User:Josefu/Work In Progress/Paris (Archive)

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The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world.
For other uses, see User:Josefu/Work In Progress/Paris (Archive) (disambiguation).
For Paris Travel, see Wikitravel:Guide to Paris

Paris is the

département, called Paris département (French
: département de Paris).

Paris, together with its suburbs and

satellite cities, forms the Greater Paris metropolitan area, with a population estimated at 11.5 million as of January 2004. Paris is the most populous urban area in the European Union and is the second largest metropolitan area in Europe (after Moscow, and along with London
), and is ranked approximately as the 20th most populous metropolitan area in the world.

Greater Paris metropolitan area, with a total GDP in 2003 higher than Brazil or Russia, is the largest financial and business center of Europe (alongside London), harboring more than 30% of France's white-collar population, as well as more than 40% of the headquarters of French companies, with the largest business district of Europe (La Défense), and the second largest stock exchange in Europe (Euronext).

Known worldwide as the City of Light (la Ville Lumière), Paris has been a major

museums. Built on an arc of the River Seine, it is divided into two parts: the Right Bank to the north and the smaller Left Bank
to the south.

Formerly the capital of a colonial empire stretching over five continents, Paris is still regarded as the heart of the French-speaking world and has retained a strong international position, hosting the headquarters of the

global cities
.

{{Paris infobox}}

Name of Paris and its inhabitants

Paris is pronounced /ˈpʰæɹɪs/ in English, and /paʀi/ in French.

The original Latin name of Paris was

Gallic
Parisi tribe, whose name perhaps comes from the Celtic Gallic word parios, meaning "caldron", but this is not certain.

Traditionally Paris was known as Paname (/panam/) in French slang, but this vulgar appellation is gradually losing currency. ("I'm from Paname"ⓘ.)

The inhabitants of Paris are known as Parisians in English, as Parisiens (/paʀizjɛ̃/) in French. The pejorative term Parigot (/paʀigo/) is sometimes used in French slang.

Locally, inhabitants of the Paris suburbs are known as banlieusards (

Île-de-France
.

Geography

Coordinates

Paris is located at 48°52′00″N 2°19′59″E / 48.86667°N 2.33306°E / 48.86667; 2.33306 (48.866667, 2.333056).

Area

The city (

commune) of Paris has an area of 105.398 km² (40.69 sq. miles, or 26,044 acres). Excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes
, the actual area of the city is only 86.928 km² (33.56 sq. miles, or 21,480 acres).

This is not a very large area, and in fact the commune of Paris is only the 113th largest commune of France (out of 36,782 communes). For comparison,

Haussmann annexed the then suburban communes surrounding Paris, such as Montmartre or Auteuil, extending the area of the city from 34.50 km² (13.3 sq. miles) to 78 km² (30.1 sq. miles), and creating the 20 arrondissements of Paris. Since 1860, the limits of Paris have only marginally changed, reaching the 86.9km² figure indicated above. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes
were officially incorporated into the city of Paris.

Thus, the

borough of Manhattan (59.5 km²/23 sq. miles) or to Inner London (319 km²/123 sq. miles). Even the largest business and financial district of Paris, known as La Défense
, lies outside of the city limits.

aire urbaine) of Paris in 1999, with the city of Paris in red at the center. Population figures are for 2005
.

The

aire urbaine
de Paris), its area in 1999 was 14,518 km² (5,605.5 sq. miles), about 138 times larger than the city of Paris.

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

Density

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

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

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

More precisely, people relocating to the suburbs were for the most part replaced by new people attracted to an urban lifestyle, and buildings were not converted into offices as systematically as has happened elsewhere, such as in London where the inhabitants have left the city center since the

Second World War, and the density of Inner London is now much lower than that of Paris. This is most striking in the medieval heart of both metropolises: the City of London and the four first arrondissements of Paris were the medieval heart of each metropolis, with densities reaching 75,000 to 100,000 inh. per km² before the Industrial Revolution
. Today, the City of London is almost empty, with a population density of only 2,478 inh. per km² (6,417 inh. per sq. mile) in 2001, whereas the four first arrondissements of Paris still have a density of 18,139 inh. per km² (46,979 inh. per sq. mile) in 1999, seven times more dense than in the City of London.

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

Altitude

The altitude of Paris varies, with several prominent hills :

  • Montmartre - 130 metres (425 feet) Above Sea Level
  • Belleville - 115 metres (375 feet) ASL
  • Menilmontant
    - 108m (354 feet) ASL
  • Buttes-Chaumont
    - 80m (269 feet) ASL
  • Passy - 71m (233 feet) ASL
  • Chaillot - 67m (220 feet) ASL
  • Montagne Ste-Geneviève
    - 61 (200 feet) ASL
  • Butte-aux-Cailles - 62m (203 feet) ASL
  • Montparnasse - 66m (217 feet) ASL

Montparnasse was leveled in the 18th century.
The highest elevation in the urban area of Paris is in the Forest of

département
), 19.5 km. (12 miles) north-northwest of the center of Paris as the crow flies, at 195 meters (640 ft) above sea-level.

Temperatures

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Paris since meteorological records started in 1873 was on December 10, 1879 when the temperature went down to –23.9° C (–11.0° F) in the city proper, and –25.6° C (–14.1° F) in the southeastern suburb of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés.

The hottest temperature was recorded on

Le Bourget Airport in the northern suburbs, but the lowest temperature at night on August 11 and August 12, 2003
was 25.5° C (77.9° F) in the Parc Montsouris, which is the hottest minimum temperature at night ever registered in Paris, causing the death of many elderly people whose body temperature could not cool down.

History

Main article: History of Paris

Brief history

The name of the city comes from the name of a Gallic tribe (parisis) inhabiting the region at the time of the Roman conquest. The historical heart of Paris is the

Notre Dame de Paris. It is connected with the smaller Île Saint-Louis (another island) occupied by elegant houses built in the 17th and 18th
centuries.

Paris was occupied by a

Latin Quarter
, and had been renamed "Paris".

Roman rule had ceased by

Charles III was also claiming the throne. Finally, in 987 Hugh Capet
, count of Paris, was elected king of France by the great feudal lords after the last Carolingian king died.

The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées

During the

Versailles
.

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

In

La Belle Époque (The Beautiful period). The famous Parisian Haussmann Style
also dates back to this period.

In 1900 Paris hosted the 1900 Summer Olympics, and hosted them again in 1924 (1924 Summer Olympics).

In

Allies
.

In the late

Haussmann's carefully planned vistas; as such it was one of the most immediate causes for the changes in zoning and administrative rules that now keep all urban development outside the city limits (principally confining skyscrapers to La Défense
) and preserves Paris proper as a city of museums and monuments.

Demographics

Paris from space, April 2002
See main article: Demographics of Paris

Population growth

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

Historically, the population of the city of Paris peaked in 1921, when it reached 2.9 million. However, there has been since then a movement toward living in suburbs, as well as the gentrification of many areas of inner Paris, and the use of available space for offices rather than dwellings, although this phenomenon was not as massive as happened in London or in American cities. These tendencies are controversial, and the current city administration is trying to reverse them.

As a matter of fact, as of February 2004 estimates, the population of the city reached 2,142,800 inhabitants, increasing for the first time since 1954. As for the metropolitan area, it reached approximately 11.5 million inhabitants in 2004, growing twice faster in the 2000s than in the 1990s. The metropolitan area of Paris has been in continuous expansion since the end of the French Wars of Religion at the end of the 16th century (with only brief setbacks during the French Revolution and World War II).

As can be seen from the figures, only 18.5% of the inhabitants of the metropolitan area of Paris live inside the city of Paris, while 81.5% live in the suburbs. Visitors to Paris, who mostly stay inside the city, are usually not aware that 81.5% of "Parisians" actually live outside of the city itself, in its very extended suburbs. A majority of Parisians also work outside of the city proper: at the 1999 census, there were 5,089,179 jobs in the metropolitan area of Paris, 32.5% of which were located in the city of Paris proper, while 67.5% were located outside of the city. These peculiar facts are due to the conservativeness of French administrative limits (see Geography section above).

For comparisons, in the metropolitan area of

commune) after Paris being Boulogne-Billancourt
, with only 108,300 inhabitants in 2004.

As a result of this peculiar situation, there are those in France who warn against a so-called "muséification" of the city of Paris. Already, all airports are located outside of the city, the largest financial and business district (

National Archives of France
, which are due to relocate to the northern suburbs before 2010.

It is feared that the city of Paris is turning into an embalmed museum, with tourists and

Haussmann in the 19th century, and thus build tall in order to compensate for the lack of space on the ground, such as was done in Manhattan. The project was also meant to give a new image and fame to Paris in the 21st century, rivaling world cities like Shanghai, or even London where city planners have started building aesthetically acclaimed skyscrapers inside the City
. The probable failure of the mayor's project is already interpreted by some as yet another sign of the "muséificication" of the city of Paris.

Historical population

For complete tables, see: Historical population

Immigration

The metropolitan area of Paris is one of the most multi-cultural in Europe. At the 1999 census, 19.4% of the total population of the metropolitan area were born outside of metropolitan France.

As a comparison: at the 2001 UK census, 19.5% of the total population of the metropolitan area of

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County metropolitan area
was born outside of the United States (50 states).

Still at the 1999 French census, 4.2% of the total population of the metropolitan area of Paris were recent migrants (i.e. people who were not living in France in 1990). The most recent immigrants to Paris come essentially from mainland China and from Africa.

Economy

Note: Paris GDP figures listed in this section are in fact those for the
région
, which matches quite well the territory of Paris metropolitan area, although it is about 2.5% smaller than the actual metropolitan area.

The metropolitan area of Paris is one of the engines of the global economy. In

INSEE and Eurostat was US$398.4 billion (at real exchange rates, not at PPP). In 2003, with the recovery of the euro, the GDP of the metropolitan area was approximately US$497 billion. If it were a country, the metropolitan area of Paris would be the 15th largest economy in the world (as of 2003), above Brazil (US$492.3 billion) and Russia
(US$432.9 billion).


Year in, year out, the metropolitan area of Paris accounts for about 29% of the total GDP of metropolitan France, although its population is only 18.7% of the total population of metropolitan France (as of 2004). In 2002, according to Eurostat, the GDP of the metropolitan area of Paris accounted alone for 4.5% of the total GDP of the European Union (of 25 members), although its population is only 2.45% of the total population of the EU25. Inside Europe, the only other metropolitan area that can compare with Paris is London. The GDP of either Paris or London metropolitan areas far outweighs the GDP of any other metropolitan area in Europe.

As a matter of comparison, the total GDP of Greater London in 2002, as published by Eurostat, was US$309.8 billion (approximately US$358 billion in 2003) at real exchange rates. The metropolitan area of London, however, is larger than Greater London proper, but given that no government agency or statistical office has ever officially defined the extent of London metropolitan area, it is difficult to give a figure for its GDP. According to Eurostat figures, the combined GDP of Greater London and all the NUTS 2 regions around Greater London was US$574.6 billion in 2002 (approximately US$664 billion in 2003). However, this vast area extends from Brighton to Oxford to Bedford to Colchester to Dover and is much larger than what most people understand as the metropolitan area of London. Thus, we can only say that in 2003 the actual GDP figure for the metropolitan area of London was somewhere between US$358 billion and US$664 billion; and it seems reasonable to say that the total GDP of London metropolitan area is approximately equal to the total GDP of Paris metropolitan area (US$497 billion).

In North America, there are only two metropolitan areas that have a GDP larger than Paris: the

Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia metropolitan area (US$362.6 billion), San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area (Bay Area
) (US$346.4 billion), etc.

Outside of North America, the only other metropolitan areas in the world with a GDP larger than Paris are

Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area
. According to data from the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the GDP of the Tokyo metropolitan area in 2003 was US$1,315 billion (at real exchange rates), while the GDP of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area was US$578 billion.

Paris and London, which were once the largest cities in the world, are now only approximately the 20th largest metropolitan areas in the world, but when looking at GDP figures, both metropolitan areas still stand in the top 5 of the largest gross metropolitan products in the world.

Metropolitan areas 2003 GDP
(in billion US$)
(at real exchange rates)

01- Tokyo

1,315

02- New York

847.6

03- Los Angeles

699.8

04- Osaka

578

05- Paris
05- London

497
between 358 and 664

Administration

The city of Paris is itself a

1er arrondissement
at the center of the city.

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

The Paris City hall behind the river Seine

Prior to

départements: Paris proper (75), and three départements (Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne
) forming a ring around Paris, often called la petite couronne (i.e. the "small ring", as opposed to the "large ring" of the more distant suburbs of Paris).

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

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

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

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

Unlike other French cities, Paris does not have an intercomunality to govern the whole metropolitan area (ie Paris and its suburbs) and is not expected to have one any time soon.

List of Paris mayors since the French Revolution

Before

the French Revolution, the municipality of Paris was headed by the provost of the merchants (prévôt des marchands). On July 14, 1789, at the end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille, the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles
, was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris city hall. The next day, the first mayor of Paris was elected.

Transport

Walkway tunnel in Parisian metro
Paris is well connected to the rest of Europe by train. Click above to see journey times for the fastest train connections to the rest of Europe.

Paris is served by two principal airports:

Le Bourget airport
nowadays only hosts business jets, air trade shows and the aerospace museum.

Paris is densely covered by a

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

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

The city is the hub of France's

Périphérique, which roughly follows the path of final, 19th-century fortifications around Paris. On/off ramps of the Périphérique are called 'Portes', as they correspond to the former city gates
in these fortifications. Most of these 'Portes' have parking areas and a metro station, where non-residents are advised to leave cars. Traffic in Paris is notoriously heavy, slow and tiresome.

Cultural Centres and Organisations

Monuments and Landmarks

Museums

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

Historical Centres
The Statue of Liberty copy on the river Seine in Paris, France. Given to the city in 1885, it faces west, toward the original Liberty in New York City.

Cemetaries

  • Père Lachaise Cemetery
    - Many of Paris' illustrious history have found rest here.
  • Cimetière de Montmartre
  • Cimetière du Montparnasse
  • Cimetière de Passy
  • Catacombs of Paris

Gardens

Commercial Districts

Boutiques, department stores and hotels

Night life

Sports clubs

Paris's main sports clubs are

Football (soccer) club, Paris Basket Racing, Basketball team and Stade Français, Rugby union
club.

Suburban Locales of Interest
  • Monuments
    • Grande Arche de la Défense - built in alignment with the Louvre, place du Concorde and Arc de Triomphe
  • Chateaux
    • Versailles
      to the southeast of Paris.
    • Vaux-le-Vicomte, near Melun, a smaller palace on which Versailles was modeled.
    • Saint Denis Basilica
      - ancient Gothic Cathedral and burial site for many French monarchs, located north of the city.
  • Civil Constructions
    • Arcueil Aqueduct - Completed in 1874 from the Monstouris reservoirs, its channels water from sources 156km to the south of Paris.

A Short Chronology

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

Paris hosted the

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paris.
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