<ul><li>Lanterns were on every street, and Parisians were asked to light their windows with oil lamps and candles. This was to prevent law offenders from avoiding the police or hiding in dark alleys. The idea was to reduce the crime rate. That time forward, Paris gained the name La Ville-Lumière (the City of Light)</li><li>Paris is often referred to as "The City of Light" ("La Ville-Lumière"), both because of its leading role during the Age of Enlightenment, and more literally because Paris was one of the first European cities to adopt gas street lighting.</li></ul>

Why do they call Paris the City of Lights?

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Paris (French pronunciation: ​ <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French">[paʁi] </a> (

<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Paris_Pronunciation_in_French_by_James_Tamim.ogg">listen </a> ) ) is the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_city">capital </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_communes_in_France_with_over_20,000_inhabitants">most populous city </a>of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/France">France </a>, with an estimated <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population">population </a>of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi),<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-pop2019-4">[4] </a> making it the 34th most densely populated city in the world in 2020.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-5">[5] </a> Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance">finance </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomacy">diplomacy </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce">commerce </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_capital">fashion </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastronomy">gastronomy </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science">science </a>, and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_in_Paris">arts </a>, and has sometimes been <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caput_Mundi#Paris">referred to as the capital of the world </a>. The City of Paris is the centre and seat of government of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_France">region </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_France">province </a>of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele-de-France">Île-de-France </a>, or Paris Region, with an estimated population of 12,997,058 in 2020,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-auto-6">[6] </a> or about 18% of the population of France.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-IDF_pop-7">[7] </a> The Paris Region had a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product">GDP </a>of €709 billion ($808 billion) in 2017.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Euro-PR-8">[8] </a> According to the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist_Intelligence_Unit">Economist Intelligence Unit </a>Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, in 2021 Paris was the city with the second-highest cost of living in the world, tied with <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore">Singapore </a>, and after <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv">Tel Aviv </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-9">[9] </a>

Paris is a major railway, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle_Airport">Paris–Charles de Gaulle </a>(the second-busiest airport in Europe) and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orly_Airport">Paris–Orly </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-10">[10] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-11">[11] </a> Opened in 1900, the city's subway system, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_M%C3%A9tro">Paris Métro </a>, serves 5.23 million passengers daily;<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-12">[12] </a> it is the second-busiest metro system in Europe after the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Metro">Moscow Metro </a>. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gare_du_Nord">Gare du Nord </a>is the 24th-busiest railway station in the world and the busiest located outside <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan">Japan </a>, with 262 million passengers in 2015.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-13">[13] </a> Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre">Louvre </a>received 2.8 million visitors in 2021, despite the long museum closings caused by the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19">COVID-19 </a>virus.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-14">[14] </a> The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Orsay">Musée d'Orsay </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_Marmottan_Monet">Musée Marmottan Monet </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_de_l%27Orangerie">Musée de l'Orangerie </a>are noted for their collections of French <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism">Impressionist </a>art. The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompidou_Centre">Pompidou Centre </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_National_d%27Art_Moderne">Musée National d'Art Moderne </a>has the largest collection of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_art">modern </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_art">contemporary art </a>in Europe. The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_Rodin">Musée Rodin </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_Picasso">Musée Picasso </a>exhibit the works of two noted Parisians. The historical district along the Seine in the city centre has been classified as a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO">UNESCO </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site">World Heritage Site </a>since 1991; popular landmarks there include the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris">Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris </a>on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_la_Cit%C3%A9">Île de la Cité </a>, now closed for renovation after the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame_de_Paris_fire">15 April 2019 fire </a>. Other popular tourist sites include the Gothic royal chapel of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Chapelle">Sainte-Chapelle </a>, also on the Île de la Cité; the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower">Eiffel Tower </a>, constructed for the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1889)">Paris Universal Exposition of 1889 </a>; the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palais">Grand Palais </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petit_Palais">Petit Palais </a>, built for the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1900)">Paris Universal Exposition of 1900 </a>; the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe">Arc de Triomphe </a>on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es">Champs-Élysées </a>, and the hill of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmartre">Montmartre </a>with its artistic history and its <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur,_Paris">Basilica of Sacré-Coeur </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-unesco-15">[15] </a>

Paris hosts several <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations">United Nations </a>organisations: the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO">UNESCO </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Engineers_/_Future_Leaders">Young Engineers / Future Leaders </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Federation_of_Engineering_Organizations">World Federation of Engineering Organizations </a>, and other international organisations such as the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD">OECD </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD_Development_Centre">OECD Development Centre </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bureau_of_Weights_and_Measures">International Bureau of Weights and Measures </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Energy_Agency">International Energy Agency </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Federation_for_Human_Rights">International Federation for Human Rights </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_internationale_de_la_Francophonie">International Organisation of La Francophonie </a>; along with European bodies such as the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Space_Agency">European Space Agency </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Banking_Authority">European Banking Authority </a>or the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Securities_and_Markets_Authority">European Securities and Markets Authority </a>. Other international organisations were founded in Paris such as the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIMAC">CIMAC </a>in 1951 (International Council on Combustion Engines | C onseil I nternational des M achines à C ombustion ),<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-16">[16] </a> or the modern <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games">Olympic Games </a>in 1894<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-17">[17] </a> which was then moved to <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lausanne">Lausanne </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland">Switzerland </a>.

Tourism recovered in the Paris region in 2021, increasing to 22.6 million visitors, thirty percent more than in 2020, but still well below 2019 levels. The number of visitors from the United States increased by 237 percent over 2020.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-18">[18] </a> Museums re-opened in 2021, with limitations on the number of visitors at a time and a requirement that visitors wear masks.

The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football">football </a>club <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Saint-Germain_F.C.">Paris Saint-Germain </a>and the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union">rugby union </a>club <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stade_Fran%C3%A7ais">Stade Français </a>are based in Paris. The 80,000-seat <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stade_de_France">Stade de France </a>, built for the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_FIFA_World_Cup">1998 FIFA World Cup </a>, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Denis,_Seine-Saint-Denis">Saint-Denis </a>. Paris hosts the annual <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Open">French Open </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_(tennis)">Grand Slam </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis">tennis </a>tournament on the red clay of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stade_Roland_Garros">Roland Garros </a>. The city hosted the Olympic Games in <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Summer_Olympics">1900 </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1924_Summer_Olympics">1924 </a>and will host the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Summer_Olympics">2024 Summer Olympics </a>. The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_FIFA_World_Cup">1938 </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_FIFA_World_Cup">1998 FIFA World Cups </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Rugby_World_Cup">2007 Rugby World Cup </a>, as well as the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_European_Nations%27_Cup">1960 </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_1984">1984 </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2016">2016 </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_European_Championship">UEFA European Championships </a>were also held in the city. Every July, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France">Tour de France </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_bicycle_racing">bicycle race </a>finishes on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_des_Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es">Avenue des Champs-Élysées </a>in Paris.

The ancient <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppidum">oppidum </a>that corresponds to the modern city of Paris was first mentioned in the mid-1st century BC by <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar">Julius Caesar </a>as Luteciam Parisiorum ('<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutetia">Lutetia </a>of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parisii_(France)">Parisii </a>'), and is later attested as Parision in the 5th century AD, then as Paris in 1265.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEN%C3%A8gre1990155-19">[19] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Falileyev-20">[20] </a> During the Roman period, it was commonly known as Lutetia or Lutecia in Latin, and as Leukotekía in Greek, which is interpreted as either stemming from the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_languages">Celtic </a>root *lukot- ('mouse'), or from *luto- ('marsh, swamp'), depending on whether the Latin or Greek form is the closest to the original <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaulish">Gaulish </a>name.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTELambert199438-21">[21] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDelamarre2003211-22">[22] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Falileyev-20">[20] </a>

The name Paris is derived from its early inhabitants, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parisii_(France)">Parisii </a>(Gaulish: Parisioi ), a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauls">Gallic </a>tribe from the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_T%C3%A8ne_culture">Iron Age </a>and the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_period">Roman period </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDelamarre2003247-23">[23] </a> The meaning of the Gaulish <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnonym">ethnonym </a>remains debated. According to <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Delamarre">Xavier Delamarre </a>, it may derive from the Celtic root pario- ('cauldron').<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDelamarre2003247-23">[23] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Holder">Alfred Holder </a>interpreted the name as 'the makers' or 'the commanders', by comparing it to the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language">Welsh </a>peryff ('lord, commander'), both possibly descending from a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Celtic">Proto-Celtic </a>form reconstructed as *kwar-is-io -.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBusse2006199-24">[24] </a> Alternatively, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Yves_Lambert">Pierre-Yves Lambert </a>proposed to translate Parisii as the 'spear people', by connecting the first element to the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Irish">Old Irish </a>carr ('spear'), derived from an earlier *kwar-sā .<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Falileyev-20">[20] </a> In any case, the city's name is not related to the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_(mythology)">Paris </a>of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology">Greek mythology </a>.

Paris is often referred to as the 'City of Light' (La Ville Lumière ),<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTERobertson201037-25">[25] </a> both because of its leading role during the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment">Age of Enlightenment </a>and more literally because Paris was one of the first large European cities to use gas <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_light">street lighting </a>on a grand scale on its boulevards and monuments. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_lighting">Gas lights </a>were installed on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_du_Carrousel">Place du Carrousel </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_de_Rivoli">Rue de Rivoli </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Vend%C3%B4me">Place Vendome </a>in 1829. By 1857, the Grand boulevards were lit.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-26">[26] </a> By the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDu_Camp1875596-27">[27] </a> Since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam(e) (pronounced  <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French">[panam] </a> ) in <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argot">French slang </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTELeclanche199855-28">[28] </a> [<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify">why? </a> ]

Inhabitants are known in English as "Parisians" and in French as Parisiens (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French">[paʁizjɛ̃] </a> (

<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Parisien2.ogg">listen </a> ) ). They are also pejoratively called Parigots (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French">[paʁiɡo] </a> (

<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Parigot.ogg">listen </a> ) ).<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-29">[note 1] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDottin1920535-30">[29] </a>

The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parisii_(Gaul)">Parisii </a> , a sub-tribe of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celt">Celtic </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senones">Senones </a>, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEArbois_de_JubainvilleDottin1889132-31">[30] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTECunliffe2004201-32">[31] </a> One of the area's major north–south trade routes crossed the Seine on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_la_Cit%C3%A9">île de la Cité </a>; this meeting place of land and water trade routes gradually became an important trading centre.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTELawrenceGondrand201025-33">[32] </a> The Parisii traded with many river towns (some as far away as the Iberian Peninsula) and minted their own coins for that purpose.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchmidt200965%E2%80%9370-34">[33] </a>

The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire">Romans </a>conquered the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Basin">Paris Basin </a>in 52 BC and began their settlement on Paris's <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rive_Gauche">Left Bank </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchmidt200988%E2%80%93104-35">[34] </a> The Roman town was originally called <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutetia">Lutetia </a>(more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum , "Lutetia of the Parisii", modern French Lutèce ). It became a prosperous city with a forum, baths, temples, theatres, and an <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphitheatre">amphitheatre </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchmidt2009154%E2%80%93167-36">[35] </a>

By the end of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Roman_Empire">Western Roman Empire </a>, the town was known as Parisius , a Latin name that would later become Paris in French.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMeunier201412-37">[36] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity">Christianity </a>was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Denis_of_Paris">Denis </a>, the first Bishop of Paris: according to legend, when he refused to renounce his faith before the Roman occupiers, he was beheaded on the hill which became known as Mons Martyrum (Latin "Hill of Martyrs"), later "<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmartre">Montmartre </a>", from where he walked headless to the north of the city; the place where he fell and was buried became an important religious shrine, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis">Basilica of Saint-Denis </a>, and many French kings are buried there.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchmidt2009210%E2%80%93211-38">[37] </a>

<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I">Clovis the Frank </a>, the first king of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merovingian_dynasty">Merovingian dynasty </a>, made the city his capital from 508.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-39">[38] </a> As the Frankish domination of Gaul began, there was a gradual immigration by the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks">Franks </a>to Paris and the Parisian <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francien">Francien </a>dialects were born. Fortification of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_la_Cit%C3%A9">Île de la Cité </a>failed to avert <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_(845)">sacking by Vikings in 845 </a>, but Paris's strategic importance—with its bridges preventing ships from passing—was established by successful defence in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_(885%E2%80%93886)">Siege of Paris (885–886) </a>, for which the then <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_Paris">Count of Paris </a>(comte de Paris ), <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odo_of_France">Odo of France </a>, was elected king of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Francia">West Francia </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEJones199448-40">[39] </a> From the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Capet">Capetian </a>dynasty that began with the 987 election of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Capet">Hugh Capet </a>, Count of Paris and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_the_Franks">Duke of the Franks </a>(duc des Francs ), as king of a unified West Francia, Paris gradually became the largest and most prosperous city in France.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchmidt2009210%E2%80%93211-38">[37] </a>

By the end of the 12th century, Paris had become the political, economic, religious, and cultural capital of France.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTELawrenceGondrand201027-41">[40] </a> The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_de_la_Cit%C3%A9">Palais de la Cité </a>, the royal residence, was located at the western end of the Île de la Cité. In 1163, during the reign of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_VII_of_France">Louis VII </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_de_Sully">Maurice de Sully </a>, bishop of Paris, undertook the construction of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris">Notre Dame Cathedral </a>at its eastern extremity.

After the marshland between the river Seine and its slower 'dead arm' to its north was filled in from around the 10th century,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBussmann198522-42">[41] </a> Paris's cultural centre began to move to the Right Bank. In 1137, a new city marketplace (today's <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Halles">Les Halles </a>) replaced the two smaller ones on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_la_Cit%C3%A9">Île de la Cité </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_l%27H%C3%B4tel-de-Ville_%E2%80%93_Esplanade_de_la_Lib%C3%A9ration">Place de Grève (Place de l'Hôtel de Ville) </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEde_VitriacoHinnebusch1972262-43">[42] </a> The latter location housed the headquarters of Paris's river trade corporation, an organisation that later became, unofficially (although formally in later years), Paris's first municipal government.

In the late 12th century, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_France">Philip Augustus </a>extended the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre">Louvre </a>fortress to defend the city against river invasions from the west, gave the city its first walls between 1190 and 1215, rebuilt its bridges to either side of its central island, and paved its main thoroughfares.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant201236%E2%80%9340-44">[43] </a> In 1190, he transformed Paris's former cathedral school into a student-teacher corporation that would become the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Paris">University of Paris </a>and would draw students from all of Europe.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant201228%E2%80%9329-45">[44] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTELawrenceGondrand201027-41">[40] </a>

With 200,000 inhabitants in 1328, Paris, then already the capital of France, was the most populous city of Europe. By comparison, London in 1300 had 80,000 inhabitants.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-ParisDigest-46">[45] </a>

During the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_War">Hundred Years' War </a>, Paris was occupied by England-friendly <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgundian_State">Burgundian forces </a>from 1418, before being occupied outright by the English when <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_of_England">Henry V of England </a>entered the French capital in 1420;<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-47">[46] </a> in spite of a 1429 effort by <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc">Joan of Arc </a>to liberate the city,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro199652%E2%80%9353-48">[47] </a> it would remain under English occupation until 1436.

In the late 16th-century <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion">French Wars of Religion </a>, Paris was a stronghold of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_League_(French)">Catholic League </a>, the organisers of 24 August 1572 <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bartholomew%27s_Day_massacre">St. Bartholomew's Day massacre </a>in which thousands of French Protestants were killed.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-49">[48] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBayrou1994121%E2%80%93130-50">[49] </a> The conflicts ended when pretender to the throne <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_France">Henry IV </a>, after converting to Catholicism to gain entry to the capital, entered the city in 1594 to claim the crown of France. This king made several improvements to the capital during his reign: he completed the construction of Paris's first uncovered, sidewalk-lined bridge, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_Neuf">Pont Neuf </a>, built a Louvre extension connecting it to the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace">Tuileries Palace </a>, and created the first Paris residential square, the Place Royale, now <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_des_Vosges">Place des Vosges </a>. In spite of Henry IV's efforts to improve city circulation, the narrowness of Paris's streets was a contributing factor in his assassination near <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Halles">Les Halles </a>marketplace in 1610.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996577-51">[50] </a>

During the 17th century, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu">Cardinal Richelieu </a>, chief minister of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIII_of_France">Louis XIII </a>, was determined to make Paris the most beautiful city in Europe. He built five new bridges, a new chapel for the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_Sorbonne">College of Sorbonne </a>, and a palace for himself, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais-Royal">Palais-Cardinal </a>, which he bequeathed to Louis XIII. After Richelieu's death in 1642, it was renamed the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais-Royal">Palais-Royal </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996582-52">[51] </a>

Due to the Parisian uprisings during the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fronde">Fronde </a>civil war, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France">Louis XIV </a>moved his court to a new palace, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles">Versailles </a>, in 1682. Although no longer the capital of France, arts and sciences in the city flourished with the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Com%C3%A9die-Fran%C3%A7aise">Comédie-Française </a>, the Academy of Painting, and the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Academy_of_Sciences">French Academy of Sciences </a>. To demonstrate that the city was safe from attack, the king had the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_walls_of_Paris">city walls </a>demolished and replaced with tree-lined boulevards that would become the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulevards_of_Paris#The_grands_boulevards">Grands Boulevards </a> of today.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTECombeau200342%E2%80%9343-53">[52] </a> Other marks of his reign were the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coll%C3%A8ge_des_Quatre-Nations">Collège des Quatre-Nations </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Vend%C3%B4me">Place Vendôme </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_des_Victoires">Place des Victoires </a>, and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Invalides">Les Invalides </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996590%E2%80%93591-54">[53] </a>

Paris grew in population from about 400,000 in 1640 to 650,000 in 1780.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-55">[54] </a> A new boulevard, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es">Champs-Élysées </a>, extended the city west to <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Charles_de_Gaulle">Étoile </a>,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTECombeau200345%E2%80%9347-56">[55] </a> while the working-class neighbourhood of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faubourg_Saint-Antoine">Faubourg Saint-Antoine </a>on the eastern site of the city grew more and more crowded with poor migrant workers from other regions of France.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012129%E2%80%93133-57">[56] </a>

Paris was the centre of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity known as the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment">Age of Enlightenment </a>. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Diderot">Diderot </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_le_Rond_d%27Alembert">d'Alembert </a>published their <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A9die">Encyclopédie </a> in 1751, and the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgolfier_Brothers">Montgolfier Brothers </a>launched the first manned flight in a hot-air balloon on 21 November 1783, from the gardens of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_la_Muette">Château de la Muette </a>. Paris was the financial capital of continental Europe, the primary European centre of book publishing and fashion and the manufacture of fine furniture and luxury goods.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012120-58">[57] </a>

In the summer of 1789, Paris became the centre stage for the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution">French Revolution </a>. On 14 July, a mob seized the arsenal at the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invalides">Invalides </a>, acquiring thousands of guns, and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille">stormed the Bastille </a>, a symbol of royal authority. The first independent <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune_(French_Revolution)">Paris Commune </a>, or city council, met in the Hôtel de Ville and, on 15 July, elected a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_(France)">Mayor </a>, the astronomer <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Sylvain_Bailly">Jean Sylvain Bailly </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPaine1998453-59">[58] </a>

<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XVI">Louis XVI </a>and the royal family <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_march_on_Versailles">were brought to Paris </a>and made prisoners within the Tuileries Palace. In 1793, as the revolution turned more and more radical, the king, queen, and the mayor were guillotined (executed) in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror">Reign of Terror </a>, along with more than 16,000 others throughout France.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996674-60">[59] </a> The property of the aristocracy and the church was <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biens_nationaux">nationalised </a>, and the city's churches were closed, sold or demolished.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012144-61">[60] </a> A succession of revolutionary factions ruled Paris until <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_of_18_Brumaire">9 November 1799 </a>(coup d'état du 18 brumaire ), when <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon">Napoléon Bonaparte </a>seized power as First Consul.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012147-62">[61] </a>

The population of Paris had dropped by 100,000 during the Revolution, but between 1799 and 1815, it surged with 160,000 new residents, reaching 660,000.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012148-63">[62] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon">Napoleon Bonaparte </a>replaced the elected government of Paris with a prefect reporting only to him. He began erecting monuments to military glory, including the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe">Arc de Triomphe </a>, and improved the neglected infrastructure of the city with new fountains, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_de_l%27Ourcq">Canal de l'Ourcq </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery">Père Lachaise Cemetery </a>and the city's first metal bridge, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_des_Arts">Pont des Arts </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012148-63">[62] </a>

During the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_Restoration_in_France">Restoration </a>, the bridges and squares of Paris were returned to their pre-Revolution names; the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Revolution">July Revolution </a>in 1830 (commemorated by the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Column">July Column </a>on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_la_Bastille">Place de la Bastille </a>) brought a constitutional monarch, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Philippe_I">Louis Philippe I </a>, to power. The first railway line to Paris opened in 1837, beginning a new period of massive migration from the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_France">provinces </a>to the city.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012148-63">[62] </a> Louis-Philippe was overthrown by a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution_of_1848">popular uprising </a>in the streets of Paris in 1848. His successor, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_III">Napoleon III </a>, alongside the newly appointed prefect of the Seine, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges-Eug%C3%A8ne_Haussmann">Georges-Eugène Haussmann </a>, launched a gigantic public works project to build wide new boulevards, a new opera house, a central market, new aqueducts, sewers and parks, including the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_de_Boulogne">Bois de Boulogne </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_de_Vincennes">Bois de Vincennes </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDe_Moncan20127%E2%80%9335-64">[63] </a> In 1860, Napoleon III also annexed the surrounding towns and created eight new arrondissements, expanding Paris to its current limits.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDe_Moncan20127%E2%80%9335-64">[63] </a>

During the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War">Franco-Prussian War </a>(1870–1871), Paris was besieged by the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_Army">Prussian Army </a>. After months of blockade, hunger, and then bombardment by the Prussians, the city was forced to surrender on 28 January 1871. On 28 March, a revolutionary government called the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune">Paris Commune </a>seized power in Paris. The Commune held power for two months, until it was harshly suppressed by the French army during the "<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semaine_sanglante">Bloody Week </a>" at the end of May 1871.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTERougerie2014118-65">[64] </a>

Late in the 19th century, Paris hosted two major international expositions: the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1889)">1889 Universal Exposition </a>, was held to mark the centennial of the French Revolution and featured the new Eiffel Tower; and the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1900)">1900 Universal Exposition </a>, which gave Paris the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_Alexandre_III">Pont Alexandre III </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palais">Grand Palais </a>, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petit_Palais">Petit Palais </a>and the first <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_M%C3%A9tro">Paris Métro </a>line.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFraserSpalding2011117-66">[65] </a> Paris became the laboratory of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(literature)">Naturalism </a>(<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Zola">Émile Zola </a>) and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolism_(arts)">Symbolism </a>(<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire">Charles Baudelaire </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Verlaine">Paul Verlaine </a>), and of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism">Impressionism </a>in art (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courbet">Courbet </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manet">Manet </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet">Monet </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renoir">Renoir </a>).<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996490%E2%80%93491-67">[66] </a>

By 1901, the population of Paris had grown to about 2,715,000.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTECombeau200361-68">[67] </a> At the beginning of the century, artists from around the world including <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso">Pablo Picasso </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amedeo_Modigliani">Modigliani </a>, and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Matisse">Henri Matisse </a>made Paris their home. It was the birthplace of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauvism">Fauvism </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubism">Cubism </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_art">abstract art </a>,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996497-69">[68] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-70">[69] </a> and authors such as <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Proust">Marcel Proust </a>were exploring new approaches to literature.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996491-71">[70] </a>

During the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World_War">First World War </a>, Paris sometimes found itself on the front line; 600 to 1,000 Paris taxis played a small but highly important symbolic role in transporting 6,000 soldiers to the front line at the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_the_Marne">First Battle of the Marne </a>. The city was also bombed by <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin">Zeppelins </a>and shelled by German <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Gun">long-range guns </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996750-72">[71] </a> In the years after the war, known as <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_between_the_Wars_(1919%E2%80%931939)">Les Années Folles </a> , Paris continued to be a mecca for writers, musicians and artists from around the world, including <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway">Ernest Hemingway </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Stravinsky">Igor Stravinsky </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joyce">James Joyce </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker">Josephine Baker </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Kotchever">Eva Kotchever </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Miller">Henry Miller </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%AFs_Nin">Anaïs Nin </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Bechet">Sidney Bechet </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-73">[72] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Ginsberg">Allen Ginsberg </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Wills-74">[73] </a> and the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism">surrealist </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD">Salvador Dalí </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Meisler-75">[74] </a>

In the years after the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Conference,_1919">peace conference </a>, the city was also home to growing numbers of students and activists from <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_colonial_empire">French colonies </a>and other Asian and African countries, who later became leaders of their countries, such as <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh">Ho Chi Minh </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Enlai">Zhou Enlai </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_S%C3%A9dar_Senghor">Léopold Sédar Senghor </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-76">[75] </a>

On 14 June 1940, the German army marched into Paris, which had been declared an "<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_city">open city </a>".<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012217-77">[76] </a> On 16–17 July 1942, following German orders, the French police and gendarmes arrested 12,884 Jews, including 4,115 children, and confined them during five days at the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vel%27_d%27Hiv_Roundup">Vel d'Hiv </a>(Vélodrome d'Hiver ), from which they were transported by train to the extermination camp at <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp">Auschwitz </a>. None of the children came back.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996637-78">[77] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012218-79">[78] </a> On 25 August 1944, the city was liberated by the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Armored_Division_(France)">French 2nd Armoured Division </a>and the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)">4th Infantry Division </a>of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army">United States Army </a>. General <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle">Charles de Gaulle </a>led a huge and emotional crowd down the Champs Élysées towards Notre Dame de Paris, and made a rousing speech from the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B4tel_de_Ville,_Paris">Hôtel de Ville </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996242%E2%80%93243-80">[79] </a>

In the 1950s and the 1960s, Paris became one front of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War">Algerian War </a>for independence; in August 1961, the pro-independence <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Liberation_Front_(Algeria)">FLN </a>targeted and killed 11 Paris policemen, leading to the imposition of a curfew on Muslims of Algeria (who, at that time, were French citizens). On 17 October 1961, an unauthorised but peaceful protest demonstration of Algerians against the curfew led to <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_massacre_of_1961">violent confrontations </a>between the police and demonstrators, in which at least 40 people were killed, including some thrown into the Seine. The anti-independence <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_arm%C3%A9e_secr%C3%A8te">Organisation armée secrète </a>(OAS), for their part, carried out a series of bombings in Paris throughout 1961 and 1962.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-81">[80] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996658-82">[81] </a>

In May 1968, protesting students occupied the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Paris">Sorbonne </a>and put up barricades in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Quarter,_Paris">Latin Quarter </a>. Thousands of Parisian blue-collar workers joined the students, and the movement grew into a two-week general strike. Supporters of the government won the June elections by a large majority. The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1968_events_in_France">May 1968 events in France </a>resulted in the break-up of the University of Paris into 13 independent campuses.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012226-83">[82] </a> In 1975, the National Assembly changed the status of Paris to that of other French cities and, on 25 March 1977, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Chirac">Jacques Chirac </a>became the first elected mayor of Paris since 1793.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996260-84">[83] </a> The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_Montparnasse">Tour Maine-Montparnasse </a>, the tallest building in the city at 57 storeys and 210 metres (689 feet) high, was built between 1969 and 1973. It was highly controversial, and it remains the only building in the centre of the city over 32 storeys high.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012222-85">[84] </a> The population of Paris dropped from 2,850,000 in 1954 to 2,152,000 in 1990, as middle-class families moved to the suburbs.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTECombeau2003107%E2%80%93108-86">[85] </a> A suburban railway network, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seau_Express_R%C3%A9gional">RER </a>(Réseau Express Régional), was built to complement the Métro; the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9riph%C3%A9rique_(Paris)">Périphérique </a>expressway encircling the city, was completed in 1973.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBellde-Shalit2011247-87">[86] </a>

Most of the postwar's Presidents of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fifth_Republic">Fifth Republic </a>wanted to leave their own monuments in Paris; President <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Pompidou">Georges Pompidou </a>started the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Georges_Pompidou">Centre Georges Pompidou </a>(1977), <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val%C3%A9ry_Giscard_d%27Estaing">Valéry Giscard d'Estaing </a>began the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Orsay">Musée d'Orsay </a>(1986); President <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mitterrand">François Mitterrand </a>, in power for 14 years, built the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C3%A9ra_Bastille">Opéra Bastille </a>(1985–1989), the new site of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que_nationale_de_France">Bibliothèque nationale de France </a> (1996), the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arche_de_la_D%C3%A9fense">Arche de la Défense </a>(1985–1989), and the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre_Pyramid">Louvre Pyramid </a>with its underground courtyard (1983–1989); <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Chirac">Jacques Chirac </a>(2006), the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_du_Quai_Branly_%E2%80%93_Jacques_Chirac">Musée du quai Branly </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTESarmant2012226%E2%80%93230-88">[87] </a>

In the early 21st century, the population of Paris began to increase slowly again, as more young people moved into the city. It reached 2.25 million in 2011. In March 2001, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Delano%C3%AB">Bertrand Delanoë </a>became the first Socialist Mayor of Paris. In 2007, in an effort to reduce car traffic in the city, he introduced the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9lib%27">Vélib' </a>, a system which rents bicycles for the use of local residents and visitors. Bertrand Delanoë also transformed a section of the highway along the Left Bank of the Seine into an urban promenade and park, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promenade_des_Berges_de_la_Seine">Promenade des Berges de la Seine </a>, which he inaugurated in June 2013.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-89">[88] </a>

In 2007, President <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Sarkozy">Nicolas Sarkozy </a>launched the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Paris">Grand Paris </a>project, to integrate Paris more closely with the towns in the region around it. After many modifications, the new area, named the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Paris">Metropolis of Grand Paris </a>, with a population of 6.7 million, was created on 1 January 2016.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Lichfield-90">[89] </a> In 2011, the City of Paris and the national government approved the plans for the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Paris_Express">Grand Paris Express </a>, totalling 205 kilometres (127 miles) of automated metro lines to connect Paris, the innermost three departments around Paris, airports and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV">high-speed rail (TGV) </a>stations, at an estimated cost of €35 billion.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-metro-91">[90] </a> The system is scheduled to be completed by 2030.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-92">[91] </a>

In January 2015, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda_in_the_Arabian_Peninsula">Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula </a>claimed <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2015_%C3%8Ele-de-France_attacks">attacks </a>across the Paris region.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-93">[92] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-94">[93] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_marches">1.5 million people marched in Paris </a>in a show of solidarity against terrorism and in support of freedom of speech.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-95">[94] </a> In November of the same year, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_2015_Paris_attacks">terrorist attacks </a>, claimed by ISIL,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-96">[95] </a> killed 130 people and injured more than 350.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-97">[96] </a>

Paris is located in northern central France, in a north-bending arc of the river Seine whose crest includes two islands, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_Saint-Louis">Île Saint-Louis </a>and the larger <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_la_Cit%C3%A9">Île de la Cité </a>, which form the oldest part of the city. The river's mouth on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Channel">English Channel </a>(La Manche ) is about 233 mi (375 km) downstream from the city. The city is spread widely on both banks of the river.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-City-98">[97] </a> Overall, the city is relatively flat, and the lowest point is 35 m (115 ft) <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Above_mean_sea_level">above sea level </a>. Paris has several prominent hills, the highest of which is <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmartre">Montmartre </a>at 130 m (427 ft).<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBlackmoreMcConnachie2004153-99">[98] </a>

Excluding the outlying parks of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_de_Boulogne">Bois de Boulogne </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_de_Vincennes">Bois de Vincennes </a>, Paris covers an oval measuring about 87 km2 (34 sq mi) in area, enclosed by the 35 km (22 mi) ring road, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulevard_P%C3%A9riph%C3%A9rique">Boulevard Périphérique </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTELawrenceGondrand201069-100">[99] </a> The city's last major annexation of outlying territories in 1860 not only gave it its modern form but also created the 20 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).<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-101">[100] </a> The metropolitan area of the city is 2,300 km2 (890 sq mi).<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-City-98">[97] </a>

Measured from the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometre_zero#France">'point zero' </a>in front of its <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame_de_Paris">Notre-Dame cathedral </a>, Paris by road is 450 kilometres (280 mi) southeast of London, 287 kilometres (178 mi) south of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais">Calais </a>, 305 kilometres (190 mi) southwest of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels">Brussels </a>, 774 kilometres (481 mi) north of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille">Marseille </a>, 385 kilometres (239 mi) northeast of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantes">Nantes </a>, and 135 kilometres (84 mi) southeast of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouen">Rouen </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-102">[101] </a>

Paris has a typical Western European <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_climate">oceanic climate </a>(<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification">Köppen </a>: Cfb ), which is affected by the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Current">North Atlantic Current </a>. The overall climate throughout the year is mild and moderately wet.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-103">[102] </a> Summer days are usually warm and pleasant with average temperatures between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F), and a fair amount of sunshine.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTELawrenceGondrand2010309-104">[103] </a> Each year, however, there are a few days when the temperature rises above 32 °C (90 °F). Longer periods of more intense heat sometimes occur, such as the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_European_heat_wave">heat wave of 2003 </a>when temperatures exceeded 30 °C (86 °F) for weeks, reached 40 °C (104 °F) on some days and rarely cooled down at night.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGoldstein20058-105">[104] </a> 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.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-106">[105] </a> In winter, sunshine is scarce; days are cool, and nights are cold but generally above freezing with low temperatures around 3 °C (37 °F).<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-107">[106] </a> Light night frosts are however quite common, but the temperature seldom dips below −5 °C (23 °F). Snow falls every year, but rarely stays on the ground. The city sometimes sees light snow or flurries with or without accumulation.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-108">[107] </a>

Paris has an average annual precipitation of 641 mm (25.2 in), and experiences light rainfall distributed evenly throughout the year. However, the city is known for intermittent, abrupt, heavy showers. The highest recorded temperature was 42.6 °C (108.7 °F) on 25 July 2019,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-109">[108] </a> and the lowest was −23.9 °C (−11.0 °F) on 10 December 1879.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-climate-110">[109] </a>

For almost all of its long history, except for a few brief periods, Paris was governed directly by representatives of the king, emperor, or president of France. The city was not granted municipal autonomy by the National Assembly until 1974.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996334-115">[114] </a> For all but 14 months from 1794 to 1977, Paris was the only French commune without a mayor, and thus had less autonomy than the smallest village. For most of the time from 1800 to 1977 (except briefly in 1848 and 1870–71), it was directly controlled by the departmental prefect (the prefect of the Seine until 1968, and the prefect of Paris from 1968 to 1977).

The first modern elected mayor of Paris was <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Chirac">Jacques Chirac </a>, elected 20 March 1977, becoming the city's first mayor since 1871 and only the fourth since 1794. The current mayor is <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hidalgo">Anne Hidalgo </a>, a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Party_(France)">socialist </a>, first elected <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Paris_municipal_election">5 April 2014 </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-auto2-116">[115] </a> and re-elected <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Paris_municipal_election">28 June 2020 </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-117">[116] </a>

The mayor of Paris is <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indirect_election">elected indirectly </a>by Paris voters; the voters of each of the city's 20 arrondissements elect members to the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conseil_de_Paris">Conseil de Paris </a> (Council of Paris), which subsequently elects the mayor. The council is composed of 163 members, with each arrondissement allocated a number of seats dependent upon its population, from 10 members for each of the least-populated arrondissements (1st through 9th) to 34 members for the most populated (the 15th). The council is elected using <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_list">closed list </a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation">proportional representation </a>in a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-round_system">two-round system </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Pariscouncil-118">[117] </a> Party lists winning an <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_majority">absolute majority </a>in the first round – or at least a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurality_(voting)">plurality </a>in the second round – automatically win half the seats of an arrondissement.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Pariscouncil-118">[117] </a> The remaining half of seats are distributed proportionally to all lists which win at least 5% of the vote using the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest_averages_method">highest averages method </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-119">[118] </a> This ensures that the winning party or coalition always wins a majority of the seats, even if they don't win an absolute majority of the vote.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Pariscouncil-118">[117] </a>

Once elected, the council plays a largely passive role in the city government, primarily because it meets only once a month. The council is divided between a coalition of the left of 91 members, including the socialists, communists, greens, and extreme left; and 71 members for the centre-right, plus a few members from smaller parties.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-120">[119] </a> [<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items">needs update </a> ]

Each of Paris's 20 arrondissements has its own town hall and a directly elected council (conseil d'arrondissement ), which, in turn, elects an arrondissement mayor.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEShales200716-121">[120] </a> The council of each arrondissement is composed of members of the Conseil de Paris and also members who serve only on the council of the arrondissement. The number of deputy mayors in each arrondissement varies depending upon its population. There are a total of 20 arrondissement mayors and 120 deputy mayors.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFierro1996334-115">[114] </a>

The budget of the city for 2018 is 9.5 billion Euros, with an expected deficit of 5.5 billion Euros. 7.9 billion Euros are designated for city administration, and 1.7 billion Euros for investment. The number of city employees increased from 40,000 in 2001 to 55,000 in 2018. The largest part of the investment budget is earmarked for public housing (262 million Euros) and for real estate (142 million Euros).<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-122">[121] </a>

The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Paris">Métropole du Grand Paris </a>, or simply <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Paris">Grand Paris </a>, formally came into existence on 1 January 2016.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-MGP-123">[122] </a> It is an administrative structure for co-operation between the City of Paris and its nearest suburbs. It includes the City of Paris, plus the communes of the three departments of the inner suburbs (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauts-de-Seine">Hauts-de-Seine </a>, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seine-Saint-Denis">Seine-Saint-Denis </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val-de-Marne">Val-de-Marne </a>), plus seven communes in the outer suburbs, including <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argenteuil">Argenteuil </a>in <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_d%27Oise">Val d'Oise </a>and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paray-Vieille-Poste">Paray-Vieille-Poste </a>in <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essonne">Essonne </a>, which were added to include the major airports of Paris. The Metropole covers 814 square kilometres (314 square miles) and has a population of 6.945 million persons.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-124">[123] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-lemoniteur1-125">[124] </a>

The new structure is administered by a Metropolitan Council of 210 members, not directly elected, but chosen by the councils of the member Communes. By 2020 its basic competencies will include urban planning, housing and protection of the environment.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-MGP-123">[122] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-lemoniteur1-125">[124] </a> The first president of the metropolitan council, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Ollier">Patrick Ollier </a>, a Republican and the mayor of the town of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rueil-Malmaison">Rueil-Malmaison </a>, was elected on 22 January 2016. Though the Metropole has a population of nearly seven million people and accounts for 25 percent of the GDP of France, it has a very small budget: just 65 million Euros, compared with eight billion Euros for the City of Paris.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-126">[125] </a>

The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Region">Region </a>of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_France">Île de France </a>, including Paris and its surrounding communities, is governed by the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Council_of_%C3%8Ele-de-France">Regional Council </a>, which has its headquarters in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is composed of 209 members representing the different communes within the region. On 15 December 2015, a list of candidates of the Union of the Right, a coalition of centrist and right-wing parties, led by <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val%C3%A9rie_P%C3%A9cresse">Valérie Pécresse </a>, narrowly won the regional election, defeating a coalition of Socialists and ecologists. The Socialists had governed the region for seventeen years. The regional council has 121 members from the Union of the Right, 66 from the Union of the Left and 22 from the extreme right National Front.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-127">[126] </a>

As the capital of France, Paris is the seat of France's <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_France">national government </a>. For the executive, the two chief officers each have their own official residences, which also serve as their offices. The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_France">President of the French Republic </a>resides at the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lys%C3%A9e_Palace">Élysée Palace </a>in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_arrondissement_of_Paris">8th arrondissement </a>,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-128">[127] </a> while the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_France">Prime Minister </a>'s seat is at the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B4tel_Matignon">Hôtel Matignon </a>in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_arrondissement_of_Paris">7th arrondissement </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-129">[128] </a> <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKnappWright200693%E2%80%9394-130">[129] </a> Government ministries are located in various parts of the city; many are located in the 7th arrondissement, near the Hôtel Matignon.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBorrus2012288-131">[130] </a>

Both houses of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Parliament">French Parliament </a>are located on the Rive Gauche. The upper house, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_(France)">Senate </a>, meets in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_du_Luxembourg">Palais du Luxembourg </a>in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_arrondissement_of_Paris">6th arrondissement </a>, while the more important lower house, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_(France)">National Assembly </a>, meets in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_Bourbon">Palais Bourbon </a>in the 7th arrondissement. The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Senate_of_France">President of the Senate </a>, the second-highest public official in France (the President of the Republic being the sole superior), resides in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petit_Luxembourg">Petit Luxembourg </a>, a smaller palace annexe to the Palais du Luxembourg.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-132">[131] </a>

France's highest courts are located in Paris. The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Cassation_(France)">Court of Cassation </a>, the highest court in the judicial order, which reviews criminal and civil cases, is located in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_de_Justice,_Paris">Palais de Justice </a>on the Île de la Cité ,<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-134">[133] </a> while the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_State_(France)">Conseil d'État </a>, 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 <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais-Royal">Palais-Royal </a>in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_arrondissement_of_Paris">1st arrondissement </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-135">[134] </a> The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Council_of_France">Constitutional Council </a>, an advisory body with ultimate authority on the constitutionality of laws and government decrees, also meets in the Montpensier wing of the Palais Royal.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-136">[135] </a>

Following the motto "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris";<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-partners1-137">[136] </a> the only <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_twinning">sister city </a>of Paris is <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome">Rome </a>, although Paris has partnership agreements with many other cities around the world.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-partners1-137">[136] </a>

The security of Paris is mainly the responsibility of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefecture_of_Police_of_Paris">Prefecture of Police of Paris </a>, a subdivision of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_the_Interior_(France)">Ministry of the Interior </a>. It supervises the units of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Police_(France)">National Police </a>who patrol the city and the three neighbouring departments. It is also responsible for providing emergency services, including the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Fire_Brigade">Paris Fire Brigade </a>. Its headquarters is on <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Louis_L%C3%A9pine">Place Louis Lépine </a>on the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_la_Cit%C3%A9">Île de la Cité </a>.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Presentation_Generale-138">[137] </a>

There are 30,200 officers under the prefecture, and a fleet of more than 6,000 vehicles, including police cars, motorcycles, fire trucks, boats and helicopters.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-Presentation_Generale-138">[137] </a> The national police has its own special unit for riot control and crowd control and security of public buildings, called the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnies_R%C3%A9publicaines_de_S%C3%A9curit%C3%A9">Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité </a>(CRS), a unit formed in 1944 right after the liberation of France. Vans of CRS agents are frequently seen in the centre of the city when there are demonstrations and public events.

The police are supported by the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gendarmerie">National Gendarmerie </a>, a branch of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Armed_Forces">French Armed Forces </a>, though their police operations now are supervised by the Ministry of the Interior. The traditional <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepi">kepis </a>of the gendarmes were replaced in 2002 with caps, and the force modernised, though they still wear kepis for ceremonial occasions.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-139">[138] </a>

Crime in Paris is similar to that in most large cities. Violent crime is relatively rare in the city centre. Political violence is uncommon, though very large demonstrations may occur in Paris and other French cities simultaneously. These demonstrations, usually managed by a strong police presence, can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#cite_note-140">[139] </a>

Paris - Wikipedia

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