Paris | french

Paris

Situated on the Seine River, in the north of the country, it is in the center of the Île-de-France region, also known as the région parisienne, “Parisian Region". Paris itself is only 40 square miles but has a population of over 2 million people. The Paris Region, however, has a population of 12 million people, or just over 18% of the population of France.

Paris is the home of the most visited art museum in the world, the Louvre, as well as the Musée d'Orsay, noted for its collection of French Impressionist art, and the Musée National d'Art Moderne, a museum of modern and contemporary art. Other notable landmarks of Paris include Notre Dame Cathedral (12th century); the Sainte-Chapelle (13th century); the Eiffel Tower (1889); and the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur on Montmartre (1914). In 2014 Paris received 22.4 million visitors, making it one of the world's top tourist destinations.

The city is also known for its fashion, particularly the twice-yearly Paris Fashion Week, and for its haute cuisine and three-star restaurants. Most of France's major universities are located in Paris, as are France's major newspapers. The Paris Region had a GDP of €612 billion (US$760 billion) in 2012, accounting for 30.1 percent of the GDP of France, and ranking it as one of the wealthiest five regions in Europe; it is the banking and financial center of France, and contains the headquarters of 30 companies in the Fortune Global 500.

The football (soccer) club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby club Stade Français are both based in Paris and play in national and international leagues. The 80,000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located here. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros. Paris played host to the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics, the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

One of the most famous cities in the world, Paris was founded in the 3rd century BC by a Celtic tribe called the Parisii. By the 12th century, Paris was the largest city in the western world, a prosperous trading centre, and the home of the University of Paris, one of the first in Europe. In the 18th century, it was the center stage for the French Revolution, and became an important center of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts. 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. People who live there are called “Parisians”.