paris also suffered greatly from the which ended the  (1870-1871): in the chaos caused by the fall of Napoleon III's government, the  (1871) sent many of Paris' administrative centres (and city archives) up in flames while 20,000 Parisians were killed by fighting between Commune and Government forces in what became known as the semaine sanglante (Bloody Week).

Paris recovered rapidly from these events to host the famous s of the late nineteenth century. The was built for the French Revolution centennial, as a "temporary" display of architectural engineering prowess but remained the world's tallest building until 1930, and is the city's best-known landmark, while the  saw the opening of the first  line. Paris' World's Fair years also consolidated its position in the tourist industry and as an attractive setting for international technology and trade shows.

Twentieth century
During, Paris was at the forefront of the war effort, having been spared a German invasion by the French and British victory at the in 1914. In 1918-1919, it was the scene of victory parades and peace negotiations. In the Paris was famed for its cultural and artistic communities and its nightlife. The city became a gathering place of artists from around the world, from exiled Russian composer and Spanish painters  and  to American writer. In June 1940, five weeks after the start of the, Paris fell to German occupation forces who remained there until in August of 1944, two months after the Normandy invasion.

Central Paris endured practically unscathed, as there were no strategic targets for Allied bombers (train stations in central Paris are s; major factories were located in the suburbs), and also because of its cultural significance. German did not destroy all Parisian monuments before any German retreat, as ordered by, who had visited the city in 1940.

In the post-war era, Paris experienced its largest development since the end of the  in 1914. The suburbs began to expand considerably, with the construction of large social estates known as cités and the beginning of the business district. A comprehensive express subway network, the, was built to complement the Métro and serve the distant suburbs, while a network of freeways was developed in the suburbs, centred on the  expressway circling around the city.

Since the 1970s, many inner suburbs of Paris (especially the eastern ones) have experienced, and the once-thriving cités have gradually become ghettos for immigrants and oases of unemployment. At the same time, the City of Paris (within its Périphérique ring) and the western and southern suburbs have successfully shifted their economic base from traditional manufacturing to high value-added services and high-tech manufacturing, generating great wealth for their residents whose per capita income is among the highest in Europe. The resulting widening social gap between these two areas has led to periodic unrest since the mid-1980s, such as the which largely concentrated in the northeastern suburbs.

Geography
Paris is located in the north-bending arc of the and includes two islands, the  and the larger, which form the oldest part of the city. Overall, the city is relatively flat, and the lowest elevation is 35 meters (114 ft) above sea level. Paris has several prominent hills, of which the highest is at 130  (426 ).

Paris, excluding the outlying parks of and, covers an oval measuring 86.928 square kilometres (33.56 square miles) in area. The city's last major annexation of outlying territories in 1860 not only gave it its modern form, but created the twenty clockwise-spiralling (municipal boroughs). From the 1860 area of 78 km² (30.1 sq mi), the city limits were expanded marginally to 86.9 sqkm in the 1920s. In 1929 the and  forest parks were officially annexed to the city, bringing its area to its present 105.397 km² (40.69 sq mi).

Paris' real demographic size, or, extends well beyond the city limits, forming an irregular oval with arms of urban growth extending along the Seine and rivers from the city's south-east and east, and along the Seine and  rivers to the city's north-west and north. Beyond the main suburbs, population density drops sharply: a mix of forest and agriculture dotted with a network of relatively evenly dispersed éparpillement of satellite towns, this ', when combined with the Paris agglomeration, completes the Paris ' (or , a sort of ) that covers an oval 14,518 km² (5,605.5 sq mi) in area, or about 138 times that of Paris itself.

Climate
Paris has an and is affected by the, so the city has a temperate climate that rarely sees extremely high or low temperatures. The average yearly high temperature is about 15 (59 ), and yearly lows tend to remain around an average of 7 °C (45 °F). The highest temperature ever, recorded on, was 40.4 °C (104.7 °F), and the lowest was a −23.9 °C (−11.0 °F) temperature reached on. The Paris region has recently seen temperatures reaching both extremes, with the and.

Rainfall can occur at any time of the year, and Paris is known for its sudden showers. The city sees an average yearly precipitation of 641.6 mm (25.2 inches). Snowfall is a rare occurrence, usually appearing in the coldest months of January or February (but has been recorded as late as April), and almost never accumulates enough to make a covering that will last more than a day.

Architecture


"Modern" Paris is the result of a vast. For centuries it had been a labyrinth of narrow streets and houses, but beginning in 1852, the 's vast urbanisation levelled entire quarters to make way for wide avenues lined with neo-classical stone buildings of bourgeoise standing; most of this 'new' Paris is the Paris we see today. These plans are in many cases still in effect, as the city of Paris imposes the then-defined "alignement" law (imposed position defining a predetermined street width) on many new constructions. A building's height was also defined according to the width of the street it lines, and Paris' building code has seen few changes since the mid-19th century to allow for higher constructions. It is for this reason that Paris is mainly a "flat" city.

Paris' unchanging borders, strict building codes and lack of developable land have together contributed in creating a phenomenon called muséification (or "museumification") as, at the same time as they strive to preserve Paris' historical past, existing laws make it difficult to create within city limits the larger buildings and utilities needed for a growing population. Many of Paris' institutions and economic infrastructure are already located in, or are planning on moving to, the suburbs. The financial business district, the main food wholesale market, major renowned schools (', , , , etc.), world famous research laboratories (in  or ), the largest sport stadium ('), and some ministries (namely the Ministry of Transportation) are located outside of the city of Paris. The National Archives of France are due to relocate to the northern suburbs before 2010. The need for a larger Paris is largely acknowledge by the French government. As of november 2007, discussions for such a larger Paris have begun, though which suburbs should be included in this larger Paris is unresolved. In any case, such an extension will not occur before the French city-hall elections, scheduled in the spring of 2008.

In Paris city proper

 *  (4th, 11th and 12th arrondissements, right bank) being one of the most historic districts, being a location of an essential event of not only Paris, but the whole country of France. Because of its historical value the square is often used for political demonstrations, including the massive.
 *  (8th arrondissement, right bank) is a seventeenth century garden-promenade turned avenue connecting the Concorde and . It is one of the many tourist attractions and a major shopping street of Paris. This avenue has been called "la plus belle avenue du monde" ("the most beautiful avenue in the world").
 * ' (8th arrondissement, right bank) is at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, built as the "Place Louis XV", site of the infamous . The Egyptian obelisk is Paris' "oldest monument". On this place, on the two side of the Rue Royale live two identical stone buildings: the eastern houses the French Naval Ministry, the western the luxurious . Nearby ' is famous for its fashionable and deluxe hotels ( and ) and its jewellers. Many famous fashion designers have had their salons in the square.
 *  (1st arrondissement, right bank) was formerly Paris' central meat and produce market, since the late 1970s a major shopping centre around an important connection station (Châtelet-Les Halles, the biggest in Europe). The past Les Halles was destroyed in 1971 and replaced by the . The central market of Paris, the biggest wholesale food market in the world, was transferred to, in the southern suburbs.
 *  (3rd and 4th arrondissements) is a trendy Right Bank district. With large and ish populations it is a very culturally open place.
 *  (8th arrondissement), next to the Champs-Élysées, is home to luxury brand labels such as, ,  and.
 *  (18th arrondissement, right bank) is a historic area on the Butte, home to the . Montmartre has always had a history with artists and has many studios and cafés of many great artists in that area.
 * ''' (14th arrondissement) is a historic Left Bank area famous for artists studios, music halls, and café life. The large ' station and the lone   are located there.
 *  (9th arrondissement, right bank) is the area around the is a home to the capital's densest concentration of both department stores and offices. A few examples are the  and  grands magasins (department stores), and the Paris headquarters of financial giants such as  and.
 *  (5th and 6th arrondissements, left bank) is a twelfth century scholastic centre formerly stretching between the Left Bank's Place Maubert and the campus. It is known for its lively atmosphere and many s. With various higher education establishments, such as the,  and the  make it a major educational centre in Paris, which also contributes to its atmosphere.
 *  (8th arrondissement, right bank) is one of Paris' high-fashion districts, home to labels such as and.

In the Paris area

 *  (straddling the of, , and , 2.5 km/1.5 miles west of the City of Paris) is a  of Paris and is one of the largest business centres in the world. Built at the western end of a westward extension of Paris' historical axis from the , La Défense consists mainly of business s. Initiated by the French government in 1958, the district hosts 3.5 million m² of offices, making of it the largest district in Europe specifically developed for business. The  (Great Arch) of la Défense, which houses a part of the French Transports Minister's headquarters, ends the central Esplanade around which the district is organised.
 * Plaine Saint-Denis (straddling the of, , and , immediately north of the , across the  ring road) is a formerly derelict manufacturing area which has undergone massive regeneration in the last 10 years. It now hosts the  around which is being built the new business district of LandyFrance, with two  stations (on RER line  and ) and possibly some skyscrapers. In the Plaine Saint-Denis are also located most of France's s as well as some major s.
 *  (straddling the and the  of  and  to the south-west of central Paris) is the new media hub of Paris and France, hosting the headquarters of most of France's TV networks ( in Boulogne-Billancourt,  in the 15th arrondissement,  and the international channels  and  in Issy-les-Moulineaux), as well as several telecommunication and  companies such as  in Boulogne-Billancourt or 's Europe, Africa & Middle East regional headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux.

Monuments and landmarks
Three of the most famous Parisian are the twelfth century   on the, the nineteenth century , and the. The Eiffel Tower was a "temporary" construction by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 but the tower was never dismantled and is now an enduring symbol of Paris. It is visible from many parts of the city as are the skyscraper and the  on the  hill.

The is a line of monuments, buildings and thoroughfares that run in a roughly straight line from the city centre westwards: the line of monuments begins with the  and continues through the, the  and the  centred in the  circus. From the 1960s the line was prolonged even further west to the business district dominated by square-shaped triumphal  of its own; this district hosts most of the   in the Paris. The museum is the burial place for many great French soldiers, including, and the  church is where many of France's illustrious men and women are buried. The former prison held some prominent  members before their deaths during the. Another symbol of the Revolution are the two located on the  on the Seine and in the. A larger version of the statues was sent as a gift from France to in 1886 and now stands in 's harbour.

The built in the later  period, houses the Paris Opera and the, while the former palace of the  now houses one of the most famous museums in the world. The is the most famous part of the  and is based in the centre of the. Apart from Notre Dame de Paris, there are several other ecclesiastical masterpieces including the Gothic thirteenth century palace chapel and the.

Parks and gardens
Two of Paris' oldest and famous s are the, created from the 16th century for a palace on the banks of the near the , and the  , another formerly private garden belonging to a château built for the  in 1612. The, created by 's doctor for the cultivation of medicinal plants, was Paris' first public garden.

A few of Paris' other large gardens are creations: the formerly suburban parks of,  and  (formerly known as the "folie de Chartres"), were creations of 's engineer  and the landscape and are enjoyed by all ages. Another project executed under the orders of was the re-sculpting of Paris' western  forest-parklands; the, to Paris' opposite eastern end, received a similar treatment in years following.

Newer additions to Paris' park landscape are the, built by the architect on the location of Paris' former s, and gardens being lain to Paris' periphery along the traces of its former circular "" railway line.

Cemeteries
Paris' cemeteries were on its outskirts upon their 1804 creation. Many of Paris' churches had their own cemeteries, but, by the late 18th century, they were making living conditions unpleasant for nearby housing. Abolished from 1786, all parish cemeteries contents were taken to abandoned limestone mines outside the southern gates of then Paris, today the 's place. The latter are known today as the.

Paris has once again grown to surround all of its former cemeteries. Many of Paris' historical figures have found rest in. Other notable cemeteries include, , and the. New suburban cemeteries were created in the early 20th century: the largest of these are the Cimetière Parisien de , the Cimetière Parisien de -, the Cimetière Parisien d' and the Cimetière Parisien de .

Entertainment
Opera

Paris' largest opera houses are the 19th century and modern ; the former tends towards the more classic ballets and operas, and the latter provides a mixed repertoire of classic and modern.

Theatre/Concert halls

Theatre traditionally has had a large place in Parisian culture. This still holds true today, although, perhaps strangely, many of its most popular actors today are also stars of French television. A few of Paris' major theatres are, and the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse. Some Parisian theatres also doubled as concert halls.

Many of France's greatest musical legends such as, , and  found their fame in Parisian concert halls: legendary yet still-showing examples of these are , , ,  and.

The below-mentioned Élysées-Montmartre, much reduced from its original size, is a concert hall today. The New Morning is one of few Parisian clubs still holding jazz concerts, but the same also specialises in 'indie' music. More recently, the  hall in Paris'  quarter and a "parc-omnisports" stadium in  serve as large-scale rock concert halls.

Dancehalls/Discotheques

Guinguettes and Bals-concerts were the backbone of Parisian entertainment before the mid-20th century. Early to mid-19th century examples were the Moulin de la Galette guinguette and the Élysées-Montmartre and Chateau-Rouge dancehalls-gardens. Popular orchestral fare gave way to the Parisian accordionists of lore whose music moved the Apollo and le Java faubourg du Temple and dance-hall crowds. Out of the clubs remaining from this era grew the modern discothèque: Le Palace, although closed today, is Paris' most legendary example. Today, much of the clubbing in Paris happens in clubs like Le Queen, L'Etoile, Le Cab which are highly selective. Electronic music oriented clubs such as Le Rex, the Batofar (a boat converted into a club) or The Pulp are quite popular and some of the world's best DJs play there.

Cafés, restaurants and hotels Cafés quickly became an integral part of French culture from their appearance, namely from the opening of the  in 1689 and the café Régence at the  one year earlier. The cafés in the gardens of the latter locale became quite popular through the 18th century, and can be considered Paris' first "terrace cafés"; these would not become widespread until sidewalks and boulevards began to appear from the mid-19th century. Cafés are an almost obligatory stop on the way to or from work for many Parisians, and especially during lunchtime.

Paris' culinary reputation has its base in the many origins of its inhabitants. With the early-19th century railways and ensuing industrial revolution came a flood of migration that brought with it all the gastronomical diversity of France's many different regions, and maintained through 'local speciality' restaurants catering to the tastes of people from all. "Chez Jenny" is a typical example of a restaurant specialising in the cuisine of the region, and "Aux Lyonnais" is another with traditional fare originating from its city name's region. Of course migration from even more distant climes meant an even greater culinary diversity, and today, in addition to a great number of North African and Asian establishments, in Paris one can find top-quality cuisine from virtually the world over.

Hotels were another result of widespread travel and, especially Paris' late-19th century (World's Fairs). Of the most luxurious of these, the appeared in the  from 1898, and the  opened its doors on the north side of the  from 1909.

Cinema

Parisians tend to share the same movie-going trends as many of the world's global cities, that is to say with a dominance of Hollywood-generated film entertainment. French cinema comes a close second, with major directors (réalisateurs) such as, , and , and the more slapstick/popular genre with director  as an example. European and Asian films are also widely shown and appreciated. A specialty of Paris is its very large network of small movie theatres: on a given week the movie fan has the choice between around 300 old or new movies from all over the world.

Many of Paris' concert/dance halls were transformed into movie theatres when the media became popular from the 1930s. Later most of the largest cinemas were divided into multiple, smaller rooms: Paris' largest cinema today is by far  theatre with 2800 seats, while other cinemas all have less than 1000 seats. There is now a trend toward modern multiplexes with more than 10 or 20 screens in the same building.

Tourism
Paris had always been a destination for traders, students and those on religious pilgrimages, but its 'tourism' in the proper sense of the term began on a large scale only with the appearance of rail travel, namely from state organisation of France's rail network from 1848. One of Paris' first 'mass' attractions drawing international interest were, from 1855, the above-mentioned that would bring Paris many new monuments, namely the  from 1889. These, in addition to the Capital's embellishments, did much to make the city itself the attraction it is today.

Paris' museums and monuments are by far its highest-esteemed attractions, and tourist interest has been nothing but a benefit to these; tourism has even motivated both city and State to create new ones. The city's most prized museum, the, sees over 8 million visitors a year, being by far the world's most visited art museum. Paris' cathedrals are another main attraction: its and  basilica receive 12 million and 8 million visitors respectively. The, by far Paris' most famous monument, averages over 6 million visitors per year and more than 200 millions since its construction. is a major tourist attraction not only for visitors to Paris, but to Europe as well, with 12.4 million visitors in 2004.

The is one of the largest and most famous museums, housing many works of art, including the ' (La Joconde) and the ' statue. Works by and  are found in  and  respectively, while the  is chronicled at the. Starkly apparent with its service-pipe exterior, the, also known as Beaubourg, houses the. Lastly, art and artifacts from the and  eras are kept in  and  respectively, the former with the prized tapestry cycle .

Many of Paris' once-popular local establishments have metamorphised into a parody of French culture, in a form catering to the tastes and expectations of tourist capital. , The 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
Paris' main sport clubs are the club, the  team  and the  club. The 80,000-seat was built for the  and is used for football and rugby union, and is used annually for 's  home matches of the  and sometimes for big matches for the Stade Français rugby team. (who now play in ) is another rugby team, which actually contested the first ever final against Stade Français in 1892. Paris also hosted the and  Olympic Games and was venue for the  and 1998 s.

Although the starting point and the route of the famous varies each year, the final stage always finishes in Paris and since 1975, the race has finished on the Champs-Elysées. is another popular sport in Paris and throughout France. The, held every year on the red clay of the ' National Tennis Centre near the ', is one of the four  events of the world professional tennis tour. The between  and  was played in the. Paris hosted the final at Stade de France on,.

Economy


With a 2005 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 in 2005, its GDP was about 28.5% that of metropolitan France. Activity in the is diverse, unlike most of the world's metropoles that tend to have a leading specialised industry (such as Los Angeles with entertainment industries or London and New York with financial industries in addition to 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  and suburban  business district places Paris' economic centre to the west of the city, in a triangle between the,  and the. 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. At the 1999 census, 47.5% of the 5,089,170 people in employment in the worked in the city of Paris and the Hauts-de-Seine département, while only 31.5% worked exclusively in Paris.

Although the Paris economy is largely dominated by, 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, 16.5% worked in business services, 13.0% in commerce ( and wholesale trade), 12.3% in manufacturing, 10.0% in s and , 8.7% in services, 8.2% in  and s, 6.6% in , and the remaining 24.7% in many other economic sectors. Among the sector, the largest employers were the  and  industry (17.9% of the total manufacturing workforce in 1999) and the  and  industry (14.0% of the total manufacturing workforce), with the remaining 68.1% of the manufacturing workforce distributed among many other industries. and tourist related services employ 6.2% of Paris' workforce, and 3.6% of all workers within the.

Demography
The population of the city of Paris was 2,125,246 at the 1999, 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 loss were a significant decline in household size, and a dramatic outmigration of residents to the suburbs between 1962 and 1975. Factors in the outmigration included de-industrialisation, high rent, the 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 a negative for the city; the city administration is trying to reverse them with some success, as the population estimate of July 2004 shows 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 of more than 1,000,000 population in the. Its density, excluding the outlying woodland parks of and, was  in 1999 official census. Even including the two woodland areas its population density was, the fifth most densely populated commune in France following , , , and , all of which border the city proper. The most sparsely populated quarters are the western and central office and administration-focussed s. The city's population is densest in the northern and eastern arrondissements; the had a density of  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.

The Paris agglomeration
The city of Paris' administrative limits describe an area much smaller than its real urban growth. At present, the real extent of the dense urbanisation of which Paris is only a core, defined by the  statistical area, covers 2,723 km² (1,051.4 sq mi),, or an area about 26 times larger than the city itself. Surrounding the Paris pôle urbain is the couronne peri-urbaine commuter belt area that completes the Paris  (a unit similar to a North American ) covering 14,518 km² (5,605.5 sq mi), or an area about 138 times that of Paris 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 departements outside of these, the grande couronne , are only covered in their inner regions by Paris' urbanisation. These eight form the larger administrative  ; 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, save brief setbacks during the and. Suburban development has accelerated in recent years: with an estimated total of 11.4 million inhabitants for 2005, the  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  (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. 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 and.

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 ; colonial citizens during and later; Poles between the two world wars; Spaniards, Portuguese and North Africans from the 1950s to the 1970s; North African Jews after the independence of those countries; Africans and Asians since then. The majority of these today are naturalised French without any distinction, due to the principle of equality among French citizens.

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. resides at the in the ', while the 's seat is at the  in the '. Government ministries are located in various parts of the city - many are located in the , near the Matignon.

The two houses of the French Parliament are also located on the. The upper house, the, meets in the in the ', while the more important lower house, the ', meets in the  in the VIIe. The, the second highest public official in France after the President of the Republic, resides in the "Petit Luxembourg", a smaller palace annex to the.

France's highest courts are located in Paris. The, the highest court in the judicial order, which tries most criminal and civil cases, is located in the on the ', while the , 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  in the '.

The, which is an advisory body which is the ultimate authority on the constitutionality of laws and government decrees, also meets in the.

City government


Paris has been a  (municipality) since 1834 (and also briefly between 1790 and 1795). At the 1790 division (during the ) 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  the city still has today. These municipal subdivisions describe a clockwise spiral outward from its most central.

In 1790, Paris became the ' (seat) of the ', 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, and  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
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 (conseil de Paris), which in turn elects the.

In times Paris was governed by a merchant-elected municipality whose head was the : 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 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 upon its creation in 1667.

Paris' last  was assassinated the afternoon of the 1789 uprising that was the. Paris became an official "commune" from the creation of the administrative division on December 14 the same year, and its provisional "Paris commune" revolutionary municipality was replaced with the city's first municipal constitution and government from October 9, 1790. Through the turmoil of the 1794, 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 ' of which it was a centre, under the direct control of the State-appointed ' of the Seine, in charge of general affairs there; the state-appointed  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 double existence as commune and département, Paris has a unique council to governing 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  (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.

Capital of the Île-de-France région
As part of a 1961 nation-wide administrative effort to consolidate regional economies, Paris as a ' became the capital of the new ' of the District of Paris, renamed the  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. Unlike in most of France's major urban areas such as and, there is no  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 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 9th century, emperor 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,  and. Paris was already one of France's major cathedral towns and began its rise to fame as a scholastic centre. By the early 13th century the  cathedral school had many famous teachers, and the controversial teachings of some of these led to the creation of a separate Left-Bank  University that would become the centre of Paris' scholastic  best represented by the  university.

Twelve centuries later, education in Paris and the Paris region ( ) 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
Paris is home to several of France's most prestigious high-schools such as and. Other high-schools of international renown in the Paris area include the and the.

Higher education
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  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 was the first centre of higher education before the creation of the. The universitas was chartered by King 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'  centre, or "" as classes were taught in Latin then, would eventually regroup around the college created by  from 1257, the. The University of Paris in the 19th century had six faculties: law, science, medicine, pharmaceutical studies, literature and theology.

Following the, 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 . 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 Marne-la-Vallée and. Other institutions include the 's, the , and the.

Grandes écoles
The Paris region hosts France's highest concentration of the prestigious , which are specialised centres of higher education outside the public university structure. The prestigious public universities are usually considered . 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 has remained on rue d'Ulm in the. The Paris area has a high number of engineering schools, led by the prestigious Paris Institute of Technology which comprises several colleges such as ', ', ', and '. There are also many business schools, including, , , and. Although the elite administrative school has been relocated to, the political science school  is still located in Paris'.

The grandes écoles system is supported by a number of preparatory schools which offer courses of two to three years duration called, also known as "classes prépas" or just "prépas". These courses provide entry to the grandes écoles. Many of the best prépas are located in Paris, including, , , and. Student selection is based on the school grades and the teacher remarks. Prépas attract most of the academically best students in France and are known to be very demanding in terms of work load and psychological stress.

Transport
The role of Paris as an international trade centre has brought its transportation system to considerably develop over History, and it continues its growth at a fast pace today. In only few decades, Paris has become the centre of a motorway and freeway system, a high-speed train network and, through its two major airports, an international air travel hub.

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 include the (operating 654  lines, the, 3  lines, and sections of the ), the  (operating , a tramway line and the other sections of the RER) and the  consortium of private operators managing 1,070 minor bus lines.

The is one of Paris' most important transportation system. The system, with 380 stations connected by 221.6 km of rails, comprises 16 lines, identified by numbers from 1 to 14, with two minor lines, 3bis and 7bis, numbered thus because they used to be branches of their respective original lines and only later became independent. In October 1998, the new 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 in the suburbs as is the case in most other cities. As such, an additional express network, the, 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, 256 stops and 587 km of rails.

Additionally, Paris is served by a network of 4 lines, the : Line T1 runs from  to, line T2 runs from  to , line T3 runs from Pont de Garigliano to Porte d'Ivry, line T4 runs from  to.

Paris is a central hub of the national rail network. The six major railway stations,, , , , , and , are connected to three networks: the serving 4  lines, the normal speed  trains, and the suburban rails.

Since mid-July Paris offers a system called  with more than 10.000 public s  distributed at 750 parking station which can be rented for short and medium distances including  drives.

Furthermore, Paris is served by two major airports:, which is south of Paris, and the , nearby , which is one of the busiest in the world. A third and much smaller airport, in the town of, 70 km (45 mi) to the north of the city, is used by charter and low-cost airlines. The fourth airport, nowadays only hosts business jets, air trade shows and the aerospace museum.

The city is also the most important hub of France's network, and is surrounded by three orbital freeways: the  which follows the approximate path of 19th century fortifications around Paris, the  motorway in the inner suburbs, and finally the  motorway in the outer suburbs. Paris has an extensive road network with over 2000 kilometres of highways and motorways. By road Brussels can be reached in three hours, Frankfurt in 6 hours and Barcelona in 12 hours.

Water and sanitation
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 first; finally, from 1809, the began providing Paris with water from less polluted rivers away from the Capital. Paris would only have its first constant and plentiful source of drinkable water from the late 19th century: from 1857, under 's, the civil engineer   oversaw the construction of a series of new aqueducts that would bring sources from distant locations to reservoirs built in the highest points of the Capital. The new sources 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 dedicated to 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  and the civil engineer  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 and a number of partner cities.

Sister city:
 * 🇮🇹, , (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

Other:
 * , claims to be twinned with Paris.