Paris

Sister cities

• Rome

History

The Parisii people inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the area's major north–south trade routes crossed the Seine on the Île de la Cité, which gradually became an important trading centre. The Parisii traded with many river towns (some as far away as the Iberian Peninsula) and minted their own coins. Julius Caesar conquered the Paris Basin for the Roman Republic in 52 BC and began the Roman settlement on Paris's Left Bank. The Roman town was originally called Lutetia (more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum, "Lutetia of the Parisii", modern French Lutèce). It became a prosperous city with a forum, baths, temples, theatres, and an amphitheatre. By the end of the Western Roman Empire, the town was known as Parisius, a Latin name that would later become Paris in French. Christianity was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint Denis, the first Bishop of 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 (Latin "Hill of Martyrs"), 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. Clovis the Frank, the first king of the Merovingian dynasty, made the city his capital from 508. As the Frankish domination of Gaul began, there was a gradual immigration by the Franks to Paris, and the Parisian Francien dialects were born. Fortification of the Île de la Cité failed to avert sacking by Vikings in 845. Still, Paris's strategic importance—with its bridges preventing ships from passing—was established by successful defence in the Siege of Paris (885–886), for…

Geography

Paris is located in northern central France, in a north-bending arc of the river Seine, whose crest includes two islands, the Île Saint-Louis and the larger Île de la Cité, which form the oldest part of Paris. The river's mouth on the English Channel (La Manche) is about downstream from Paris. Paris is spread widely on both banks of the river. Overall, Paris is relatively flat, and the lowest point is above sea level. Paris has several prominent hills, the highest of which is Montmartre at . Excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, Paris covers an oval measuring about in area, enclosed by the ring road, the Boulevard Périphérique. Paris's last major annexation of outlying territories in 1860 gave it its modern form, and created the 20 clockwise-spiralling arrondissements (municipal boroughs). From the 1860 area of , the city limits were expanded marginally to in the 1920s. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes forest parks were annexed to the city, bringing its area to about . The metropolitan area is . typical of western Europe. This climate type features cool winters and warm summers, with average temperatures between in July. Each year there are a few days when the temperature rises above . Longer periods of more intense heat sometimes occur, such as the heat wave of 2003, when temperatures exceeded for weeks, reached on some days, and rarely cooled down at night. The weather in spring and autumn is generally mild during the day and cool at night, but is unstable. In winter, sunshine is scarce, days are cool, and nights are cold but generally above freezing, with low temperatures around . Light night frosts are quite common, but the temperature seldom dips below . Paris sometimes sees light snow or flurries with…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  20,314
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  20,231
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,363
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,706
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  16,397
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,606
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  15,328
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  14,081

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2005-06-01
  3 km N of Grandvilliers, France