Paris (UK: /prs/; US:

/prs/; French: [pai] (

listen))

is the capital and most populous city

of France. Situated on the Seine River, in the north of the country, it is at the heart of the le-deFrance region, also known as the rgion parisienne[5] (Paris Region in English).[6][7] The city of
Paris has a population of 2,249,975 inhabitants (January 2011),[2]while its metropolitan
area is one of the largest population centres in Europe, with 12,292,895 inhabitants at the
January 2011 census.[4] About 2.7 million of this total were born outside Metropolitan France and
represent a multitude of different countries and territories from around the world.[8]
Paris was founded in the 3rd century BC by a Celtic people called the Parisii, who gave the city
its name. By the 12th century, Paris was the largest city in the western world, a prosperous
trading centre, the home of the University of Paris, and one of the most influential centres of
learning in Europe. In the eighteenth century, it was the centre stage for the Enlightenment,
the French Revolution, and an important centre of commerce, fashion, science, and the arts.[9]
The Paris Region has one of the largest GDPs in the world, 612 billion (US$760 billion) in
2012.[10] It hosts the world headquarters of twenty-nine of the largest companies in the world listed
in the Fortune Global 500.[11] Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural
centres and has a global influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, science, and the
arts.[12] Paris is also one the world's leading tourist destinations; the City of Paris welcomed 29.3
million tourists in 2013.[13] The Paris Region, which includes Disneyland Paris, the most visited
tourist attraction in France, welcomed 32.3 million visitors.[14] Paris is the third largest earner from
tourism worldwide, after London and New York.[15]
Paris in 2013 was home to three of the ten most visited art museums in the world: the Louvre,
the Muse d'Orsay, and the Centre Georges Pompidou. It also is the home of several of the most
visited architectural landmarks, including the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Paris (12th
century); Sainte-Chapelle (13th century); the Eiffel Tower (1889); and the Basilica of SacreCoeur on Montmartre (1919).[16]
Paris is known for its fashion designers, high-end boutiques, and the twice-yearly Paris Fashion
Week. It is world-renowned for its haute cuisine, and celebrated three-star restaurants. Most of
France's major universities and Grandes coles are in Paris or its suburbs, and most of France's
major newspapers, including Le Monde, Le Figaro, andLibration, are based in the city, while Le
Parisien in the suburb Saint-Ouen.
Paris is home to the association football club Paris Saint-Germain FC and the rugby
union club Stade Franais. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennistournament on
the red clay of Roland Garros. Paris played host to the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics,
the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cup, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The 80,000-seat Stade de
France in Saint-Denis was built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The city is a major rail, highway,
and air-transport hub, served by the two international airports Paris-Charles de Gaulle and ParisOrly. Opened in 1900, the city's subway system, the Paris Mtro, serves 5.23 million passengers
daily. Paris is the hub of the national road network, and is surrounded by three orbital roads:

the Boulevard Priphrique, the A86 motorway, and the Francilienne motorway in the outer
suburbs.