Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres (41 square miles) and a population of about 2,3 million within its administrative limits. The city is both a commune and department and forms the centre and headquarters of the Ile-de-France, or Paris Region, which has an area of 12,012 square kilometres (4,638 square miles) and a population in 2016 of 12,142,802, comprising roughly 18% of the population of France.

By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europe’s major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today.