Paris
Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in the foreground and the skyscrapers of La Défense in the background
Flag Coat of arms
Motto(s):  Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: "It is tossed by the waves, but does not sink")
Location of Paris
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Paris
Subdivisions	20 arrondissements
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Bertrand Delanoë (PS)
Area 1[1]	105.4 km2 (40.7 sq mi)
• Urban  (2010)	2,844.8 km2 (1,098.4 sq mi)
• Metro  (2010)	17,174.4 km2 (6,631.1 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2010[2])	2,234,105
• Rank	1st in France
• Density	21,000/km2 (55,000/sq mi)
• Urban  (Jan. 2010)	10,460,118[3]
• Metro  (Jan. 2010)	12,223,100[4]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	75056 /75001-75020, 75116
Website	www.paris.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Paris (English: /ˈpærɪs/, /ˈpɛrɪs/ ^ⓘ; French: [paʁi] ^ⓘ) is the capital and most populous city of France. It is situated on the River Seine, in the northern central part of the country, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (or Paris Region, French: Région parisienne). Within its administrative limits largely unchanged since 1860 (the 20 arrondissements), the city of Paris has a population of 2,243,833 inhabitants (January 2010),^[2] but its metropolitan area is one of the largest population centres in Europe, with 12,223,100 inhabitants in January 2010.^[4].

An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris had become, by the 12th century, one of Europe's foremost centres of learning and the arts and was the largest city in the Western world until the turn of the 18th century. Paris was the focal point for the French Revolution and the 1848 Revolution. Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.

Paris and the Paris region account for more than 30 per cent of the gross domestic product of France and have one of the largest city GDPs in the world, with €607 billion (US$845 billion) in 2011. Paris is one of the world's leading tourism destinations, hosting four UNESCO World Heritage Sites and many international organisations, including UNESCO and the European Space Agency.

Etymology

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

The name "Paris" derives from that of its earliest inhabitants, the Gaulish tribe known as the Parisii. The city was called Lutetia (more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum, "Lutetia of the Parisii"), during the Roman era of the 1st to the 4th century AD, but during the reign of Julian the Apostate (360–363), the city was renamed Paris.^[5] It is believed that the name of the Parisii tribe comes from the Celtic Gallic word parisio, meaning "the working people" or "the craftsmen".^[6]

Paris has many nicknames, but its most famous is "La Ville-Lumière" ("The City of Light"),^[7] a name it owes first to its fame as a centre of education and ideas during the Age of Enlightenment, and later to its early adoption of street lighting. Paris became known as Ville Lumière in the second half of the 19th century, when Baron Haussmann, who had been put in charge by Emperor Napoleon III of the drastic transformation of Paris into a modern city, tore down whole quartiers of houses and narrow streets dating back to the Middle Ages, opening large avenues which let light (lumière) come into the former medieval city.^[8]

Since the mid-19th century, Paris has been known as Paname ([panam]) in the Parisian slang called argot (Moi j'suis d'Paname, i.e. "I'm from Paname").^[9] The singer Renaud repopularised the term among the young generation with his 1976 album Amoureux de Paname ("In love with Paname").^[10]

Inhabitants are known in English as "Parisians" (English: /pəˈrɪzɪənz/ or /pəˈriʒənz/) and in French as Parisiens (masculine) – French pronunciation: [pa.ʁi.zjɛ̃] or Parisiennes (feminine) – French pronunciation: [pa.ʁi.zjɛn]. Parisians are often pejoratively called Parigots ([paʁiɡo] ^ⓘ) and Parigotes, a term first used in 1900 by those living outside the Paris region.^[11]

History

Origins

The earliest archaeological signs of permanent settlements in the Paris area date from around 4500–4200 BC,^[12] with some of the oldest evidence of canoe-use by hunter-gatherer peoples being uncovered in Bercy in 1991.^[13] The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the area near the river Seine from around 250 BC,^[14][15] building a trading settlement on the island, later the Île de la Cité, the easiest place to cross.^[16] The Romans conquered the Paris basin around 52 BC,^[12] with a permanent settlement by the end of the same century on the left bank Sainte Geneviève Hill and the Île de la Cité. The Gallo-Roman town was originally called Lutetia, or Lutetia Parisorum but later Gallicised to Lutèce.^[17] It expanded greatly over the following centuries, becoming a prosperous city with a forum, palaces, baths, temples, theatres, and an amphitheatre.^[18]

The collapse of the Roman empire, along with the Germanic invasions of the 5th-century, sent the city into a period of decline. By 400 AD, Lutèce was largely abandoned by its inhabitants, little more than a garrison town entrenched into a hastily fortified central island.^[12] The city reclaimed its original appellation of "Paris" towards the end of the Roman occupation, around 360 AD, when Julian the Apostate, Prefect of the Gauls, was proclaimed emperor.^[19] The proclamation was made on the Île de la Cité. Julian remained based there for three years, making Paris the de facto capital of the Western Empire.^[20]

Merovingian and Feudal eras

The Paris region was under full control of the Salian Franks by the late 5th century. The Frankish king Clovis the Frank, the first king of the Merovingian dynasty, made the city his capital from 508 and was responsible for converting the city back to Christianity.^[21] The late 8th century Carolingian dynasty displaced the Frankish capital to Aachen; this period coincided with the beginning of Viking invasions that had spread as far as Paris by the early 9th century.^[21]

One of the most remarkable Viking raids was on 28 March 845, when Paris was invaded by some 200 Norse ships along the Seine and sacked and held ransom,^[22] probably by Ragnar Lodbrok, who left only after receiving a large bounty paid by the crown. Repeated invasions forced Eudes, Count of Paris, to build a fortress on the Île de la Cité in 885 AD. However, the city soon suffered a siege lasting almost a year, eventually relieved by the Carolingian king, Charles "The Fat", who instead of attacking allowed the besiegers to sail up the Seine and lay waste to Burgundy.^[21] Eudes then took the crown for himself, plunging the French crown into dynastic turmoil lasting over a century until 987 AD when Hugh Capet, count of Paris, was elected king of France. Paris, under the Capetian kings, became a capital once more, and his coronation was seen by many historians as the moment marking the birth of modern France.^[21]

Middle Ages to 18th century

Paris became prosperous and by the end of the 11th century, scholars, teachers and monks flocked to the city to engage in intellectual exchanges, to teach and be taught; Philippe-Auguste founded the University of Paris in 1200.^[21] The guilds gradually became more powerful and were instrumental in inciting the first revolt after the king was captured by the English in 1356.^[23] Paris's population was around 200,000^[24] when the Black Death arrived in 1348, killing as many as 800 people a day; and 40,000 died from the plague in 1466.^[25] During the 16th and 17th centuries, plague visited the city for almost one year out of three.^[26] Paris lost its position as seat of the French realm during the occupation by the English-allied Burgundians during the Hundred Years' War, but when Charles VII of France reclaimed the city from English rule in 1436, Paris became France's capital once again in title, although the real centre of power would remain in the Loire Valley^[27] until King Francis I returned France's crown residences to Paris in 1528.

During the French Wars of Religion, Paris was a stronghold of the Catholic party. In August 1572, under the reign of Charles IX, while many noble Protestants were in Paris on the occasion of the marriage of Henri of Navarre – the future Henri IV – to Margaret of Valois, sister of Charles IX, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre occurred; beginning on 24 August, it lasted several days and spread throughout the country.^[28][29]

In 1590 Henri IV unsuccessfully laid siege to the city in the Siege of Paris, but, threatened with usurpation from Philip II of Spain, he converted to Catholicism in 1594, and the city welcomed him as king.^[23] The Bourbons, Henri's family, spend vast amounts of money keeping the city under control, building the Ile St-Louis as well as bridges and other infrastructure.^[23] However, unhappy with their lack of political representation, in 1648 Parisians rose in a rebellion known as the Fronde and the royal family fled the city. Louis XIV later moved the royal court permanently to Versailles, a lavish estate on the outskirts of Paris,^[23] in 1682. The following century was an "Age of Enlightenment" – Paris's reputation grew on the writings of its intellectuals such as the philosopher Voltaire, and Diderot, the first volume of his Encyclopédie being published in Paris in 1751.^[30]

French Revolution

At the end of the century, Paris was the centre stage for the French Revolution; a bad harvest in 1788 caused food prices to rocket and by the following year the sovereign debt had reached unprecedented levels.^[31] On 14 July 1789, Parisians, appalled by the King's pressure on the new assembly formed by the Third Estate, took siege of the Bastille fortress, a symbol of absolutism,^[32] starting revolution and rejecting the divine right of monarchs in France. Jean-Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor, was elected on 15 July 1789,^[33] and two days later the national tricolour flag with the colours of Paris (blue and red) and of the King (white) was adopted at the Hôtel de Ville by Louis XVI.^[34]

The Republic was declared for the first time in 1792. In 1793, Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were executed on the Place de la Révolution, in Paris, the site of many executions. The guillotine was most active during the "Reign of Terror", in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed. Following the Terror, the French Directory held control until it was overthrown in a coup d'état by Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon put an end to the Revolution and established the French Consulate, and then later was elected by plebiscite^[35] as emperor of the First French Empire.^[36]

19th century

Paris was occupied by Russian and Allied armies upon Napoleon's defeat on 31 March 1814; this was the first time in 400 years that the city had been conquered by a foreign power.^[37] The ensuing Restoration period, or the return of the monarchy under Louis XVIII (1814–1824) and Charles X, ended with the July Revolution Parisian uprising of 1830.^[38] The new constitutional monarchy under Louis-Philippe ended with the 1848 "February Revolution" that led to the creation of the Second Republic.^[39]. Cholera epidemics in 1832 and 1850 ravaged the population of Paris; the 1832 epidemic alone claimed 20,000 of the population of 650,000.^[40]

The greatest development in Paris's history began with the Industrial Revolution creation of a network of railways that brought an unprecedented flow of migrants to the capital from the 1840s. The city's largest transformation came with the 1852 Second Empire under Napoleon III; his préfet, Baron Haussmann, levelled entire districts of Paris's narrow, winding medieval streets to create the network of wide avenues and neo-classical façades that still make up much of modern Paris; the reason for this transformation was twofold, as not only did the creation of wide boulevards beautify and sanitise the capital, it also facilitated the effectiveness of troops and artillery against any further uprisings and barricades for which Paris was so famous.^[41]

The Second Empire ended in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), and a besieged Paris under heavy bombardment surrendered on 28 January 1871. The discontent of Paris's populace with the new armistice-signing government seated in Versailles resulted in the creation of the Paris Commune government, supported by an army created in large part of members of the city's former National Guard who would both continue resistance against the Prussians and oppose the army of the "Versaillais" government.^[42] The Paris Commune ended with the Semaine Sanglante ("Bloody Week"), during which roughly 20,000 "Communards" were executed before the fighting ended on 28 May 1871.^[43] The ease with which the Versaillais army overtook Paris owed much to Baron Haussmann's renovations.^[44]

France's late 19th-century Universal Expositions made Paris an increasingly important centre of technology, trade, and tourism.^[45] Its most famous were the 1889 Exposition universelle to which Paris owes its "temporary" display of architectural engineering progress,^[46] the Eiffel Tower, which remained the world's tallest structure until 1930,^[47] and the 1900 Universal Exposition saw the opening of the first Paris Métro line.^[48]

20th century

During World War I, Paris was at the forefront of the war effort, having been spared a German invasion by the French and British victory at the First Battle of the Marne in 1914 within earshot of the city.^[49] In 1918–1919, it was the scene of Allied victory parades and peace negotiations. In the inter-war period, 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 the exiled Russian composer Stravinsky and Spanish painters Picasso and Dalí to the American writer Hemingway.^[50]

On 14 June 1940, five weeks after the start of the Battle of France, an undefended Paris fell to German occupation forces.^[51] The Germans marched past the Arc de Triomphe on the 140th anniversary of Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Marengo.^[52] German forces remained in Paris until the city was liberated in August 1944 after a resistance uprising, two and a half months after the Normandy invasion.^[53] Central Paris endured World War II practically unscathed, as there were no strategic targets for Allied bombers (railway stations in central Paris are terminal stations; major factories were located in the suburbs), and despite orders to destroy the city and all historic monuments the German commander Dietrich von Choltitz refused, gaining the popular title "Saviour of Paris" for his defiance of the Führer.^[54]

In the post-war era, Paris experienced its largest development since the end of the Belle Époque in 1914. The suburbs began to expand considerably, with the construction of large social estates known as cités and the beginning of La Défense, the business district. A comprehensive express subway network, the RER, was built to complement the Métro and serve the distant suburbs, while a network of freeways was developed in the suburbs, centred on the Périphérique expressway encircling the city, completed in 1973.^[55]

Since the 1970s, many inner suburbs of Paris (especially the northern and eastern ones) have experienced deindustrialisation, and the once-thriving cités have gradually become ghettos for immigrants and experienced significant unemployment. At the same time, the city of Paris (within its Périphérique expressway) 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 the highest in France and among the highest in Europe.^[56][57] The resulting widening social gap between these two areas has led to periodic unrest since the mid-1980s, such as the 2005 riots which were concentrated for the most part in the north-eastern suburbs.^[58]

21st century

A massive urban renewal project, the Grand Paris, was launched in 2007 by President Nicolas Sarkozy. It consists of various economic, cultural, housing, transport and environmental projects to reach a better integration of the territories and revitalise the metropolitan economy. The most emblematic project is the €26.5 billion construction by 2030 of a new automatic metro, which will consist of 200 kilometres (120 mi) of rapid-transit lines connecting the Grand Paris regions to one another and to the centre of Paris.^[59] Nevertheless, the Paris metropolitan area is still divided into numerous territorial collectivities and their fusion into a more integrated metropolis government, although sometimes discussed, is not on the agenda.^[60] An ad-hoc structure, Paris Métropole, has however been established in June 2009 to coordinate the action of 184 "Parisian" territorial collectivities.^[61]

In an effort to boost the global economic image of metropolitan Paris, several skyscrapers 300 metres (984 ft) and higher have been approved since 2006 in the business district of La Défense, to the west of the city proper, and are scheduled to be completed by the early 2010s. Paris authorities also stated publicly that they are planning to authorise the construction of skyscrapers within the city proper by relaxing the cap on building height for the first time since the construction of the Tour Montparnasse in the early 1970s.^[62]

Geography

Paris is located in northern central France. By road it is 450 kilometres (280 mi) southeast of London, 287 kilometres (178 mi) south of Calais, 305 kilometres (190 mi) southwest of Brussels, 774 kilometres (481 mi) north of Marseilles, 385 kilometres (239 mi) northeast of Nantes, and 135 kilometres (84 mi) southeast of Rouen.^[63] Paris is located in the north-bending arc of the river Seine and includes two islands, the Île Saint-Louis and the larger Île de la Cité, which form the oldest part of the city. Overall, the city is relatively flat, and the lowest point is 35 m (115 ft) above sea level. Paris has several prominent hills, of which the highest is Montmartre at 130 m (427 ft),^[64]. The river’s mouth on the English Channel (La Manche) is about 233 mi (375 km) downstream of the city, established around 7600 BC. The city is spread widely on both banks of the river.^[65] It gained its name from the martyrdom of Saint Denis, first bishop of Paris atop the "Mons Martyrum" (Martyr's mound) in 250.

Excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, Paris covers an oval measuring about 87 km² (34 sq mi) in area, enclosed by the 35 km (22 mi) ring road, the Boulevard Périphérique.^[66] The city's last major annexation of outlying territories in 1860 not only gave it its modern form but also created the twenty clockwise-spiralling arrondissements (municipal boroughs). From the 1860 area of 78 km² (30 sq mi), the city limits were expanded marginally to 86.9 km² (33.6 sq mi) in the 1920s. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes forest parks were officially annexed to the city, bringing its area to about 105 km² (41 sq mi).^[67] The metropolitan area of the city is 2,300 km² (890 sq mi).^[65]

Climate

Paris has a typical Western European oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb ) which is affected by the North Atlantic Current. The overall climate throughout the year is mild and moderately wet.^[68] Summer days are usually warm and pleasant with average temperatures hovering between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F), and a fair amount of sunshine.^[69] Each year, however, there are a few days where the temperature rises above 32 °C (90 °F). Some years have even witnessed some long periods of harsh summer weather, such as the heat wave of 2003 where temperatures exceeded 30 °C (86 °F) for weeks, surged up to 40 °C (104 °F) on some days and seldom cooled down at night.^[70] More recently, the average temperature for July 2011 was 17.6 °C (63.7 °F), with an average minimum temperature of 12.9 °C (55.2 °F) and an average maximum temperature of 23.7 °C (74.7 °F).

Spring and autumn have, on average, mild days and fresh nights, but are changing and unstable. Surprisingly warm or cool weather occurs frequently in both seasons.^[71] In winter, sunshine is scarce; days are cold but generally above freezing with temperatures around 7 °C (45 °F).^[72] Light night frosts are however quite common, but the temperature will dip below −5 °C (23 °F) for only a few days a year. Snowfall is uncommon, but the city sometimes sees light snow or flurries with or without accumulation.^[73]

Rain falls throughout the year, and although Paris is not a very rainy city, it is known for intense sudden showers. Average annual precipitation is 652 mm (25.7 in) with light rainfall fairly distributed throughout the year. The highest recorded temperature is 40.4 °C (104.7 °F) on July 28, 1948, and the lowest is a −23.9 °C (−11.0 °F) on December 10, 1879.^[74]

Administration

As the capital of France, Paris 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,^[76] while the Prime Minister's seat is at the Hôtel Matignon in the 7th arrondissement.^[77][78] 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 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 arrondissement. The President of the Senate, the second-highest public official in France (the President of the Republic being the sole superior), resides in the "Petit Luxembourg", a smaller palace annex to the Palais du Luxembourg.^[79]

France's highest courts are located in Paris. The Court of Cassation, the highest court in the judicial order, which reviews criminal and civil cases, is located in the Palais de Justice on the Île de la Cité,^[80] 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.^[81] The Constitutional Council, an advisory body with ultimate authority on the constitutionality of laws and government decrees, also meets in the Montpensier wing of the Palais Royal.^[82] Each of Paris's twenty arrondissements has its own town hall and a directly elected council (conseil d'arrondissement), which, in turn, elects an arrondissement mayor.^[83] A selection of members from each arrondissement council form the Council of Paris (conseil de Paris), which, in turn, elects the mayor of Paris.

Paris and its region host the headquarters of many international organisations including UNESCO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Chamber of Commerce, the Paris Club, the European Space Agency, the International Energy Agency, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the European Union Institute for Security Studies, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the International Exhibition Bureau and the International Federation for Human Rights. Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.^[84] Paris has numerous partner cities,^[85][86] but according to the motto "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris";^[85][87] the only sister city of Paris is Rome^[86] and vice-versa.

City government

The 20 arrondissements of Paris
17th 18th 19th   8th 9th 10th 11th 20th 16th 2nd 3rd 1st 4th 12th River Seine   7th 6th 5th 13th 15th 14th

The city's growth over the centuries has not altered its initial circular shape.^[65] Paris, located in the middle of the Île-de-France region (drained by the Seine, Oise, and Marne rivers, 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, composed of 12 arrondisements,^[88] but, in 1860, it annexed bordering communes, totally enclosing the surrounding towns (bourgs) either fully or partly, to create the new administrative map of 20 arrondissements (municipal districts) the city still has today. Every arrondissement has its own mayor, town hall, and special characteristics.

Demographics

The population of the city of Paris was 2,243,833 at the 2010 census,^[2] lower than its historical peak of 2.9 million in 1921. The principal factors in the process are a significant decline in household size, and a dramatic migration of residents to the suburbs between 1962 and 1975. Factors in the migration include deindustrialisation, high rent, the gentrification of many inner quarters, the transformation of living space into offices, and greater affluence among working families. The city's population loss was one of the most severe among international municipalities and as a result 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, which reached 2,243,833 by 2010.^[2]

Paris is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.^[89] 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 megapolises and the New York City borough of Manhattan. Even including the two woodland areas, its population density was 20,169/km² (52,240/sq mi),^[90] the fifth-most-densely populated commune in France after 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-focused 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.

At the 1999 census, 19.4 per cent of its total population was born outside of metropolitan France. At the same census, 4.2 per cent of the Paris aire urbaine's population were recent immigrants (people who had immigrated to France between 1990 and 1999), the majority from Asia and Africa. 37 per cent of all immigrants in France live in the Paris region.^[91] The first wave of international migration to Paris started as early as 1820 with the arrivals of German peasants fleeing an agricultural crisis in their homeland. Several waves of immigration followed continually until today: Italians and central European Jews during the 19th century; Russians after the revolution of 1917 and Armenians fleeing genocide in the Ottoman Empire;^[92] 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.^[93]

Economy

The Paris Region is France's premier centre of economic activity, and with a 2011 GDP of €607 billion^[94] (US$845 billion), the Paris region is not only the wealthiest area of France, but has one of the highest GDPs in the world, after Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles and London, making it an engine of the global economy. Were it a country, it would rank as the seventeenth-largest economy in the world, larger than the Turkish and Dutch economies and almost as large as the Indonesian economy.^[95] While its population accounted for 18.8 per cent of the total population of metropolitan France in 2011,^[96] its GDP accounted for 31.0 per cent of metropolitan France's GDP.^[94] Wealth is heavily concentrated in the western suburbs of Paris notably Neuilly-sur-Seine, which is one of the wealthiest areas of France.^[97] This mirrors a sharp political divide, with political conservatism being much more common towards the western edge, whilst the political spectrum lies more to the left in the east.^[98]

The Parisian economy has been gradually shifting towards high-value-added service industries (finance, IT services, etc.) and high-tech manufacturing (electronics, optics, aerospace, etc.). However, in the 2009 European Green City Index, Paris was still listed as the second most "green" large city in Europe, after Berlin.^[99] The Paris region's most intense economic activity through the central Hauts-de-Seine département and suburban La Défense business district places Paris's economic centre to the west of the city, in a triangle between the Opéra Garnier, La Défense and the Val de Seine. While 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. The Paris Region hosts the headquarters of 33 of the Fortune Global 500 companies.^[100]

La Défense, the largest dedicated business district in Europe.^[101]

The 1999 census indicated that, of the 5,089,170 persons employed in the Paris urban area, 16.5 per cent worked in business services; 13.0 per cent in commerce (retail and wholesale trade); 12.3 per cent in manufacturing; 10.0 per cent in public administrations and defence; 8.7 per cent in health services; 8.2 per cent in Transport and communications; 6.6 per cent in education, and the remaining 24.7 per cent in many other economic sectors. In the manufacturing sector, the largest employers were the electronic and electrical industry (17.9 per cent of the total manufacturing workforce in 1999) and the publishing and printing industry (14.0 per cent of the total manufacturing workforce), with the remaining 68.1 per cent of the manufacturing workforce distributed among many other industries. Tourism and tourist related services employ 6.2 per cent of Paris's workforce, and 3.6 per cent of all workers within the Paris Region. Unemployment in the Paris "immigrant ghettos" ranges from 20 to 40 per cent, according to varying sources.^[91]

Paris receives around 28 million tourists per year,^[102] of which 17 million are foreign visitors,^[103] which makes the city and its region the world's leading tourism destination, housing four UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Its 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 eight million visitors a year, being by far the world's most-visited art museum.^[104] The city's cathedrals are another main attraction: Notre Dame de Paris and the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur receive 12 million and eight million visitors, respectively. The Eiffel Tower, by far Paris's most famous monument, receives on average over six million visitors per year^[105] and has received more than 200 million since its construction. Disneyland Paris is a major tourist attraction for visitors to not only Paris but also the rest of Europe, with 14.5 million visitors in 2007. Much of Paris's hotel, restaurant and night entertainment trades have become heavily dependent on tourism.

Cityscape

Panorama of Paris as seen from the Eiffel Tower as full 180-degree view (river flowing from north-east to south-west, right to left)

Architecture

Much of contemporary Paris is the result of the vast mid-19th century urban remodelling. For centuries, the city had been a labyrinth of narrow streets and half-timber houses, but, beginning with Haussman's advent, entire quarters were levelled to make way for wide avenues lined with neo-classical stone buildings of bourgeoisie standing. The building code has seen few changes since the 1850s, and the Second Empire plans are in many cases still followed. The "alignement" law is still in place, which regulates building façades of new constructions according to a pre-defined street width. A building's height is limited according to the width of the streets it borders, and under the regulation, it is almost impossible to get an approval to build a taller building. ^[106]

Churches are the oldest intact buildings in the city, and show high Gothic architecture at its best – the Notre Dame cathedral and the church of Sainte-Chapelle are two of the most striking buildings in the city.^[107] The latter half of the 19th-century was an era of architectural inspiration, with buildings such as the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, built in 1871, revealing a combination of Romanesque and neo-Byzantine design.^[108] Paris's most famous architectural piece, the Eiffel Tower, was built as a temporary exhibit for the 1889 World Fair and remains an enduring symbol of the capital with its iconic structure and position, towering over much of the city.^[109] Many of Paris's important institutions are located outside the city limits; the financial business district is in La Défense, and many of the educational institutions lie in the southern suburbs.

Landmarks by district

1st arrondissement

The 1st arrondissement forms much of the historic centre of Paris. Place Vendôme is famous for its deluxe hotels such as Hôtel Ritz, Hôtel de Rambouillet, The Westin Paris – Vendôme, Hôtel de Toulouse, Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon, Hôtel Meurice, and Hôtel Regina^[110] Les Halles were formerly Paris's central meat and produce market, and, since the late 1970s, are a major shopping centre. The old Halles were destroyed in 1971 and replaced by the Forum des Halles. The central market of Paris, the biggest wholesale food market in the world, was transferred to Rungis, in the southern suburbs.^[111]

The line of monuments begins with the Louvre and continues through the Tuileries Gardens, the Champs-Élysées, and the Arc de Triomphe, centred in the Place de l'Étoile circus. The former Conciergerie prison held some prominent Ancien Régime members before their deaths during the French Revolution.^[112] Also of note in the 1st arrondissement are the theatres Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, squares such as Place des Pyramides, Place Dauphine, Place des Victoires and Place du Châtelet, the Comédie-Française, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, the Palais de Justice and the Palais-Royal.

2nd arrondissement

The 2nd arrondissement of Paris lies to the north of the 1st. The Boulevard des Capucines, Boulevard Montmartre, Boulevard des Italiens, Rue de Richelieu and Rue Saint-Denis are major roads running through the district. The 2nd arrondissement is the theatre district of Paris, ^[113] overlapping into the 3rd, and contains the Théâtre des Capucines and Théâtre-Musée des Capucines, Opéra-Comique, Théâtre des Variétés, Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, Théâtre du Vaudeville and Théâtre Feydeau. Also of note are the Académie Julian, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Café Anglais and Galerie Vivienne.

3rd arrondissement

The 3rd arrondissement is located to the northeast of the 1st. Le Marais is a trendy district spanning the 3rd and 4th arrondissements. It is architecturally very well preserved, and some of the oldest houses and buildings of Paris can be found there. It is a very culturally open place, known for its Chinese, Jewish and gay communities. The Place des Vosges, established in 1612 to celebrate the wedding of Louis XIII to Anne of Austria lies at the border of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements and is the oldest planned square in Paris,^[114] and the Place de la République was named after the constitutional change in France. The 3rd arrondissement is noted for its museums such as Museum of French History, Musée Picasso, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Musée Cognacq-Jay, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme, Musée de la Poupée, Musée des Arts et Métiers and the Carnavalet Museum, and theatres such as Théâtre Déjazet, Théâtre de la Gaîté, and Théâtre du Marais. Several hotels are located in this district including Hôtel de Guénégaud and Hôtel de Soubise.

4th arrondissement

The 4th arrondissement is located to the east of the 1st. Place de la Bastille (4th, 11th and 12th arrondissements, right bank) is a district of great historical significance, for not just Paris, but also all of France. Because of its symbolic value, the square has often been a site of political demonstrations, and it has a tall column commemorating the final resting place of the revolutionaries killed in 1830 and 1848.^[115] Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, La Force Prison, Centre Georges Pompidou and Lycée Charlemagne are notable institutions here. The 12th-century cathedral Notre Dame de Paris on the Île de la Cité is one of the best-known landmarks of the 4th arrondissement, and there are numerous other churches located here including the Gothic 13th-century Sainte-Chapelle palace chapel, Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux, Saint-Louis-en-l'Île, Saint-Merri, Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, St-Gervais-et-St-Protais, and Temple du Marais. Roads running through the 4th arrondissement include Rue Charlemagne, Rue de Rivoli, Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, and Rue des Rosiers. There are also a number of notable hotels in the district, including Hôtel de Beauvais, Hôtel de Sully, Hôtel de Sens, Hôtel de Ville, Hôtel Lambert, and Hôtel Saint-Pol, and a significant number of bridges, including Pont au Change, Pont au Double, Pont de Sully, Pont Louis-Philippe, Pont Marie, Pont Notre-Dame, Pont Saint-Louis, and Pont Saint-Michel.

5th arrondissement

Quartier Latin (5th and 6th arrondissements, left bank) is a 12th-century scholastic centre formerly stretching between the left bank's Place Maubert and the Sorbonne campus of the University of Paris, its oldest and most famous college.^[116] It is known for its lively atmosphere and many bistros. Various higher-education establishments, such as Collège de France, Collège Sainte-Barbe, Collège international de philosophie, Sciences Po Paris, the École Normale Supérieure, Mines ParisTech, and the Jussieu university campus, make it a major educational centre in Paris. The Panthéon church is where many of France's illustrious men and women are buried.^[117] Also of note is the Arab World Institute, Musée Curie, Hotel des Trois Colleges, Jardin des Plantes, Musée national du Moyen Âge, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle Paris Mosque, Paris Observatory, Sainte-Geneviève Library, and Théâtre de la Huchette.

6th arrondissement

The 6th arrondissement, to the south of the centre and Seine has numerous hotels and restaurants and also educational institutions. Hotels located in the district include Hôtel Au Manoir Saint Germain des Prés, Hôtel de Chimay, Hôtel de Vendôme, Hôtel des Monnaies, Hôtel Lutetia, and L'Hôtel, cafés include Café de Flore, Café Procope, and Café de la Rotonde, and academies and schools include the Académie française, the medical school Académie Nationale de Médecine, Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Collège Stanislas de Paris, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris Tech, and the American Graduate School in Paris, with its Business and Economics and International Relations and Diplomacy schools. Among the museums located in the 6th arrondissement are the Musée "Bible et Terre Sainte", Musée d'Anatomie Delmas-Orfila-Rouvière, Musée Dupuytren, and Musée Edouard Branly. A symbol of the Revolution are the two Statues of Liberty located on the Île aux Cygnes^[118] in the Luxembourg Garden of the 6th arrondissement and on the Seine between the 15th and 16th arrondissements.^[119] A larger version of the statues was sent as a gift from France to the United States in 1886 and now stands in New York City's harbour.^[120] The Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe is located in this district, as is the Luxembourg Palace. The Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf, and Pont Saint-Michel bridges lead across the Seine to the historic centre.

7th arrondissement

The 7th arrondissement lies to the southwest of the centre, across the Seine. The Eiffel Tower is the most famous landmark of the 7th arrondissement and of Paris itself. It was a "temporary" construction by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 Universal Exposition but was never dismantled and is now an enduring symbol of Paris. The Axe historique (Historical axis) is a line of monuments, buildings, and thoroughfares that run in a roughly straight line from the city centre westwards.^[121] Many hotels are located in this district including Hôtel Biron, Hôtel de Castries, Hôtel de Conti, Hôtel de Mademoiselle de Condé, Hôtel du Châtelet, and Hôtel Matignon. The Invalides museum is the burial place for many great French soldiers, including Napoleon, and the military school, Ecole Militaire is also located here. Other museums include the Musée Rodin, Musée de la Légion d'honneur and Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits. The Ukrainian embassy and the World Heritage Centre lie in the 7th arrondissement, and several bridges crossing the Seine include Pont de la Concorde and Pont Royal.

8th arrondissement

The Champs-Élysées is a 17th-century avenue connecting the Place de la Concorde and the Napoleonic Arc de Triomphe, which straddles the 8th, 16th and 17th arrondisements. It is a major tourist attraction and shopping street, hosting labels such as Sephora, Lancel, Louis Vuitton and Guerlain, as well as Renault, Toyota and numerous small souvenir outlets, and is perhaps the most well-known street in France.^[122] The Canadian and American embassies and many hotels lie in the 8th arrondissement, including Hôtel de Crillon, Hôtel Le Bristol Paris, Hôtel de la Marine, Hôtel de Marigny, Hôtel de Pontalba, Hôtel Fouquet's Barrière Four Seasons Hotel George V, Hotel Napoleon and Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild as well as the Les Ambassadeurs, Ledoyen, and Taillevent restaurants. Theatres located here include the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Théâtre des Folies-Marigny, Théâtre de la Madeleine and Théâtre Marigny, and museums include the Musée Cernuschi, Musée Jacquemart-André and Musée Nissim de Camondo.

Place de la Concorde was built as the "Place Louis XV", site of the infamous guillotine. The Egyptian obelisk is Paris's "oldest monument". On this square, on either side of the Rue Royale, there are two identical stone buildings: the eastern one houses the French Naval Ministry, the western the luxurious Hôtel de Crillon. Avenue Montaigne, next to the Champs-Élysées, is home to luxury brand labels such as Chanel, Prada, Dior and Givenchy.^[123] Faubourg Saint-Honoré is not only home to the Élysée Palace but is one of the city's high-fashion districts with labels such as Hermès and Christian Lacroix.^[124] The Église de la Madeleine is located in the 8th arrondissement.

9th arrondissement

The 9th arrondissement lies north of the centre and is a continuation of the theatre and museum district with theatres including Théâtre de l'Athénée, Éden-Théâtre, Théâtre Mogador, Théâtre de l'Œuvre, Théâtre des Nouveautés, Théâtre du Vaudeville, Théâtre de Paris and Théâtre Verlaine, and museums such as Musée Grévin, Musée du Parfum, Musée national Gustave Moreau, Musée de la Franc-Maçonnerie and Musée de la Vie Romantique. The district also contains the Café de la Paix, Casino de Paris, Lycée Condorcet, Grand Synagogue of Paris, Salle des Concerts Herz, and several hotels such as Hôtel Drouot, Hôtel Guimard and Hôtel Thellusson.

Avenue de l'Opéra is the area around the Opéra Garnier and the location of the capital's densest concentration of department stores and office buildings including the Printemps and Galeries Lafayette department stores, and the Paris headquarters of BNP Paribas and American Express.^[125] The Palais Garnier, built in the later Second Empire period, houses the Paris Opera and the Paris Opera Ballet.^[126]

10th arrondissement

The 10th arrondissement lies northeast of the centre and is a continuation of the theatre district with many theatres including Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, Théâtre de la Renaissance, Théâtre des Variétés-Amusantes and Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell. Roads running through the district include Boulevard de la Chapelle, Boulevard de Magenta Rue d'Abbeville, and Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis. Also of note is Musée de l'Éventail, Hôpital Saint-Louis, The Kurdish Digital Library, Lariboisière Hospital, Lycée Edgar-Poe, Prison Saint-Lazare and the Saint Laurent and Saint-Vincent-de-Paul churches. The Alhambra music hall opened in 2008.

11th arrondissement

The 11th arrondissement is located in eastern Paris, west of the 20th arrondissement. Roads running through the district include Boulevard du Temple, Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, Rue du Dahomey, Rue Oberkampf, and Rue Saint-Bernard. It contains the squares Place de la Nation, Place de la République, Place du 8 Février 1962, the theatres Bataclan, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques, and Théâtre des Funambules, the museums Musée du Fumeur and Musée Édith Piaf, and La Roquette Prisons. Le Chateaubriand restaurant was ranked 91st in the Elite Traveler World's Top Restaurants Guide in 2012.

12th arrondissement

The 12th arrondissement in the southeastern suburbs of Paris is separated from the 13th by the Seine with several bridges. The district contains the Place de la Bastille and Place de la Nation (bordering the 11th), Picpus Cemetery and Parc de Bercy, and the Boulevard de la Bastille runs through it. A 12th-century convent was located here, Saint-Antoine-des-Champs, and today the Buddhist temples Kagyu-Dzong and Pagode de Vincennes are located in the 12th arrondissement. Landmarks of note include Bassin de l'Arsenal, Bastille railway station, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy and the restaurant Le Train Bleu. Opéra Bastille, the main facility of the Paris National Opera, was inaugurated in 1989 as part of President François Mitterrand’s “Grands Travaux”. Designed by Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott, it is located at the Place de la Bastille and houses a 2,700-seat theatre as well as smaller concert hall and a studio.

13th arrondissement

The 13th and 14th arrondissements lie in the southern suburbs of Paris, the 13th to the southeast. It contains the neighbourhoods of Chinatown, Floral City, Butte-aux-Cailles, and the Italie 2 shopping centre with some 130 stores. Institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France and École Estienne are located here, as is Les Olympiades, Paris Store, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Place d'Italie, and Stade Sébastien Charléty. Sainte-Rosalie church was built in 1869 in honour of Sister Rosalie Rendu. The district is also known for its bridges such as Pont amont, Pont de Bercy, Pont de Tolbiac, and Pont National.

14th arrondissement

Montparnasse is a historic left bank area famous for artists' studios, music halls, and café life. The Montparnasse Cemetery, large Montparnasse – Bienvenüe Métro station, Théâtre Montparnasse, and the lone Tour Montparnasse skyscraper are located there. Other landmarks include the École normale supérieure de jeunes filles, Hôpital Cochin, Hôtel de Massa, Le Dôme Café, La Santé Prison, and Les Echelles du Baroque, the latter of which is a residential building complex, completed in 1985 by the international team Ricardo Bofill in the baroque style.^[127]

15th arrondissement

The 15th arrondissement marks the southwestern part of the city. The Boulevard du Montparnasse passes through here and it is has several bridges such as Pont aval, Pont du Garigliano, and Pont Mirabeau. A number of institutions are based in the 15th arrondissement including the hospitals Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou and Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital, the schools Académie de La Palette and École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers d'art, the museums Musée Bourdelle, Musée de La Poste and Musée du Montparnasse, Théâtre Silvia-Monfort, the Australian embassy. The French automobile company Citroën had several factories along the Quai André-Citroën and in the Parc André Citroën area. The Palais des Sports was built in 1960 to replace the old Vel’ d’Hiv and has hosted many notable music concerts over the years.

Val de Seine, straddling the 15th arrondissement and the communes of Issy-les-Moulineaux and Boulogne-Billancourt 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 (TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France 2 in the 15th arrondissement, Canal+ and the international channels France 24 and Eurosport in Issy-les-Moulineaux), as well as several telecommunication and IT companies such as Neuf Cegetel in Boulogne-Billancourt or Microsoft's Europe, Africa & Middle East regional headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux.^[128]

16th arrondissement

The 16th arrondissement is the largest district of Paris, marking the western side of the city, which extends beyond the left bank of the Seine. Paris Saint-Germain F.C.‎ are based here and play their home games at the Parc des Princes‎ and Stade Roland Garros hosts the annual French Open tennis tournament. Tennis Club de Paris, the Stade de Paris rugby club, Longchamp Racecourse, and the Auteuil Hippodrome, a horse racing venue established in 1873 and which hosted the equestrian events of the 1924 Summer Olympics are based in the 16th arrondissement. Avenues passing through the district include Avenue d'Iéna, Avenue de la Grande Armée, Avenue de Malakoff, Avenue Foch, Avenue Henri-Martin and Avenue Victor-Hugo. Like the 2nd arrondissement, the district has many museums, including Musée Clemenceau, Musée Marmottan Monet, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musée national de la Marine, Musée d'Ennery, Musée d'Art Dentaire Pierre Fauchard, Musée de la Contrefaçon, Musée Galliera and Musée du Vin, and the Théâtre national de Chaillot. The Passy neighbourhood contains the Passy Cemetery. A number of organizations are based in the 16th arrondissement, including Radio France and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

17th arrondissement

The 17th arrondissement to the west of the 18th arrondissement marks the northwestern suburbs of the city. The avenues Avenue de la Grande Armée, Avenue de Wagram and Avenue des Ternes pass through the district. It has several squares, including Place Charles de Gaulle (with the Arc de Triomphe, bordering 16th and 8th), Place de Wagram, Place des Ternes and Square des Batignolles, the latter of which is in the neighbourhood of Batignolles, which also contains the Batignolles Cemetery and Parc Clichy-Batignolles. Other landmarks of note include the Académie d'Agriculture, Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile, Théâtre Hébertot and Palais des congrès de Paris.

La Défense, beyond the 17th arrondissement (straddling the communes of Courbevoie, Puteaux, and Nanterre, 2.5 km (2 mi) west of the city proper) is a key suburb of Paris and one of the largest business centres in the world. Built at the western end of a westward extension of Paris's historical axis from the Champs-Élysées, La Défense consists mainly of business high-rises, with most of the tallest skyscrapers in the Paris urban area, built around a pedestrian esplanade. Initiated by the French government in 1958, it now hosts 3,500,000 m² (37,673,686 sq ft) of offices, making it the largest district in Europe developed specifically for business.^[129] Its most emblematic building, the Grande Arche (Great Arch), houses a part of the Ministry of Ecology.^[130][131]

18th arrondissement

The 18th arrondissement marks the northern suburbs of the city. Montmartre is a historic area on the Butte, home to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. Montmartre has always had a history with artists and has many studios and cafés of many great artists in that area.^[132] The boulevards Boulevard de Clichy, Boulevard de la Chapelle and Boulevard de Rochechouart pass through the district. Notable landmarks include the Académie de La Palette, Théâtre de l'Atelier, Cirque Medrano, Place de Clichy, Élysée Montmartre, Espace Dalí, Moulin Rouge, and Musée d'Art Juif. Plaine Saint-Denis (straddling the communes of Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, and Saint-Ouen, immediately north of the 18th arrondissement, across the Périphérique ring road) is a former derelict manufacturing area that has undergone large-scale urban renewal since the 1980s,^[133] and contains most of France's television studios as well as some major movie studios.

19th arrondissement

The 19th arrondissement marks the northeast suburbs of Paris. It contains the Conservatoire de Paris, Cité de la Musique, Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, and the neighbourhood of La Villette, which contains the Grande halle de la Villette and Parc de la Villette. The Conservatoire, a prestigious music and dance school. was established in 1795,^[134] and in 1946 it was split into two Conservatoires. Several canals run through the 19th arrondissement including Canal de l'Ourcq and Canal Saint-Denis, and the Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad lies at their intersection, commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad. One of the Paris Métro stations Stalingrad is also named after it. The Zénith de Paris, one of the largest concert venues in Paris located here. Opened in 1984, it has a capacity of 6,293 people,^[135] and has hosted concerts of many of the top names in pop music.

20th arrondissement

The 20th arrondissement marks the eastern suburbs of the city and contains the neighbourhood of Belleville and also borders the commune of the same name. The neighbourhood of Belleville covers both of the 19th and 20th arrondissements, and was annexed to the City of Paris in 1860. During the first half of the 20th century, many immigrants settled there: German Jews fleeing the Third Reich in 1933, and Spaniards in 1939, and it became a "Jewish ghetto".^[136] Many Algerians and Tunisian Jews arrived in the early 1960s. Belleville is home to one of the largest congregations of the Reformed Church of France., and contains the Église Réformée de Belleville. Also of note is the Charonne quarter and its Église Saint-Germain-de-Charonne, the Théâtre national de la Colline (established in 1951), and Parc de Belleville, situated on the hill between the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and the Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Parks and gardens

Two of Paris's oldest and famous gardens are the Tuileries Garden, created in the 16th century for a palace on the banks of the Seine near the Louvre,^[137] and the left bank Luxembourg Garden, another former private garden belonging to a château built for Marie de' Medici in 1612.^[138] The Jardin des Plantes, created by Louis XIII's doctor Guy de La Brosse for the cultivation of medicinal plants, is Paris's only botanical garden.^[139] Several of the gardens were created during the Second Empire.^[140] The former suburban parks of Montsouris, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, and Parc Monceau were created by Napoleon III's engineer Jean-Charles Alphand. Another project was executed under the orders of Baron Haussmann for the re-sculpting of Paris's western Bois de Boulogne forest-parklands;^[140] The Bois de Vincennes, on the city's opposite eastern end, received a similar treatment in the years which followed.^[140]

Water and sanitation

Paris in its early history had only the Seine and Bièvre rivers for water. From 1809, the canal de l'Ourcq provided Paris with water from less-polluted rivers to the north-east of the capital.^[141] From 1857, the civil engineer Eugène Belgrand, under Baron Haussmann, oversaw the construction of a series of new aqueducts that brought water from locations all around the city to several reservoirs built atop the Capital's highest points of elevation.^[142] From then on, the new reservoir system became Paris's principal source of drinking water, and the remains of the old system, pumped into lower levels of the same reservoirs, were from then on used for the cleaning of Paris's streets. This system is still a major part of Paris's modern water-supply network. Today Paris has over 2,400 km (1,491 mi) of underground passageways^[143] dedicated to the evacuation of Paris's liquid wastes.

In 1982, then mayor Jacques Chirac introduced the motorcycle-mounted Motocrotte to remove dog faeces from Paris streets.^[144] The project was abandoned in 2002 for a new and better enforced local law which now fines dog owners up to 500 euros for not removing their dog faeces. ^[145] The air pollution in Paris, from the point of view of particulate matter (pm10), is the highest in France, with 38 µg/m³.^[146]

Cemeteries

Paris's main cemetery was located to its outskirts on its left bank from the beginning of its history, but this changed with the rise of Catholicism and the construction of churches towards the city-centre, many of them having adjoining burial grounds for use by their parishes. Condemned from 1786, the contents of all Paris's parish cemeteries were transferred to a renovated section of Paris's then suburban stone mines outside the "Porte d'Enfer" city gate, today place Denfert-Rochereau in the 14th arrondissement.^[147][148] The process of moving bones from Cimetière des Innocents to the Catacombs took place between 1786 and 1814;^[149] part of the network of tunnels and remains can be visited today on the official tour of the Catacombs. After a tentative creation of several smaller suburban cemeteries, the Prefect Nicholas Frochot under Napoleon Bonaparte provided a more definitive solution in the creation of three massive Parisian cemeteries outside the city tax wall,^[150] the Wall of the Farmers-General. The first open from 1804, these were the cemeteries of Père Lachaise, Montmartre, Montparnasse, and later Passy. When Paris annexed all communes to the inside of its much larger ring of suburban fortifications in 1860, its cemeteries were once again within its city walls. New suburban cemeteries were created in the early 20th century: The largest of these are the Cimetière Parisien de Saint-Ouen, the Cimetière Parisien de Bobigny-Pantin, the Cimetière Parisien d'Ivry, and the Cimetière Parisien de Bagneux.

Culture

Art

Painting and sculpture

For centuries, Paris has attracted artists from around the world, arriving in the city to educate themselves and to seek inspiration from its vast pool of artistic resources and galleries. As a result, Paris has acquired a reputation as the "City of Art".^[151] Italian artists were a profound influence on the development of art in Paris in the 16th and 17th centuries, particular in sculpture and reliefs. Painting and sculpture became the pride of the French monarchy and the French royals commissioned many Parisian artists to adorn their palaces during the French Baroque and Classicism era. Sculptors such as Girardon, Coysevoux and Coustou acquired a reputation were being the finest artists in the royal court in 17th century France. Pierre Mignard became first painter to the king during this period. In 1648, the Academy of Painting and Sculpture was established to accommodate for the dramatic interest in art in the capital. This served as France's top art school until 1793.^[152]

Paris was in its artistic prime in the 19th century and early 20th century, when Paris had a colony of artists established in the city, with art schools associated with some of the finest painters of the times. The French Revolution and political and social change in France had a profound influence on art in the capital. Paris was central to the development of Romanticism in art, with painters such as Gericault.^[152] Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism and Cubism movements evolved in Paris.^[152] In the late 19th century many artists in the French provinces and worldwide flocked to Paris to exhibit their works in the numerous salons and expositions and make a name for themselves.^[153] Painters such as Pablo Picasso, Henry Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Marie Blanchard, Emilie Charmy, Jacqueline Marval, Henri Rousseau, Modigliani and many others became associated with Paris. The Golden Age of the Paris School ended with World War II when surrealism became the trend, but Paris remains extremely important to world art and art schooling, with schools ranging from the Paris College of Art to the Paris American Academy, which specialises in teaching fashion and interior design.^[154]

Museums

The Louvre is the world's largest and most famous museum, housing many works of art, including the Mona Lisa (La Joconde) and the Venus de Milo statue.^[155] There are hundreds of museums in Paris. Works by Pablo Picasso and Auguste Rodin are found in the Musée Picasso^[156] and the Musée Rodin,^[157] respectively, while the artistic community of Montparnasse is chronicled at the Musée du Montparnasse.^[158] Starkly apparent with its service-pipe exterior, the Centre Georges Pompidou, also known as Beaubourg, houses the Musée National d'Art Moderne.^[159]

Art and artefacts from the Middle Ages and Impressionist eras are kept in the Musée de Cluny and the Musée d'Orsay,^[160] respectively, the former with the prized tapestry cycle The Lady and the Unicorn. Paris's 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, including many from Mesoamerican cultures.^[161]

Photography

Like painting and sculpture, Paris has also attracted communities of photographers, and was an important centre for the development of photography; the inventor Nicephore Niepce produced the first permanent photograph on a polished pewter plate in Paris in 1825, and then developed the process with Louis Daguerre.^[152] Paris become the home of a form of photography, Surrealist photography.^[162] Numerous photographers achieved renown for their photography of Paris, including Eugene Atget, noted for his depictions of street scenes, Robert Doisneau, noted for his playful pictures of people and market scenes, Marcel Bovis, noted for his night scenes, and others such as Jacques-Henri Lartigue and Cartier-Bresson.^[152] Paris also become the hotbed for an emerging art form in the late 19th century, poster art, advocated by the likes of Gavarni.^[152]

Literature

Countless books and novels have been set in Paris. Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is one of the best known. The book was received so rapturously that it inspired a series of renovations of its setting, the Notre Dame de Paris.^[163] Another of Victor Hugo's works, Les Misérables is set in Paris, against the backdrop of slums and penury.^[164] Another immortalized French author, Honoré de Balzac, completed a good number of his works in Paris, including his masterpiece La Comédie Humaine.^[165] Other Parisian authors (by birth or residency) include Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later),^[166]

The American novelist Ernest Hemingway, like many other expatriate writers, emigrated to Paris, where he was introduced to such varying cultural figures as Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, James Joyce, and Gertrude Stein, who became his mentor. While in Paris, he produced works including The Sun Also Rises and Indian Camp.^[167] The Irish author James Joyce emigrated to Paris and lived there for more than 20 years, concluding his Ulysses, in the city. He also produced numerous poems while in Paris, published in collections including Pomes Penyeach, and Finnegans Wake.^[168] Another Irish author to have emigrated to Paris is Samuel Beckett, referred to as either the last modernist or the first postmodernist.^[169]

Entertainment and performing arts

Theatre

The largest opera houses of Paris are the 19th century Opéra Garnier (historical Paris Opéra) and modern Opéra Bastille; the former tends towards the more classic ballets and operas, and the latter provides a mixed repertoire of classic and modern.^[115] In middle of the 19th century, there were three other active and competing opera houses: the Opéra-Comique (which still exists), Théâtre-Italien, and Théâtre Lyrique (which in modern times changed its profile and name to Théâtre de la Ville).

Theatre traditionally has occupied a large place in Parisian culture. This still holds true today, and many of its most popular actors today are also stars of French television. Some of Paris's major theatres include Bobino, the Théâtre Mogador, and the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse.^[170] Some Parisian theatres have also doubled as concert halls. Many of France's greatest musical legends, such as Édith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, Georges Brassens, and Charles Aznavour, found their fame in Parisian concert halls such as Le Lido, Bobino, l'Olympia and le Splendid.

Music

In the late 12th-century, a school of polyphony was established at the Notre-Dame. A group of Parisian aristocrats, known as Trouvères, became known for their poetry and songs. During the reign of Francois I, the lute became popular in the French court, and a national musical printing house was established.^[152] During the Renaissance era, the French royals "disported themselves in masques, ballets, allegorical dances, recitals, opera and comedy", and composers such as Jean-Baptiste Lully became popular.^[152] The Conservatoire de Musique de Paris was founded in 1795.^[171] By 1870, Paris had become the most important centre for ballet music, and composers such as Debussy and Ravel contributed much to symphonic music.^[152]

Bal-musette is a style of French music and dance that first became popular in Paris in the 1870s and 1880s; by 1880 Paris had some 150 dance halls in the working-class neighbourhoods of the city.^[172] Patrons danced the bourrée to the accompaniment of the cabrette (a bellows-blown bagpipe locally called a "musette") and often the vielle à roue (hurdy-gurdy) in the cafés and bars of the city. Parisian and Italian musicians who played the accordion adopted the style and established themselves in Auvergnat bars especially in the 19th arrondissement,^[173] and the romantic sounds of the accordion has since become one of the musical icons of the city. Paris became a major centre for jazz, and still attracts jazz musicians from all around the world to its clubs and cafes.^[174]

Paris is the spiritual home of gypsy jazz in particular, and many of the Parisian jazzmen who developed in the first half of the 20th century began by playing Bal-musette in the city.^[173] Django Reinhardt rose to fame in Paris, having moved to the 18th arrondissement in a caravan as a young boy, and performed with violinist Stéphane Grappelli and their Quintette du Hot Club de France in the 1930s and 40s.^[175] Some of the finest manouche musicians in the world are found here playing the cafes of the city at night.^[175] Some of the more notable jazz venues include the New Morning, Le Sunset, La Chope des Puces and Bouquet du Nord.^{[174] [175]} Several yearly festivals take place in Paris, including the Paris Jazz Festival and the rock festival Rock en Seine.^[176] The Orchestre de Paris was established in 1967.^[177]

Cinema

Antoine Lumière launched the world's first projection, the Cinematograph, in Paris on 28 December 1895,.^[178] Many of Paris's concert/dance halls were transformed into movie theatres when the media became popular beginning in the 1930s. Later, most of the largest cinemas were divided into multiple, smaller rooms. Paris's largest cinema today is by far Le Grand Rex theatre with 2,800 seats,^[179] whereas other cinemas all have fewer than 1,000 seats. There is now a trend toward modern multiplexes that contain more than 10 or 20 screens.

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 Claude Lelouch, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, and Luc Besson, and the more slapstick/popular genre with director Claude Zidi as an example. European and Asian films are also widely shown and appreciated.^[180] On 2 February 2000, Philippe Binant realised the first digital cinema projection in Europe, with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments, in Paris.^[181]

Cuisine

Paris is world-renowned for its Haute cuisine and gourmet, characterized by expensive high-end restaurants and hotels with meticulous preparation and presentation of food, often accompanied by rare wines. A city of culinary finesse, as of 2013 Paris has 70 Michelin-starred restaurants, more than any other city in the world, and many of the world's leading chefs operate restaurants serving French cuisine in Paris such as Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon.^[182] As of 2013, Paris has five 3-Michelin-star restaurants, the most coveted award in the restaurant business; these include Ducasse's Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, Alain Passards's L'Arpège, Yannick Alleno's Le Meurice in the Hotel Le Meurice, Eric Frechon's restaurant at Hotel le Bristol, and Pierre Gagnaire.^[182] Joël Robuchon, the chef with the most Michelin stars worldwide, runs L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and La Table de Joël Robuchon in Paris, both of which are 2 Michelin-star restaurants.^[182] Many aspiring chefs come to Paris to learn how to cook from the best of the best, and Paris has numerous academies and schools for chefs to learn with hands-on experience.

The growth of the railway in the late 19th century led to the capital becoming a focal point for immigration from France's many different regions and gastronomical cultures. As a result, cuisine in the city is diverse, and almost any cuisine can be consumed in the city, with over 9,000 restaurants.^[183] Hotel building was another result of widespread travel and tourism in the 19th century, especially Paris's late-19th-century Expositions Universelles (World's Fairs). Of the most luxurious of these, the Hôtel Ritz appeared in the Place Vendôme in 1898,^[184][185] and the Hôtel de Crillon opened its doors on the north side of the Place de la Concorde, starting in 1909.

Fashion

Paris is a global hub of fashion and has been referred to as the "international capital of style",^[186] with stylish clothes referred to as "Parisian chic".^[187] It ranks alongside New York, Milan and London as a major centre for the fashion industry. Paris is noted for its haute couture tailoring, usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. The twice-yearly Paris Fashion Week, an apparel trade show, is one of the most important events on the fashion calendar and attracts fashion aficionados from all around the world. Established in 1976, the Paris Fashion Institute offers courses in design, manufacturing, marketing, merchandising, and retailing.^[188] International Fashion Academy Paris is an international fashion school, established in 1982 and headquartered in Paris, with branches in Shanghai and Istanbul.^[189]

Paris has a large number of high-end fashion boutiques, and many top designers have their flagship stores in the city, such as Louis Vuitton's store, Christian Dior's 1200 square foot store and Sephora's 1500 square foot store.^[187] Printemps has the largest shoe and beauty departments in Europe.^[187]Sonia Rykel is considered to the "grand dame of French fashion" and "synonymous with Parisian fashion", with clothes which are embraced by "left bank fashionistas".^[187] Petit Bateau is cited as one of the most popular high street stores in the city, and the Azzedine Alaïa store on the Rue de Moussy has been cited as a "shoe lover's haven".^[187] Colette is noted for its "brick-and-click" clothing and fashion accessories, and Cartier the jeweller is also based in Paris. Cartier has a long history of sales to royalty and celebrities,^[190] and King Edward VII of England once referred to Cartier as "the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers."^[191] Guerlain, one of the world's oldest existing perfumeries, has its headquarters in the northwestern suburb of Levallois-Perret.

Festivals

The earliest grand festival held on 14 July 1790 was the Federation of July festival at the Champ de Mars. Since then many festivals have been held such as Festival of Liberty in 1774, Festival for the Abolition of Slavery in 1793, the festival of Supreme Being in 1794, and the 1798 funeral festival on the death of Hoche. On every anniversary of the Republic, the Children of the Fatherland festival is held.^[192] Bastille day, a celebration of the storming of the Bastille in 1789, is the biggest festival in the city, held every year on 14 July. This includes a parade of colourful floats and costumes along with armed forces march in the Champs Élysées which concludes with a display of fireworks.^[193] The Paris Beach festival known as the "Paris Plage" is a festive event, which lasts from the middle of July to the middle of August, when the bank of the River Seine is converted into a temporary beach with sand and deck chairs and palm trees.^[193]

Religion

From the late 18th century, Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism, has played a significant role in the political, societal and institutional aspects of life in France. Political instability in the Third Republic was a reflection of fundamental differences between the Church and the society.^[194] The French Constitution makes no mention of the religious affiliations of its people and allows the freedom to practice any religion of their choice provided it was done as a private matter.^[195] However, the state is still involved in the funding of Christian schools.^[196] A 2012 study revealed that the religious affiliation of people to Catholicism was only 51% as against 67% in 1994, while the people not practising any religion went up from 23% in 1994 to 31% in 2012.^[197] There is a significant population of Muslims in Paris, partly attributed to the many Algerian and Tunisian immigrants who practice Islam, and a sizeable Jewish population, with the Grand Synagogue of Paris being the central location for worship.

Some of the notable churches in Paris are: The Notre-Dame de Paris, the most famous Gothic structure (the cathedral where Napoleon declared himself emperor in 1804);^[198] Église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (Church of St. Mary Magdalene) built in 1806 in the form of a Roman temple;^[199] Sainte-Chapelle originally built in 1247-50 it was refurbished in the 19th century, a Gothic structure built by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc;^[200] Church of Saint-Louis, built between 1671-91;^[201] Sacred Heart Basilica (Basilique du Sacré-Coeur), built from 1876-1912;^[202] Saint-Sulpice (Paris) (1646-1776); Panthéon, Paris (1756 to 1797) in French Baroque style; Basilique Saint-Denis (1136); and Cathedral of Chartres (1140).^[203]

Sports

Paris's most popular sport clubs are the association football club Paris Saint-Germain FC, the basketball team Paris-Levallois Basket, and the rugby union club Stade Français. The 80,000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located in Saint-Denis.^[204] It is used for football, rugby union and track and field athletics. It hosts annually French national rugby team's home matches of the Six Nations Championship, French national association football team for friendlies and major tournaments qualifiers, and several important matches of the Stade Français rugby team.^[204] 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.

Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Olympic Games and was venue for the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups and for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. 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.^[205] The 2006 UEFA Champions League Final between Arsenal and FC Barcelona was played in the Stade de France.^[206] Paris hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup final at Stade de France on 20 October 2007.^[207] 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,^[208] is one of the four Grand Slam events of the world professional tennis tour.

Education

Paris is the département with the highest proportion of highly-educated people. In 2009, around 40 per cent of Parisians hold a diploma licence-level diploma or higher, the highest proportion in France,^[209] while 13 per cent have no diploma, the third lowest percentage in France.

In the early 9th 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's scholastic Latin Quarter best represented by the Sorbonne university.^[210] Twelve centuries later, education in Paris and the Île-de-France 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.^[211]

Paris is home to several of France's most prestigious high-schools such as Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Lycée Henri-IV, Lycée Janson de Sailly and Lycée Condorcet. 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.

The Paris region hosts France's highest concentration of the prestigious grandes écoles – 55 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.^[212] There are 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, AgroParisTech, Télécom Paris, Arts et Métiers, and École des Ponts et Chaussées. There are also many business schools, including INSEAD, ESSEC, HEC and ESCP Europe. The administrative school such as ENA has been relocated to Strasbourg, the political science school Sciences-Po is still located in Paris's 7th arrondissement. The Parisian school of journalism CELSA department of the Paris-Sorbonne University is located in Neuilly-sur-Seine.^[213]

Libraries

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) operates public libraries in Paris, among them the François- Mitterrand Library, Richelieu Library, Louvois, Opéra Library, and Arsenal Library.^[214] There are three public libraries in the 4th arrondissement. The Forney Library, in the Marais district, is dedicated to the decorative arts; the Arsenal Library occupies a former military building, and has a large collection on French literature; and the Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris, also in Le Marais, contains the Paris historical research service. The Sainte-Geneviève Library is in 5th arrondissement; designed by Henri Labrouste and built in the mid-1800s, it contains a rare book and manuscript division.^[215] Bibliothèque Mazarine, in the 6th arrondissement, is the oldest public library in France. The Médiathèque Musicale Mahler in the 8th arrondissement opened in 1986 and contains collections related to music. The François Mitterrand Library (nicknamed Très Grande Bibliothèque) in the 13th arrondissement was completed in 1994 to a design of Dominique Perrault and contains four glass towers.^[215]

The are several academic libraries and archives in Paris. The Sorbonne Library in the 5th arrondissement is the largest university library in Paris. In addition to the Sorbonne location, there are branches in Malesherbes, Clignancourt-Championnet, Michelet-Institut d’Art et d’Archéologie, Serpente-Maison de la Recherche, and Institut des Etudes Ibériques.^[216] Other academic libraries include Interuniversity Pharmaceutical Library, Leonardo da Vinci University Library, Paris School of Mines Library, and the René Descartes University Library.^[217]

Media

Paris is home to numerous newspapers, magazines and publications including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, Le Nouvel Observateur, Le Canard enchaîné, La Croix, Pariscope, Le Parisien, Les Échos, Paris Match, Réseaux & Télécoms, Reuters France, and L'Officiel des Spectacles.^[218] France's two most prestigious newspapers, Le Monde and Le Figaro, are the centrepieces of the Parisian publishing industry.^[219] Agence France-Presse is France's oldest, and one of the world's oldest, continually operating news agencies. AFP, as it is colloquially abbreviated, maintains its headquarters in Paris, as it has since 1835.^[220] France 24 is a television news channel owned and operated by the French government, and is based in Paris.^[221] Another news agency is France Diplomatie, owned and operated by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and pertains solely to diplomatic news and occurrences.^[222]

The most-viewed network in France, TF1, is based in Paris, along with a plentiful number of others, including France 2, France 3, Canal+, France 5, M6, Arte, D8, W9, NT1, NRJ 12, La Chaîne parlementaire, France 4, BFM TV, and Gulli, along with a plentitude of others.^[223] Radio France, France's public radio broadcaster, and its various channels, are based in Paris. Radio France Internationale, another public broadcaster is also based in the city.^[224] The national postal carrier of France, including overseas territories, is known as La Poste. La Poste is responsible for postal service in France and Paris.^[225]

Healthcare

Health care and emergency medical service in the city of Paris and its suburbs are provided by the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), a public hospital system that employs more than 90,000 people (including practitioners, support personnel, and administrators) in 44 hospitals.^[226] It is the largest hospital system in Europe. It provides health care, teaching, research, prevention, education and emergency medical service in 52 branches of medicine. It employs more than 90,000 people (including 15,800 physicians) in 44 hospitals and receives more than 5.8 million annual patient visits.^[226]

One of the most notable hospitals is the Hôtel-Dieu, founded in 651, the oldest hospital in the city.^[227] Other hospitals include the General Hospital of Paris, the American Hospital of Paris, Beaujon Hospital, Bicêtre Hospital, Hôpital de la Charité, Hôpital Cochin, the Curie Institute, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, Lariboisière Hospital, Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital and Hôpital Saint-Louis.

Transport

Paris is a major rail, highway, and air transport hub. The Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France (STIF), formerly Syndicat des transports parisiens (STP) oversees the transit network in the region.^[228] 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, one tramway line and the other sections of the RER) and the Optile consortium of private operators managing 1,070 minor bus lines.

The city's subway system, the Métro, was opened in 1900 and is the most widely used Transport system within the city proper, carrying about 9 million passengers daily.^[229] It comprises 300 stations (384 stops) connected by 214 km (133.0 mi) of rails, and 16 lines, identified by numbers from 1 to 14, with two minor lines, 3bis and 7bis. An additional express network, the RER, with five lines (A, B, C, D, & E), connects to more-distant parts of the urban area, with 257 stops and 587 km (365 mi) of rails.^[229] Over €26.5 billion will be invested over the next 15 years to extend the Métro network into the suburbs.^[229] In addition, the Paris region is served by a light rail network of four lines, the tramway: Line T1 runs from Saint-Denis to Noisy-le-Sec, line T2 runs from La Défense to Issy-Val de Seine, line T3 runs from Pont du Garigliano to Porte d'Ivry,^[230] all of which are run by the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens,^[231] and line T4 runs from Bondy RER to Aulnay-sous-Bois, which is operated by the state rail carrier SNCF.^[229] Six new light rail lines are currently in various stages of development.

Paris is a central hub of the national rail network. The seven major railway stations — Gare du Nord, Gare Montparnasse, Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare Saint-Lazare and Gare de Bercy — are connected to three networks: The TGV serving four High-speed rail lines, the normal speed Corail trains, and the suburban rails (Transilien).

Four international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Paris-Le Bourget and Beauvais-Tillé, serve the city. The two major airports are Orly Airport, which is south of Paris; and the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, in Roissy-en-France, which is one of the busiest in the world and is the hub for the unofficial flag carrier Air France.^[229]

The city is also the most important hub of France's motorway network, and is surrounded by three orbital freeways: the Périphérique,^[66] 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 six hours and Barcelona in 12 hours. By train, London is now just two hours and 15 minutes away.^[232]

There are 440 km (270 mi) of cycle paths and routes in Paris. These include piste cyclable (bike lanes separated from other traffic by physical barriers such as a kerb) and bande cyclable (a bicycle lane denoted by a painted path on the road). Some 29 km (18 mi) of specially marked bus lanes are free to be used by cyclists, with a protective barrier protecting against encroachments from vehicles.^[233] Cyclists have also been given the right to ride in both directions on certain one-way streets. Paris offers a bike sharing system called Vélib' with more than 20,000 public bicycles distributed at 1,800 parking stations,^[234] which can be rented for short and medium distances including one way trips.

The Paris region is the most active water transport area in France, with most of the cargo handled by the Autonomous Port of Paris in facilities located around Paris. The Loire, Rhine, Rhone, Meuse and Scheldt rivers can be reached by canals connecting with the Seine, which include the Canal Saint-Martin, Canal Saint-Denis, and the Canal de l'Ourcq.^[235]

See also

• International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts held in Paris in 1925
• C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
• Megacity
• Outline of France
• Timeline of Paris

References

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Andia, Béatrice de; Brialy, Jean-Claude (2001). Larousse Paris. Larousse. ISBN 978-2-03-585012-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Arbois de Jubainville, Henry; Dottin, George (1889). Les premiers habitants de l'Europe. E. Thorin. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ayers, Andrew (2004). The Architecture of Paris. Axel Mendes. ISBN 9783930698967. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Beevor, Antony; Cooper, Artemis (2007). Paris After the Liberation: 1944 - 1949: 1944 - 1949. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-191288-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bell, Daniel A.; de-Shalit, Avner (2011). The Spirit of Cities: Why the Identity of a City Matters in a Global Age. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-3972-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Berg, Leo van den; Braun, Erik (2012). National Policy Responses to Urban Challenges in Europe. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4094-8725-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Blackmore, Ruth; McConnachie, James (2004). Rough Guide Paris Directions. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-317-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Boogert, Kate van der (2012). Frommer's Paris 2013. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-33143-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Broadwell, Valerie (2007). City of Light, City of Dark: Exploring Paris Below. Valerie Broadwell. ISBN 978-1-4257-9022-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Burchell, S. C. (1971). Imperial Masquerade: The Paris of Napoleon III. Atheneum. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Byrne, Jim (1987). Conflict and Change: Europe 1870-1966. Educational Company. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Byrne, Joseph P. (2012). Encyclopedia of the Black Death. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-254-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Clark, Linda L. (2008). Women and Achievement in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-65098-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cunliffe, Barry (2004). Iron Age communities in Britain : an account of England, Scotland and Wales from the seventh century BC until the Roman conquest (4th ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-34779-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Damschroeder, David; Williams, David Russell (1990). Music Theory from Zarlino to Schenker: A Bibliography and Guide. Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-0-918728-99-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dosch, Dee Davidson (2010). A Summer in '69. Strategic Book Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60976-878-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dottin, George (1920). La Langue Gauloise : Grammaire, Textes et Glossaire (in French). Paris: C. Klincksieck. ISBN 2051002088. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dregni, Michael (2004). Django : The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-803743-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dregni, Michael (2008). Gypsy Jazz : In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-804262-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dutton, Paul Edward (1994). The Politics of Dreaming in the Carolingian Empire. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-1653-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Evans, Graeme (2002). Cultural Planning: An Urban Renaissance?. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-45974-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fallon, Steve; Williams, Nicola (2008). Paris (7 ed.). Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74059-850-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Forsyth, David (1867). Marie Antoinette in the Conciergerie, a lecture. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fraser, Benjamin; Spalding, Steven D. (2011). Trains, Culture, and Mobility: Riding the Rails. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-6749-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Frommer's (2012). AARP Paris 2012. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-26621-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Goldstein, Natalie (2005). Droughts And Heat Waves: A Practical Survival Guide. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4042-0536-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Haine, W. Scott (1998). The World of the Paris Café: Sociability Among the French Working Class, 1789-1914. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-6070-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Harding, Vanessa (2002). The Dead and the Living in Paris and London, 1500-1670. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81126-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Harriss, Joseph (2004). The Tallest Tower. Unlimited Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-58832-104-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hart, Alan (2004). Going to Live in Paris: How to Live and Work in France's Great Capital. How To Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85703-985-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hassell, James E. (1991). Russian Refugees in France and the United States Between the World Wars. American Philosophical Society. ISBN 978-0-87169-817-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hazan, Eric (2011). The Invention of Paris: A History in Footsteps. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1-84467-800-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hervé, Peter (1818). A Chronological Account of the History of France. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Horne, Alistair (2003). Seven Ages of Paris. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-45481-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• d'Istria, Robert Colonna (2002). Paris and Versailles. Editions Marcus. ISBN 978-2-7131-0202-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jefferson, David (2009). Through the French Canals (12th ed.). ISBN 9781408103814. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jones, Colin (2006). Paris: Biography of a City. Penguin Adult. ISBN 978-0-14-028292-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kaberry, Rachel; Brown, Amy K. (2001). Paris. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-679-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Korgen, Kathleen Odell; White, Jonathan Michael (2008). The Engaged Sociologist: Connecting the Classroom to the Community. Pine Forge Press. ISBN 978-1-4129-6900-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Knapp, Andrew; Wright, Vincent (2006). The Government and Politics of France. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-35732-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lawrence, Rachel; Gondrand, Fabienne (2010). Paris (City Guide) (12th ed.). London: Insight Guides. ISBN 9789812820792. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Leclanche, Maria Spyropoulou (1998). Le refrain dans la chanson française: de Bruant à Renaud. Presses Univ. Limoges. ISBN 978-2-84287-096-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lester, Paul Martin (2006). Visual Communication: Images with Messages. Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-534-63720-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Madge, Charles; Willmott, Peter (2006). Inner City Poverty in Paris and London. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-41762-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Martin, Michel (2013). Windows 8: Le guide de référence. Pearson Education France. ISBN 978-2-7440-2543-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Metzelthin, Pearl Violette Newfield (1981). Gourmet. Condé Nast Publications. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Michelin (2011). Paris Green Guide Michelin 2012-2013. Michelin. ISBN 978-2-06-718220-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Montclos, Jean-Marie Perouse De (2003). Paris, City of Art. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-86565-226-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mroue, Haas (2006). Frommer's Memorable Walks in Paris. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-03712-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Nevez, Catherine Le (2010). Paris Encounter. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74220-503-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Newman, Peter; Thornley, Andy (2002). Urban Planning in Europe: International Competition, National Systems and Planning Projects. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-203-42794-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Oscherwitz, Dayna (2010). Past Forward: French Cinema and the Post-Colonial Heritage. SIU Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-8093-8588-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Overy, Richard (2006). Why the Allies Won. Pimlico. ISBN 1-84595-065-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Paine, Thomas (1998). Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-283557-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Papayanis, Nicholas (2004). Planning Paris Before Haussmann. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-7930-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Perry, Gillian (1995). Women Artists and the Parisian Avant-garde: Modernism and `feminine Art' Art, 1900 to the Late 1920s. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-4165-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Phillips, Betty Lou (2005). The French Connection. Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781586855291. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Rand, Tom (2010). Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World. Greenleaf Book Group. ISBN 978-0-9812952-0-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Robertson, Jamie Cox (2010). A Literary Paris: Hemingway, Colette, Sedaris, and Others on the Uncommon Lure of the City of Light. Krause Publications. ISBN 978-1-4405-0740-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Rodgers, Eamonn J. (1999). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Spanish Culture. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-415-13187-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Rousseau, George Sebastian (2004). Yourcenar. Haus Bublishing. ISBN 978-1-904341-28-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ryersson, Scot D.; Yaccarino, Michael Orlando (2004). Infinite variety: the life and legend of the Marchesa Casati. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-4520-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Shales, Melissa (2007). Paris. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84537-661-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Simmer (1997). Innovation Networks and Learning Regions?. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-11-702360-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Singleton, Esther (1912). Paris as Seen and Described by Famous Writers ... Dodd, Mead & Company. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Steele, Valerie (1998). Paris Fashion: A Cultural History. Berg. ISBN 978-1-85973-973-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sutherland, Cara (2003). The Statue of Liberty. Barnes & Noble Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7607-3890-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Tallett, Frank; Atkin, Nicholas (1991). Religion, Society and Politics in France Since 1789. Continuum. ISBN 978-1-85285-057-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Tellier, Luc-Normand (2009). Urban World History: An Economic and Geographical Perspective. PUQ. ISBN 978-2-7605-2209-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Weingardt, Richard (2009). Circles in the Sky: The Life and Times of George Ferris. ASCE Publications. ISBN 978-0-7844-1010-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Whaley, Joachim (2012). Mirrors of Mortality (Routledge Revivals): Social Studies in the History of Death. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-81060-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Woolley, Reginald Maxwell (1915). Coronation Rites. Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

• Bernard, Léon (1970). The emerging city: Paris in the age of Louis XIV. Duke University Press.
• Blum, Carol (2002). Strength in Numbers: Population, Reproduction, and Power in Eighteenth-Century France. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-6810-8.
• Compayré, Gabriel (2004). Abelard and the Origin and Early History of Universities. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4179-4646-4.
• Cronin, Vincent (1989). Paris on the Eve, 1900–1914. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-312-04876-9.
• Cronin, Vincent (1994). Paris: City of Light, 1919–1939. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-215191-X.
• Favier, Jean (1997). Paris (in French). Fayard. ISBN 2-213-59874-6.
• Grimminger, Daniel Jay (2010). Paris. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-4101-9.
• Garrioch, David (2002). The making of revolutionary Paris [electronic resource]. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24327-9.
• Goodman, David C. (1999). The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-industrial City. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-20082-0.
• Hargreaves, Alec Gordon; Kelsay, John; Twiss, Sumner B. (2007). Politics and Religion in France and the United States. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-7391-1930-3.
• Higonnet, Patrice L. R. (2009). Paris: Capital of the World. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03864-6.
• Hillairet, Jacques (2005). Connaissance du Vieux Paris (in French). Rivages. ISBN 2-86930-648-2.
• Jones, Colin (2004). Paris: The Biography of a City. New York: Penguin Viking. ISBN 0-670-03393-6.
• Marchand, Bernard (1993). Paris, histoire d'une ville : XIXe-XXe siècle (in French). Paris: Le Seuil. ISBN 978-2-02-012864-3.
• Mehra, Ajay K.; Levy, Rene (2011). The Police, State and Society: Perspectives from India and France. Pearson Education India. ISBN 978-81-317-3145-1.
• Modood, Tariq; Triandafyllidou, Anna; Zapata-Barrero, Ricard (2012). Multiculturalism, Muslims and Citizenship: A European Approach. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-25561-0.
• Perry, Marvin; Chase, Myrna; Jacob, James R.; Jacob, Margaret C.; Von Laue, Theodore H. (2011). Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society: from 1600: Ideas, Politics, and Society: From the 1600s (10th ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-111-83171-4.
• Robb, Graham (2010). Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-330-52254-0.
• Wakeman, Rosemary (2009). The Heroic City: Paris, 1945–1958. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-87023-6.
• Zarka, Yves Charles; Taussig, Sylvie; Fleury, Cynthia (2004). "Les contours d'une population susceptible d'être musulmane d'après la filiation". L'Islam en France. Presses universitaires de France. ISBN 978-2-13-053723-6.

External links

• Official Paris website
• Expatriates Magazine - Printed Publication circulated inside Paris
• Paris at Curlie

Template:Link GA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link GA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link GA Template:Link GA