Paris Guide - Locations In France

Paris is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in the north of the country, at the heart of the ^Ile-de-France region. Within its administrative limits (the 20 arrondissements), Paris has a population of about 2,230,000, and its metropolitan area is one of the largest population centres in Europe, with more than 12 million inhabitants.

An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris had become, by the 12th century, one of Europe's foremost centres of learning and the arts and was the largest city in the Western world until the turn of the 18th century. Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.

Paris and the Paris region account for a quarter of the gross domestic product of France and has one of the largest city GDPs in the world, with EUR572 billion in 2010. Considered as green and highly liveable, the city and its region are the world's leading tourism destination, hosting four UNESCO World Heritage Sites and many international organizations, including UNESCO and the European Space Agency.

• Eiffel Tower - More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889, including 6,719,200 in 2006.The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.
• Louvre - The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums, and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris.
• Notre Dame de Paris - Notre Dame de Paris is often reputed to be one of the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture in both France and in Europe as a whole, and the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture.
• Arc de Triomphe - The Arc de Triomphe de l''Etoile is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the Champs-'Elysées.
• Palace of Versailles - Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.
• Seine - On both sides of the Seine building full of distinctive personality architectural form, showing they are shared by China and the United States style.
• Paris Opera - Large-scale, beautifully detailed, magnificent, known as the theater of a painting, marble and gold ornaments each other, is one of the typical architecture of Napoleon III.