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Paris
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About Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city of France. The city
is built on an arc of the River Seine, and is thus divided
into two parts: the Right Bank to the north and the smaller
Left Bank to the south. The river is well known for its tree-lined
quais (walks along the river banks), open-air bookstalls and
historic bridges that connect the Right and Left banks. Paris
is also famous for its tree-lined boulevards such as the Champs-Élysées,
and for its many architectural gems.
The city has about 2 million residents (1999 census: 2,147,857).
The Greater Paris metropolitan area (in French: aire urbaine
de Paris) has about 11 million residents (1999 census: 11,174,743).
Contents [showhide]
1 History
1.1 Historical population
2 Administration
3 Geography
4 Transport
5 Paris tourist attractions
5.1 Monuments and buildings
5.2 Museums
5.3 Streets and other areas within Paris
5.4 Boutiques and department stores
5.5 Night life
6 In the suburbs and the greater Paris region (Île-de-France)
7 Events
8 External links
[edit]
History
Flag of Paris
Outside of the touristic areas and expensive historical neighbourhoods,
modern buildings provide housing to Parisians. Here, a neighbourhood
of high rise apartment buildings with a large Eastern Asian
population.(See History of Paris for a fuller article)
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 nucleus of Paris is the Île de la Cité,
a small island largely occupied by the huge Palais de Justice
and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. It is connected
with the smaller Ile Saint-Louis (another island) occupied
by elegant houses built in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Paris was occupied by a Gallic tribe until the Romans arrived
in 52 BC. The invaders referred to the previous occupants
as the Parisii, but called their new city Lutetia, meaning
"marshy place". About fifty years later the city
had spread to the left bank of the Seine, now known as the
Latin Quarter, and had been renamed "Paris".
Roman rule had ceased by 508, when Clovis the Frank made
the city the capital of the Merovingian dynasty of the Franks.
Viking invasions during the 800s forced the Parisians to build
a fortress on the Ile de la Cité. On March 28, 845
Paris was sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar
Lodbrok, who collected a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
The weakness of the late Carolingian kings of France led to
the gradual rise in power of the Counts of Paris; Odo, Count
of Paris was elected king of France by feudal lords while
Charles III was also claiming the throne. Finally, in 987
Hugh Capet, count of Paris, was elected king of France by
the great feudal lords after the last Carolingian died.
During the 11th century the city spread to the Right Bank.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, which included the reign of
Philip II Augustus (1180-1223), the city grew strongly. Main
thoroughfares were paved, the first Louvre was built as a
fortress, and several churches, including the Cathedral of
Notre-Dame, were constructed or begun. Several schools on
the Left Bank were organized into the Sorbonne, which counts
Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas Aquinas among its early scholars.
In the Middle Ages Paris prospered as a trading and intellectual
centre, interrupted temporarily when the Black Death struck
in the 14th century. Under the reign of King Louis XIV, the
Sun King, from 1643 to 1715, the royal residence was moved
from Paris to nearby Versailles.
The French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille
on July 14, 1789. Many of the conflicts in the next few years
were between Paris and the outlying rural areas.
The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-ÉlyséesIn
1870 the Franco-Prussian War ended in a siege of Paris and
the Paris Commune, which surrendered in 1871 after a winter
of famine and bloodshed. The Eiffel Tower, the best-known
landmark in Paris, was built in 1889 in a period of prosperity
known as La Belle Époque (The Beautiful period).
In late August 1944 after the battle of Normandy, Paris was
liberated when the German general Dietrich von Choltitz surrendered
after skirmishes to the French 2nd Armored Division commanded
by Philippe de Hauteclocque backed by the Allies.
[edit]
Historical population
Metropolitan area of Paris:
(it should be noted that the limits of the metropolitan area
vary year after year, furthermore only the last two data are
official as provided by the French national statistics office
INSEE, the other data are just estimates compiled from several
sources)
59 b.c.: 25,000 inhabitants
a.d.150: 80,000 (peak of Roman era)
510: 30,000 (losses after invasions of 3rd and 4th centuries)
1000: 20,000 (lowest point after Viking invasions)
1200: 110,000 (recovery of the Middle Ages)
1328: 250,000 (blossoming of the 13th century, golden age
of King Saint Louis)
1500: 200,000 (losses of the Black Plague and War of Hundred
Years)
1550: 275,000 (Renaissance recovery)
1594: 210,000 (losses of religious and civil wars)
1634: 420,000 (spectacular recovery under King Henry IV and
Richelieu)
1700: 515,000
1750: 565,000
1789: 630,000 (peak of prosperous 18th century)
1801: 548,000 (losses of French Revolution and wars)
1835: 1,000,000
1860: 2,000,000 (fastest historical growth under Emperor Napoleon
III and Haussmann)
1885: 3,000,000
1905: 4,000,000
1911: 4,500,000
1921: 4,850,000 (stagnation due to losses of First World War)
1931: 5,600,000
1936: 6,000,000
1946: 5,850,000 (losses of Second World War)
1954: 6,550,000
1968: 8,368,500 (end of postwar baby boom, end of immigration
surplus for Paris,
1982: 9,400,000 henceforth migration flows become negative,
population growth is significantly slower)
1990: 10,291,851
1999: 11,174,743
City of Paris:
1801: 547,800 inhabitants
1831: 714,000
1851: 1,053,000
1881: 2,240,000
1901: 2,661,000
1926: 2,871,000
1936: 2,829,746
1946: 2,725,374
1954: 2,850,189
1962: 2,753,014
1968: 2,590,771
1975: 2,317,227
1982: 2,188,918
1990: 2,152,423
1999: 2,125,246
[edit]
Administration
The city of Paris is itself a département of France
(Paris, 75), part of the Ile-de-France région. Paris
is divided into twenty numerically organised districts, the
arrondissements. These districts are numbered in a spiral
pattern with the 1er arrondissement at the center of the city.
The city of Paris also comprises two forests: the Bois de
Boulogne on the west and the Bois de Vincennes on the east.
The Paris City hall behind the river SeinePrior to 1964, département
75 was "Seine", which contained the city and the
surrounding suburbs. The change in boundaries resulted in
the creation of 3 new départements forming a ring around
Paris, often called la petite couronne (the little crown):
Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne.
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
Prefect of Police. 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.
Former mayors Jacques Chirac and Jean Tiberi were cited in
corruption scandals in the Paris region.
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.[edit]
Geography
The city of Paris itself is only approximately 105 square
kilometres (41 square miles) in size. Paris is located at
48°52' North, 2°19'59" East (48.866667, 2.333056).
The altitude of Paris varies, with several prominent hills
:
Montmartre - 130 metres (425 feet) above sea level
Belleville - 115 metres (375 feet) above sea level
Menilmontant
Buttes-Chaumont
Passy
Chaillot
Montagne Ste-Genevieve
Butte-aux-Cailles
Montparnasse (the hill there was levelled in the 18th century)
[edit]
Transport
Walkway tunnel in Parisian metroParis is served by two principal
airports: Orly Airport, which is south of Paris, and the international
airport Charles De Gaulle International Airport in nearby
Roissy-en-France. A third and much smaller airport, at the
town of Beauvais, 45 miles to the north of the city, is used
by charter and low-cost airlines. Le Bourget airport nowadays
only hosts business jets, air trade shows and the aerospace
museum.
Paris is densely covered by a metro system, the Métro,
as well as by a large number of bus lines. This interconnects
with a high-speed regional network, the RER, and also the
train network: commuter lines, national train lines, and the
TGV (or derivatives like Thalys or Eurostar for specific destinations).
There are two tangential tramway lines in the suburbs: Line
T1 runs from Saint-Denis to Noisy-le-Sec, line T2 runs from
La Défense to Issy. A third line along the southern
orbital road is currently under construction.
The city is the hub of France's motorway network, and is
surrounded by an orbital road, the Peripherique. On/off ramps
of the Peripherique are called 'Portes', as they correspond
to the city gates. Most of these 'Portes' have parking areas
and a metro station, where non-residents are advised to leave
cars. Traffic in Paris is notoriously heavy, slow and tiresome.
[edit]
Paris tourist attractions
View from the Montparnasse Tower (Tour Montparnasse) towards
the Eiffel Tower. On the right Napoleon's tomb lies under
the golden dome at Les Invalides. The towers of the office
and entertainment centre La Defense line the horizon.Places
in Paris one may like to visit:
[edit]
Monuments and buildings
The Eiffel Tower
Arc de Triomphe - monument at the center of the Place de l'Etoile,
commemorating the victories of France and honoring those who
died in battle.
Les Invalides - museum and burial place of many great French
soldiers, including Napoleon.
The Conciergerie - ancient prison where many members of the
Ancien Regime stayed before their death.
Palais Garnier - home of the Paris Opera, considered by Hitler
to be the most beautiful building in the world.
Cathedral of Notre Dame on the Ile de la Cité
The Samaritaine Building - department store built at the start
of the 20th century
The Sorbonne - the University of Paris, founded in medieval
times
Statue of Liberty - a smaller version of the New York City
harbor statue which France gave to the United States in 1886.
The Pantheon of Paris - beautiful church and tomb of France's
greatest heroes.
Sainte-Chapelle - 13th-century Gothic palace chapel.
Église de la Madeleine
Place des Vosges - square in the Marais district laid out
by Henry IV
Roue De Paris - temporary ferris wheel, installed 1999 to
2003
The Sacre Coeur, a Roman Catholic basilica.[edit]
Museums
The Louvre - a huge museum housing many works of art, including
the Mona Lisa (La Joconde) and the Venus de Milo statue.
The Musée d'Orsay - an art museum housed in a converted
19th century railway station, containly mainly Impressionist
works.
Centre Georges Pompidou, also known as Beaubourg - houses
the Musée National d'Art Moderne and a cultural center
with a large public library. Famous for its external skeleton
of service pipes.
The Musée Rodin - a large collection of works by France's
most famous sculptor
The Musée du Montparnasse in the former residence of
artist Marie Vassilieff at 21 Avenue du Maine, details the
history of the great artistic community of Montparnasse.
Musée Cluny, also known as the Musée National
du Moyen-Age, houses a large collection of art and artifacts
from the Middle Ages, including the tapestry cycle The Lady
and the Unicorn.
[edit]
Streets and other areas within Paris
Montmartre - historic area on the Butte, home to the Basilica
of the Sacré Coeur and also famous for the studios
and cafés of many great artists.
Champs-Élysées - a famous street, a broad boulevard
often clogged with tourists.
Rue de Rivoli - boutiques for tourists
Place de la Concorde - at the foot of the Champs-Élysées,
formerly Place de la Revolution, site of the infamous guillotine
and the obelisk.
Place de la Bastille - where the Bastille prison stood until
the Revolution.
Montparnasse - historic area on the Left Bank, famous for
the studios, music-halls, and cafés of artists.
The Statue of Liberty copy on the river Seine in Paris, France.
Given to the city in 1885, it faces west, towards the original
Liberty in New York CityPère Lachaise Cemetery - a
popular tourist site, it contains the graves of many famous
French men and women and those from other countries who came
to live in France.
Cimetière de Montmartre
Cimetière du Montparnasse
Cimetière de Passy
Catacombs of Paris
Les Halles - shopping precinct, includes an important metro
connection station.
Le Marais - trendy district on the Left Bank with large gay
and Jewish populations
[edit]
Boutiques and department stores
Fauchon
Galleries Lafayette
Printemps
[edit]
Night life
Le Lido - cabaret on the Champs-Élysées famous
for its exotic shows and where, as an American GI on leave
with some army friends, Elvis Presley gave an impromptu concert.
Bal du Moulin Rouge, Le Crazy Horse Saloon, the Paris Olympia,
Folies Bergères, Bobino - famous nightclubs.
The Buddha Bar, Barfly, Hotel Costes - trendy upscale restaurant
/ bars to see and be seen.
[edit]
In the suburbs and the greater Paris region (Île-de-France)
The new Parisian skyline of skyscrapers, La Défense
in the background. Le Trocadéro is partially seen in
the foreground (image apparently taken from the Eiffel Tower)business
districts
La Défense - major office, theater and shopping complex,
west of Paris
amusement parks
Disneyland Resort Paris - in the suburb of Marne-la-Vallée,
east of Paris
Parc Astérix, north of Paris
Monuments
Grande Arche de la Défense
Palace of Versailles - the former royal palace of Louis XIV
and later kings, in the town of Versailles to the southeast
of Paris. The largest tourist attraction in France.
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.
[edit]
Events
View over Paris from the Grand Gallery of Notre Dame52 BC
- Lutetia, later to become Paris, is built by the Gallo-Romans
1113 - Pierre Abélard opens his school
1163 - Building of Notre Dame begins
1257 - The Sorbonne University is founded
1682 - Louis XIV moves the French court from the Tuileries
palace to Versailles
July, 1789 - Storming of the Bastille
Royal family forced from Versailles back to Paris
1814 - Paris occupied by the armies of the Sixth Coalition
after the fall of Napoleon
1815 - Paris is again occupied, this time by the Seventh Coalition,
after the end of the Hundred Days
1840 - Napoleon's remains are buried at Les Invalides
1853 - Baron Haussmann rebuilds the centre of Paris
1855 - Exposition Universelle (1855)
1856 - Congress of Paris is held
1867 - Exposition Universelle (1867)
January 28th, 1871 - Paris Commune falls
1878 - Exposition Universelle (1878)
1889 - Exposition Universelle (1889) - Eiffel Tower
1900 - Exposition Universelle (1900)
Paris Métro is opened
1925 - Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs
et Industriels Modernes (1925)
1931 - French Colonial Exposition (1931)
June 13, 1940 - Nazis enter Paris
August 24, 1944 - Allies liberate the city
1968 - Student riots in Paris, combined with a series of strikes
by workers across the country, threaten to bring down the
Gaullist government
1999 - Opening of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Paris hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1900 and 1924.
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