Paris
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Paris is the capital city of France. Situated on the banks of the river Seine in north-central France, it is also the capital of the Île-de-France région (also known as “Paris Region”), which encompasses Paris and its suburbs. Paris had an estimated mid-2004 population of 2,144,700. The Paris urban area, extending well beyond the city boundaries, has an estimated population of 9.93 million. The Paris metropolitan area stood at 11.5 million in 1999 and is one of the most populated urban areas in Europe.
The Paris region is France's centre of economic activity. It produces more than a quarter of France's wealth, with a GDP of €478.7 billion (US$595.3 billion) in 2005. With La Défense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe, the Paris urban area (unité urbaine) also hosts the head offices of almost half of the major French companies, as well as the offices of major international firms. Paris is a leading cultural, business and political centre and has an influence in fashion, gastronomy and the arts. It is regarded as one of the major global cities, with the headquarters of international organisations such as UNESCO, the OECD, the ICC, or the informal Paris Club.
Paris is renowned for its neo-classical architecture, but its most famous landmark by far is the 324 metre (1,063 ft) Eiffel Tower on the banks of the Seine. Dubbed “the City of Light” (la Ville Lumière) since the 19th century, Paris is regarded by many as one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world. It is also the most visited city in the world with more than 30 million foreign visitors per year.
Paris has an Oceanic climate and is affected by the North Atlantic Drift, so the city enjoys a temperate climate that rarely sees extremely high or low temperatures. The average yearly high temperature is about 15 °C (59 °F), and yearly lows tend to remain around an average of 7 °C (45 °F). The highest temperature ever, recorded on 28 July 1948, was 40.4 °C (104.7 °F), and the lowest was a –23.9 °C (–11.0 °F) temperature reached on 10 December 1879. The Paris region has recently seen temperatures reaching both extremes, with the heat wave of 2003 and the cold wave of 2006.
Rainfall can occur at any time of the year, and Paris is known for its sudden showers. The city sees an average yearly precipitation of 641.6 mm (25.2 inches). Snowfall is a rare occurrence, usually appearing in the coldest months of January or February (but has been recorded as late as April), and almost never accumulates enough to make a covering that will last more than a day.
Urbanism and architecture
Modern Paris is the result of a vast mid-19th-century urban remodelling. For centuries it had been a labyrinth of narrow streets and half-timber houses, but beginning in 1852, the Baron Haussmann's vast urbanisation levelled entire quarters to make way for wide avenues lined with neo-classical stone buildings of bourgeoise standing; most of this 'new' Paris is the Paris we see today. These Second Empire plans are in many cases still actual, as the city of Paris imposes the then-defined “alignement” law (imposed position defining a predetermined street width) on many new constructions. A building's height was also defined according to the width of the street it lines, and Paris' building code has seen few changes since the mid-19th century to allow for higher constructions. It is for this reason that Paris is mainly a “flat” city.
Paris' unchanging borders, strict building codes and lack of developable land have together contributed in creating a phenomenon called muséification (or “museumification”) as, at the same time as they strive to preserve Paris' historical past, existing laws make it difficult to create within city limits the larger buildings and utilities needed for a growing population. Many of Paris' institutions and economic infrastructure are already located in, or are planning on moving to, the suburbs. The financial (La Défense) business district, the main food wholesale market (Rungis), major renowned schools (École Polytechnique, HEC, ESSEC, INSEAD, etc.), world famous research laboratories (in Saclay or Évry), the largest sport stadium (Stade de Francé), and some ministries (namely the Ministry of Transportation) are located outside of the city of Paris. The National Archives of France are due to relocate to the northern suburbs before 2010.
Paris has over 2,400 km of underground passageways dedicated to the evacuation of Paris' liquid wastes. Most of these date from the late 19th century, a result of the combined plans of the Préfet Haussmann and the civil engineer Eugène Belgrand to improve the then very unsanitary conditions in the Capital. Maintained by a round-the-clock service since their construction, only a small percentage of Paris' sewer réseau has needed complete renovation. The entire Paris network of sewers and collectors has been managed since the late 20th century by a computerised network system, known under the acronym “G.A.AS.PAR”, that controls all of Paris' water distribution.
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