Paris, France
Paris is the capital and most populous city in France, with an official population of 2,206,488 (2015). The city is a commune and department, and the heart of the Île-de-France region (colloquially known as the 'Paris Region'), whose 2016 population of 12,142,802 represented roughly 18 percent of the population of France.
Paris is a major European city and a global center for art, fashion, gastronomy and culture. Its 19th-century cityscape is crisscrossed by wide boulevards and the River Seine. The city is known for its cafe culture and designer boutiques along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural landmarks. Popular landmarks in the centre of the city include the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris; the Eiffel Tower; the Grand Palais and Petit Palais; the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées, and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur on the hill of Montmartre.
The city is a major rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports. The city's subway system, the Paris Métro, serves 5.23 million passengers daily, and is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro. Paris's Gare du Nord is one of the ten busiest railway stations in the world, with 262 million passengers in 2015.
The economy of the City of Paris is today is based largely on services and commerce. The top ten French companies listed in the Fortune Global 500 for 2015 all have their headquarters in the Paris Region; six in the central business district of the City of Paris.
The Paris Region economy has gradually shifted from industry to high-value-added service industries (finance, IT services) and high-tech manufacturing (electronics, optics, aerospace, etc.)
The majority of Paris's healthcare and social workers work at the hospitals and social housing concentrated in the peripheral 13th, 14th, 18th, 19th and 20th arrondissements
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