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Paris: Capital of France & Cultural Hub

Paris is the capital and largest city of France, located in northern central France. It has a population of over 2 million people and is a major global center for finance, commerce, fashion, science, and arts. Some of Paris's most famous tourist attractions are the Louvre museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur Basilica, and parks and buildings along the river Seine. Paris receives tens of millions of visitors per year, though tourism dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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58 views1 page

Paris: Capital of France & Cultural Hub

Paris is the capital and largest city of France, located in northern central France. It has a population of over 2 million people and is a major global center for finance, commerce, fashion, science, and arts. Some of Paris's most famous tourist attractions are the Louvre museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur Basilica, and parks and buildings along the river Seine. Paris receives tens of millions of visitors per year, though tourism dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uploaded by

Alban Bani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Paris 

(French pronunciation: [paʁi] ( listen)) is the capital and most populous city of France, with an


estimated population of 2,175,601 residents as of 2018, in an area of more than 105 square kilometres (41
square miles).[4] Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres
of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, gastronomy, science and arts. The City of Paris is the centre and
seat of government of the Île-de-France, or Paris Region, which has an estimated population of 12,174,880, or
about 18 percent of the population of France as of 2017.[5] The Paris Region had a GDP of €709 billion ($808
billion) in 2017.[6] According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living Survey in 2018, Paris
was the second most expensive city in the world, after Singapore, and ahead of Zürich, Hong
Kong, Oslo and Geneva.[7] Another source ranked Paris as most expensive, on a par with Singapore and Hong
Kong, in 2018.[8][9]
Paris is a major railway, highway and air-transport hub served by two international airports: Paris–Charles de
Gaulle (the second busiest airport in Europe) and Paris–Orly.[10][11] Opened in 1900, the city's subway system,
the Paris Métro, serves 5.23 million passengers daily;[12] it is the second busiest metro system in Europe after
the Moscow Metro. Gare du Nord is the 24th busiest railway station in the world, but the first located outside
Japan, with 262 million passengers in 2015.[13] Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural
landmarks: the Louvre was the most visited art museum in the world in 2019, with 9.6 million visitors.[14][15] The
number of visitors plunged by 72 percent to 2.7 million visitors in 2020, due to the COVID virus and the drop in
the number of foreign visitors, but it remained the most-visited art museum in 2020.[16] The Musée
d'Orsay, Musée Marmottan Monet, and Musée de l'Orangerie are noted for their collections of
French Impressionist art. The Pompidou Centre Musée National d'Art Moderne has the largest collection
of modern and contemporary art in Europe. The Musée Rodin and Musée Picasso exhibit the works of two
noted Parisians. The historical district along the Seine in the city centre is classified as a UNESCO Heritage
Site, and popular landmarks there included the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris on the Île de la Cité, now
closed for renovation after the 15 April 2019 fire. Other popular tourist sites include the Gothic royal chapel
of Sainte-Chapelle, also on the Île de la Cité; the Eiffel Tower, constructed for the Paris Universal Exposition of
1889; the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, built for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900; the Arc de
Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées, and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur on the hill of Montmartre.
Paris received 38 million visitors in 2019, measured by hotel stays, with the largest numbers of foreign visitors
coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and China.[17] It was ranked as the second most
visited travel destination in the world in 2019, after Bangkok and just ahead of London.[18] In 2020, however, due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism to Paris and its region fell dramatically to 17.5 million visitors, with a 78
percent drop in foreign tourists measured by hotel stays, and a drop of 56 percent in French guests, for an
overall drop of 68 percent.[19]

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