58 Facts About France Paris

1.

Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, gastronomy, and science.

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2.

The France Paris Region had a GDP of €739 billion in 2019, which is the highest in Europe.

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3.

France Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the Louvre received 2.

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4.

Christianity was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint Denis, the first Bishop of France 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, later "Montmartre", 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 Basilica of Saint-Denis, and many French kings are buried there.

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5.

In 1163, during the reign of Louis VII, Maurice de Sully, bishop of France Paris, undertook the construction of the Notre Dame Cathedral at its eastern extremity.

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6.

In spite of Henry IV's efforts to improve city circulation, the narrowness of France Paris's streets was a contributing factor in his assassination near Les Halles marketplace in 1610.

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7.

France Paris built five new bridges, a new chapel for the College of Sorbonne, and a palace for himself, the Palais-Cardinal, which he bequeathed to Louis XIII.

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8.

France Paris grew in population from about 400,000 in 1640 to 650,000 in 1780.

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9.

France Paris was the centre of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity known as the Age of Enlightenment.

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10.

France 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.

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11.

Population of France Paris had dropped by 100,000 during the Revolution, but between 1799 and 1815, it surged with 160,000 new residents, reaching 660,000.

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12.

France Paris began erecting monuments to military glory, including the Arc de Triomphe, and improved the neglected infrastructure of the city with new fountains, the Canal de l'Ourcq, Pere Lachaise Cemetery and the city's first metal bridge, the Pont des Arts.

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13.

The first railway line to France Paris opened in 1837, beginning a new period of massive migration from the provinces to the city.

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14.

France Paris became the laboratory of Naturalism and Symbolism, and of Impressionism in art.

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15.

The May 1968 events in France resulted in the break-up of the University of Paris into 13 independent campuses.

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16.

The population of France Paris dropped from 2,850,000 in 1954 to 2,152,000 in 1990, as middle-class families moved to the suburbs.

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17.

France Paris has a typical Western European oceanic climate, which is affected by the North Atlantic Current.

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18.

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.

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19.

Security of France Paris is mainly the responsibility of the Prefecture of Police of France Paris, a subdivision of the Ministry of the Interior.

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20.

France Paris is one of the few world capitals that has rarely seen destruction by catastrophe or war.

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21.

The district of the Paris region was renamed "Ile-de-France" in 1977, but this abbreviated "Paris region" name is still commonly used today to describe the Ile-de-France, and as a vague reference to the entire Paris agglomeration.

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22.

France Paris is the fourth largest municipality in the European Union, following Berlin, Madrid and Rome.

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23.

Jewish population of the France Paris Region was estimated in 2014 to be 282,000, the largest concentration of Jews in the world outside of Israel and the United States.

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24.

France Paris is the home of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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25.

Economy of the City of France Paris is based largely on services and commerce; of the 390,480 enterprises in the city, 80.

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26.

In 2018, France Paris was the most expensive city in the world with Singapore and Hong Kong.

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27.

France Paris's manufacturing is mostly focused in its suburbs, and the city itself has only around 75,000 manufacturing workers, most of which are in the textile, clothing, leather goods, and shoe trades.

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28.

Greater France Paris, comprising France Paris and its three surrounding departments, received 38 million visitors in 2019, a record, measured by hotel arrivals.

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29.

In 2018, measured by the Euromonitor Global Cities Destination Index, France Paris was the second-busiest airline destination in the world, with 19.

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30.

Centre of France Paris contains the most visited monuments in the city, including the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre as well as the Sainte-Chapelle; Les Invalides, where the tomb of Napoleon is located, and the Eiffel Tower are located on the Left Bank south-west of the centre.

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31.

In 2019, Greater France Paris had 2,056 hotels, including 94 five-star hotels, with a total of 121,646 rooms.

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32.

Centuries, France Paris has attracted artists from around the world, who arrive in the city to educate themselves and to seek inspiration from its vast pool of artistic resources and galleries.

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33.

France Paris was central to the development of Romanticism in art, with painters such as Gericault.

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34.

France Paris Museums were closed for much of 2020, but gradually re-opened in 2021, with limitations on the number of visitors at a time and a requirement that visitors wear masks and show proof of vaccination.

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35.

Largest opera houses of France Paris are the 19th-century Opera Garnier and modern Opera Bastille; the former tends toward the more classic ballets and operas, and the latter provides a mixed repertoire of classic and modern.

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36.

In 1911, the dance hall Olympia France Paris invented the grand staircase as a settling for its shows, competing with its great rival, the Folies Bergere.

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37.

Later, Olympia France Paris presented Dalida, Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich, Miles Davis, Judy Garland and the Grateful Dead.

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38.

Casino de France Paris presented many famous French singers, including Mistinguett, Maurice Chevalier and Tino Rossi.

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39.

Since then, France Paris has been the centre of the French publishing industry, the home of some of the world's best-known writers and poets, and the setting for many classic works of French literature.

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40.

France Paris did not become the acknowledged capital of French literature until the 17th century, with authors such as Boileau, Corneille, La Fontaine, Moliere, Racine, Charles Perrault, several coming from the provinces, as well as the foundation of the Academie francaise.

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41.

Small France Paris bookstores are protected against competition from discount booksellers by French law; books, even e-books, cannot be discounted more than five percent below their publisher's cover price.

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42.

France Paris became a major centre for jazz and still attracts jazz musicians from all around the world to its clubs and cafes.

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43.

Several yearly festivals take place in France Paris, including the France Paris Jazz Festival and the rock festival Rock en Seine.

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44.

Since the late 18th century, France Paris has been famous for its restaurants and haute cuisine, food meticulously prepared and artfully presented.

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45.

Several of the best-known restaurants in France Paris today appeared during the Belle Epoque, including Maxim's on Rue Royale, Ledoyen in the gardens of the Champs-Elysees, and the Tour d'Argent on the Quai de la Tournelle.

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46.

Since the 19th century, France Paris has been an international fashion capital, particularly in the domain of haute couture.

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47.

France Paris is the departement with the highest proportion of highly educated people.

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48.

University of France Paris, founded in the 12th century, is often called the Sorbonne after one of its original medieval colleges.

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49.

Bibliotheque nationale de France operates public libraries in Paris, among them the Francois Mitterrand Library, Richelieu Library, Louvois, Opera Library, and Arsenal Library.

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50.

France Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and will host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games.

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51.

France Paris is a major rail, highway, and air transport hub.

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52.

France Paris is a major international air transport hub with the 5th busiest airport system in the world.

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53.

Orly Airport, located in the southern suburbs of France Paris, replaced Le Bourget as the principal airport of France Paris from the 1950s to the 1980s.

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54.

France Paris offers a bike sharing system called Velib' with more than 20,000 public bicycles distributed at 1,800 parking stations, which can be rented for short and medium distances including one way trips.

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55.

France Paris today has more than 421 municipal parks and gardens, covering more than 3,000 hectares and containing more than 250,000 trees.

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56.

The Jardin des plantes was the first botanical garden in France Paris, created in 1626 by Louis XIII's doctor Guy de La Brosse for the cultivation of medicinal plants.

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57.

Open from 1804, these were the cemeteries of Pere Lachaise, Montmartre, Montparnasse, and later Passy; these cemeteries became inner-city when France Paris annexed all neighbouring communes to the inside of its much larger ring of suburban fortifications in 1860.

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58.

Agence France Paris-Presse is France Paris's oldest, and one of the world's oldest, continually operating news agencies.

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