Paris City Government

The city of Paris has more than 2,2 million inhabitants. This number is heavily deflated: if you add the entire urban area of Paris, it increases to more than 12 million. That’s more than 2,150,000 inhabitants per square kilometer!

Between 1950 and 1975, many Spanish and Portuguese people moved to Paris. Most of the immigrants from Morocco, Algeria and Egypt moved to Paris between 1950 and 2000. After the Vietnam War, many Vietnamese fled to Paris, resulting in a large Vietnamese community in the city. Paris has always held an open approach towards immigrants. Most inhabitants of foreign origin live in the 12th , 19th and 20th arrondissement of Paris.

Paris isn’t just France’s political capital. It is also its economic center. Paris is an ever-developing city, that hasn’t stopped growing since it was founded. Plans were made to decentralize Paris, but that has not happened yet. The economy of Paris is very dependent on its touristic infrastructure. A good 13% of Paris inhabitants are jobless.

Paris is one of the world’s motors in global economy. If Paris was a country, it would be the 17th largest economy of the world, comparable to the Netherlands. In 2009 Paris was voted ‘most expensive city in the world’ for products and services. Paris’ population density is comparable with the more crowded districts of Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.