1.
Communes of France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
2.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
5.
Regions of France
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France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
6.
Departments of France
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In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
7.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
8.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
9.
Kilometre zero
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In many countries, Kilometre Zero or similar terms in other languages is a particular location, from which distances are traditionally measured. They were markers where drivers could set their odometers to follow directions in early guide books, a similar notion also exists for individual roads, and for individual cities. The most famous such marker of any part survives from ancient times is the Milliarium Aureum of the Roman Empire. Argentina marks Kilometre Zero with a monolith in Plaza Congreso in Buenos Aires. The work of the brothers Máximo and José Fioravanti, the structure was placed on the side of Plaza Lorea on October 2,1935. Highways in Australia are usually built and maintained by the states and territories, in the state of New South Wales, highway distances were traditionally measured from a sandstone obelisk in Macquarie Place in Sydney, designed by Francis Greenway in 1818. The obelisk lists the distances to locations in New South Wales at the time. For the railway, it is located at platform 1 of Sydney Central Station, the Byzantine Empire had an arched building, the Milion of Constantinople, as the starting-place for the measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the other cities. In the 1960s, some fragments were discovered and erected in its location, now in the district of Eminönü, Istanbul. The kilometre zero marker of the origin of the Trans-Canada Highway is located in St. Johns. Coordinates, 47°33′39. 78″N 52°42′44. 33″W Altitude,14.02 m The western origin of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria, Mile zero of the Trans Canada Trail is located adjacent to the Railway Coastal Museum in St. Johns, Newfoundland. Coordinates, 47°33′14. 0″N 52°42′50. 5″W Altitude,4.5 m Mile zero for the Alaska Highway is located in Dawson Creek, all national distances from Santiago originate at the Km.0 plaque, located at the Plaza de Armas main square in downtown Santiago. Chiles Autopista Central – Eje Norte-Sur has its Kilometre Zero at the intersection with the Alameda del Libertador Bernardo OHiggins, China Railways 0 km is located at the entrance to the Fengtai Yard on the Jingguang Line just outside Beijing. This point was historically the start of the line, the marker is a concrete marker. The kilometre zero point for highways is located at Tiananmen Square and it is marked with a plaque in the ground, with the four cardinal points, four animals, and Zero Point of Highways, China in English and Chinese. Cubas Kilometre Zero is located in its capital Havana in El Capitolio, embedded in the floor in the centre of the main hall is a replica 25 carat diamond, which marks Kilometre Zero for Cuba. It was replaced in El Capitolio by a replica in 1973, dR-1, DR-2, and DR-3 all depart from Kilometre Zero from Santo Domingos Parque de Independencia. Kilometre Zero in Egypt is located at the Attaba Square Post Office in 1st of Abdel Khaliq Sarwat Pasha Street, Cairo
10.
La Queue-en-Brie
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La Queue-en-Brie is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 17.9 km from the center of Paris, La Queue-en-Brie is served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to La Queue-en-Brie is Émerainville – Pontault-Combault station on Paris RER line E and this station is located in the neighboring commune of Pontault-Combault,3.7 km from the town center of La Queue-en-Brie. The commune has five groups of schools, with a combined total of 1,500 students. There are four preschools and five elementary schools, the school groups Pauline Kergomard, Jean Zay, and Lamartine each have a preschool and elementary. Gournay is preschool only, while Pasteur and Jean Jaures are elementary only, collège Jean Moulin serves as the communal junior high school. Senior high/sixth-form students are served by Lycée Champlain in Chennevières-sur-Marne, communes of the Val-de-Marne department INSEE Mayors of Essonne Association La Queue-en-Brie
11.
Villiers-sur-Marne
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Villiers-sur-Marne is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 14.8 km from the center of Paris, the commune of Villiers-sur-Marne is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one of the four sectors of the new town of Marne-la-Vallée. Villiers-sur-Marne is served by Villiers-sur-Marne – Le Plessis-Trévise station on Paris RER line E, there are seven preschools and seven elementary schools. Villiers-sur-Marne is twinned with Entroncamento in Portugal and Friedberg in Germany, until November 2011, it was also twinned with Bishops Stortford in the United Kingdom, when the English town controversially cut its links with Villiers-sur-Marne, as well as Friedberg. Vanessa Paradis, French singer, and ex wife of Johnny Depp, communes of the Val-de-Marne department Notes Sources INSEE Mayors of Essonne Association Official website
12.
RER E
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The RER E is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving Paris, France. The line runs from the western terminus Haussmann St-Lazare to the eastern terminuses Chelles-Gournay, RER E opened on 12 July 1999 between Haussmann – St-Lazare and Chelles-Gournay. The construction included a 2 km tunnel between Haussmann – St-Lazare and Magenta, the line was first extended with a new branch from Noisy le Sec to Villiers-sur-Marne on 30 August 1999. This branch was extended to Tournan on 14 December 2003, on 13 December 2015, Rosa Parks station opened in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. RER E is to be extended from Haussmann – St-Lazare to La Défense, from where it will take over the branch of RER A to Nanterre, Sartrouville and it would then take over a section of SNCF tracks to reach Mantes-la-Jolie. Partial revenue service is expected to begin in 2018, full service in 2020, an eight kilometre tunnel will be dug between Haussmann – St-Lazare and La Défense. An intermediate station at Porte Maillot will offer a transfer to RER C, the extension is expected to reduce the load on central sections of RER B and RER A by 10-15%. Additionally, transfers will be shifted away from current transfer hub Châtelet, like all the other RER lines, each train is named after the route it takes. The first letter designates the destination, the second whether the train will call at every station or not. T corresponds to Tournan, V corresponds to Villiers-sur-Marne, C corresponds to Chelles — Gournay, regular names of services of trains departing from Paris are, among others, TAVA, VOHE, COHI
13.
Burladingen
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Burladingen is a town in the Zollernalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 24 km southwest of Reutlingen, River Fehla is a tributary to River Lauchert, which is a tributary to River Danube. The 14 km long Killertal valley is named after the village of Killer, the river in the valley is the Starzel, a tributary to the Neckar in Baden-Württemberg. In the evening of 2 June 2008, three women drowned in the Starzel following heavy rainfalls and disastrous flooding, english language news reports attempted to give the story a bit of drama by misleadingly referring to the Killertal as the Killer Valley. Burladingen is the seat of Germanys biggest T-shirt and tennis clothing manufacturer Trigema and it is the only clothing enterprise left in the city, although Burladingen was a centre of textile industry in Germany. Johann Evangelist Maier, born in Hörschwag, Reichstag and Landtag deputy of the German Center Party Wolfgang Grupp, entrepreneur Franz Grupp, manager and owner of todays company Trigema
14.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
15.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
16.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
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Paris metropolitan area
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The Paris metropolitan area is a statistical area that describes the reach of commuter movement to and from Paris and its surrounding suburbs. From 2011, the INSEE classified its largest aires urbaines into aires métropolitaines and grandes aires urbaines, from then, Paris became Frances largest metropolitan area. This latter initiative created the Métropole du Grand Paris, a Paris-centred intercommunal cooperation effort enacted from January 1st,2016. The area had a population of 12,405,426 as of the January 2013 census, nearly 19% of Frances population resides in the region. The Paris metropolitan area expands at each population census due to the population growth in the Paris area. New communes surrounding Paris are included when they meet the 40% commuter threshold required, by the 1999 census the Paris metropolitan area was slightly larger than Île-de-France and had 11,174,743 inhabitants in 14,518 km². By the 2012 census it had reached 12,341,418 inhabitants in 17,174 km², the table below shows the population growth of the Paris urban area, i. e. Paris and the densely built municipalities surrounding it. The table below shows the growth of the Paris metropolitan area, i. e. the urban area. Grand Paris Metropolitan Areas of France Île-de-France Document about the functioning of Paris Metropolitan Area Document about the extension of Paris Metropolitan Area
18.
Argenteuil
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Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 12.3 km from the center of Paris, Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-dOise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil. Argenteuil was founded as a convent in the 7th century, the monastery that arose from the convent was destroyed during the French Revolution. A rural escape for Parisians, it is now a suburb of Paris, painters made Argenteuil famous, including Claude Monet, Jean-Étienne Delacroix, Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte, Alfred Sisley and Georges Braque. As of 2016 the communes schools have over 12,000 students, the Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental de Musique, Danse et Théâtre is located in Argenteuil. André Bon is one of its former students
19.
Boulogne-Billancourt
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Boulogne-Billancourt is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 8.2 km from the centre of Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt. With an average income in 2013 of €47,592, nearly twice the French average of €25,548. Boulogne-Billancourt is the most populous suburb of Paris and one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe, formerly an important industrial site, it has successfully reconverted into business services and is now home to major communication companies headquartered in the Val de Seine business district. The original name of the commune was Boulogne-sur-Seine, before the 14th century, Boulogne was a small village called Menuls-lès-Saint-Cloud. The church, meant to become a pilgrimage centre closer to Paris than the distant city of Boulogne-sur-Mer, was named Notre-Dame de Boulogne la Petite, gradually, the village of Menuls-lès-Saint-Cloud became known as Boulogne-la-Petite, and later as Boulogne-sur-Seine. In 1924, Boulogne-sur-Seine was officially renamed Boulogne-Billancourt to reflect the development of the neighbourhood of Billancourt annexed in 1860. As for the name Billancourt, it was recorded for the first time in 1150 as Bullencort and it comes from Medieval Latin cortem, accusative of cors, meaning enclosure, estate, suffixed to the Germanic patronym Buolo, thus having the meaning of estate of Buolo. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighbouring communes, on that occasion, the communes of Auteuil and Passy were disbanded and divided between Boulogne-Billancourt and the city of Paris. Boulogne-sur-Seine received a part of the territory of Passy. Some of the events of the 1900 Summer Olympics took place in Boulogne-Billancourt. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne, which was divided between the communes of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine, was annexed in its entirety by the city of Paris. On that occasion, Boulogne-Billancourt, to which most of the Bois de Boulogne belonged, Boulogne-Billancourt is famous for being the birthplace of three major French industries, cinema, automobile with Renault at Île Seguin, and aircraft. It is also famous for being the setting of the TV show Code Lyoko, with the city of Sèvres, Boulogne-Billancourt is part of the communauté dagglomération Val de Seine. Boulogne-Billancourt is served by two stations on Paris Métro Line 10, Boulogne – Jean Jaurès and Boulogne – Pont de Saint-Cloud and it is also served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 9, Marcel Sembat, Billancourt, and Pont de Sèvres. The Musée Albert-Kahn at 14, rue du Port, Boulogne-Billancourt is a museum and includes four hectares of gardens. The museum also includes photographs and film. The Musée des Années Trente is a museum of artistic and industrial objects from the 1930s, see also, Enseignement à Boulogne-Billancourt The public collèges in the commune include Jacqueline-Auriol, Bartholdi, Paul-Landowski, and Jean-Renoir
20.
Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Montreuil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.6 km from the center of Paris and it is the fourth most populous suburb of Paris. Montreuil is located near the Bois de Vincennes park, the name Montreuil was recorded for the first time in a royal edict of 722 as Monasteriolum, meaning little monastery in Medieval Latin. The settlement of Montreuil started as a group of houses built around a small monastery, under the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XVI the Peach Walls which provided the royal court with the fruits were located in Montreuil. It was also home to the Lumière brothers and George Méliès whose workshops were located in lower Montreuil. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes, on that occasion, the commune of Charonne was disbanded and divided between the city of Paris, Montreuil, and Bagnolet. Montreuil received a part of the territory of Charonne. Today Montreuil is divided into districts, Le bas Montreuil (which joins together the old workshops. Decorations in the state school Voltaire by Maurice Boitel, montreuils inhabitants often exaggeratedly nickname the town the second Malian town after Bamako, or sometimes Mali-sous-Bois or Bamako-sur-Seine even if the Seine doesnt cross the town. 10% of the population is Malian or has Malian origins, the city is divided into two cantons, canton of Montreuil-1 and canton of Montreuil-2. Video game company Ubisoft has its head office in Montreuil. The Air France Paris office is in Montreuil, the communes educational services are operated out of the Opale B Administrative Building. Montreuil has eight collèges, three lycées, two techniques, and the IUT of the University of Paris 8. Robert-Desnos, in a park near the town hall, is the largest library in the commune. It houses a disco and Internet access points, daniel-Renoult, near Montreau Park, serves the Montreau-Ruffins Théophile Sueur community. Colonel-Fabien, in the Ramenas-Fabien-Léo Lagrange community, is near the Intercommunal Hospital, paul-Eluard is near the La Grande Porte shopping centre and is within 50 metres of the Robespierre Paris Métro station and Rue de Paris. Montreuil is twinned with, Bistriţa in Romania Cottbus in Germany Hornec gang Gaston-Auguste Schweitzer Birthplace of this sculptor Pierre de Montreuil INSEE Official website
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Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.4 km from the centre of Paris, Saint-Denis is a subprefecture of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, being the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is home to the necropolis of the Basilica of Saint Denis and was also the location of the associated abbey. It is also home to Frances national football and rugby stadium, Saint-Denis is a formerly industrial suburb currently changing its economic base. Inhabitants of Saint-Denis are called Dionysiens, until the 3rd century, Saint-Denis was a small settlement called Catolacus or Catulliacum, probably meaning estate of Catullius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. About 250 AD, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis, was martyred on Montmartre hill, shortly after 250 his grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage centre, with the building of the Abbey of Saint Denis, and the settlement was renamed Saint-Denis. In 1793, during the French Revolution, Saint-Denis was renamed Franciade in a gesture of rejection of religion, in 1803, however, under the Consulate of Napoléon Bonaparte, the city reverted to its former name of Saint-Denis. During its history, Saint-Denis has been associated with the French royal house. Starting from Dagobert I, almost every French king was buried in the Basilica, however, Saint-Denis is older than that. In the 2nd century, there was a Gallo-Roman village named Catolacus on the location that Saint-Denis occupies today, Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, was martyred in about 250 and buried in the cemetery of Catolacus. Denis tomb quickly became a place of worship, around 475, Sainte Geneviève had a small chapel erected on Denis tomb, which by then had become a popular destination for pilgrims. It was this chapel that Dagobert I had rebuilt and turned into a royal monastery, during the Middle Ages, because of the privileges granted by Dagobert, Saint-Denis grew to become very important. Merchants from all over Europe came to visit its market, in 1140, Abbot Suger, counselor to the King, granted further privileges to the citizens of Saint-Denis. He also started the work of enlarging the Basilica of Saint Denis that still exists today, the new church was consecrated in 1144. Saint-Denis suffered heavily in the Hundred Years War, of its 10,000 citizens, during the French Wars of Religion, the Battle of Saint-Denis was fought between Catholics and Protestants on 10 November 1567. The Protestants were defeated, but the Catholic commander Anne de Montmorency was killed, in 1590, the city surrendered to Henry IV, who converted to Catholicism in 1593 in the abbey of Saint-Denis. King Louis XIV started several industries in Saint-Denis, weaving and spinning mills and dyehouses. His successor, Louis XV, whose daughter was a nun in the Carmelite convent, took a lively interest in the city, he added a chapel to the convent and also renovated the buildings of the royal abbey
22.
Aubervilliers
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Aubervilliers is a French commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in the Île-de-France region in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Albertivillariens or Albertivillariennes, Aubervilliers is one of three communes in the Plaine Saint-Denis,7.2 km north-east of the centre of Paris. The Canal Saint-Denis traverses the commune on the side from north to south. The Paris ring road is just outside the border of the commune. These roads provide access to the network of roads and motorways around Paris as well as Le Bourget. The Canal Saint-Denis once had important river ports and there was the Paris-Hirson railway, the RER railway passes through the north of the commune and the station of Corneuve-Aubervilliers, located just north of the commune on the N301 road, serves Aubervilliers. Ligne 3b of the Île-de-France tramway since 15 December 2012 with the opening of the Porte dAubervilliers located in the Paris area near the commune, the town is mentioned in the Latinised form Albertivillare in 1059. It is from this that the inhabitants are known as Albertivillarien, the place name of -villiers is a characteristic appellative for agricultural domains in the Merovingian and Carolingian periods. The first part is the Germanic personal name Adalbertus from which are derived the names Albert and Aubert and it is homonymous with a hamlet in Seine-et-Marne, Aubervilliers, and Auberville in Normandy. As with many communes in the suburbs the town had long been a rural area. Formerly known as Notre-Dame-des-Vertus, the village was on a plain which produced the best vegetables around Paris, Aubervilliers first appears in the archives in 1059 as Albertivillare, meaning estate of Adalbert. In the following year Henry I donated it to the Priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, in 1111 the serfs were freed in Aubervilliers. In 1182 the priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, located in Paris, granted Paris butchers the right to graze their cattle in the fields after the harvest was over. In 1221, Guillaume Bateste, lord of Franconville, became the first Lord of Vivier les Aubervilliers. The church, which at the beginning of the 13th century depended on one of the parishes of Saint Denis, in 1338 King Philip VI of France and his queen went to Aubervilliers to visit the image. From 1340 to 1792 people went there in each year from Paris. In 1402 Michel de Laillier, Lord of Ermenonville, became Lord of Vivier les Aubervilliers, in 1429 the town was occupied by the English but was retaken by Michel de Laillier in 1436. Louis XI went there in November 1474 to the house of Pierre L’Orfèvre, the image of the Virgin in lead that the king wore on his hat was a representation of the one at Aubervilliers
23.
Aulnay-sous-Bois
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Aulnay-sous-Bois is a French commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in the Île-de-France region in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 13.9 km from the Kilometre zero, the inhabitants of the commune are known as Aulnaysiens or Aulnaysiennes. The commune has been awarded four flowers by the National Council of Towns, Aulnay-sous-Bois is located in the Paris area and is 19 km north-east of Notre-Dame Cathedral,1 km east of Le Bourget Airport, and 5 km south-west of Charles de Gaulle Airport. The commune stretches over a length of 6.5 km from north to south, the town is surrounded by the A3 autoroute in the west which joins the A1 autoroute in the north. Route nationale 2 passes through the heart of the commune from west to east with the N370 coming from the south-east along the border to join the N2. The D44 passes through from north-west to south-east and the D115 from Bobigny in the south-west passes through the centre, the Ourcq Canal passes through the south-eastern end, adjacent to Livry-Gargan. It includes La Roseraie, Maximilien Robespierre, Le Vieux Pays, Tour Eiffel, the south, across the railway line, is wealthier and residential in nature. It consists of districts and is bordered by the Canal de lOurcq. It includes Chanteloup, Central Station, Pont de lUnion, when the construction of Clos Saint-Lazare at Stains ended, urbanization of the northern districts of Aulnay-sous-Bois began. The idea was to create an area of factories and it was on this basis that the area of Rose des Vents was built in 1969 in the northern part of Aulnay-sous-Bois. This Great Housing Estate was built on agricultural land. Its mission was to shelter for workers and managers for a new Citroën plant to be located a few hundred metres away. Beyond the Rose des Vents, which is known as the City of 3000. 24,000 people, or 30% of the population of Aulnay-sous-Bois, are housed on 4% of the territory, the station has a park and ride with a parking fee. Two branches are planned, the first to Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil on the Gargan heights, the second towards Garonor through Rose-des-Vents and its platforms will be at a depth of 15 metres. In addition, it is planned to create a circular line to connect different parts of the city to avoid reloading for trips between all economic areas of the city and its public facilities. There is a rank at Aulnay-sous-Bois station. Aulnay-sous-Bois is located 5 km from Charles de Gaulle Airport, the airport can be reached by or by the A1 and A3 autoroutes
24.
Champigny-sur-Marne
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Champigny-sur-Marne is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 12.5 km from the centre of Paris, Champigny-sur-Marne was originally called simply Champigny. The name Champigny ultimately comes from Medieval Latin Campaniacum, meaning estate of Campanius, in 1897 the name of the commune officially became Champigny-sur-Marne, in order to distinguish it from other communes of France also called Champigny. Champigny-sur-Marne is served by Les Boullereaux – Champigny station on Paris RER line E. Champigny-sur-Marne is also served by Champigny station on Paris RER line A. The Paris Métro will soon serve the center of Champigny, the new station will be located along RN4, jeff Reine-Adélaïde is a professional footballer for Arsenal FC. B. racing cars of Champigny/Marne
25.
Colombes
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Colombes is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.6 km from the centre of Paris, the name Colombes comes from Latin columna, meaning column. On 13 March 1896, 17% of the territory of Colombes was detached, on 2 May 1910, 19% of the territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of La Garenne-Colombes. Thus, the commune of Colombes is now only two-thirds the size of its territory before 1896, the commune has 21 preschools and 19 elementary schools. Pierpoljak, reggae singer The stadium was built in 1907, officially named the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, the Olympic Stadium of Colombes was the site of the opening ceremony and several events of the 1924 Summer Olympics. The arenas capacity was increased to 60,000 for the 1938 World Cup, the stadium lost its importance after the restoration in 1972 of Paris 49, 000-seat Parc des Princes. In the 1990s, three of the four grandstands were torn down due to decay and the capacity was down to 7,000. It is home to the Racing 92 rugby club, currently playing in Frances Top 14, and to RCF Paris football club, both clubs play in the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir. However, Racing 92 currently plans to leave Colombes in 2017, frankenthal Legnano Communes of the Hauts-de-Seine department INSEE Official website Colombes in postal card History of the Olympic Stadium Article, Chariots of Fire stadium reprieved
26.
Courbevoie
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Courbevoie is a commune located 8.2 km from the center of Paris, France. The centre of Courbevoie is situated 2 kilometres from the limits of central Paris. La Défense, Pariss business district hosting the tallest buildings in the metropolitan area, Courbevoie is divided into two cantons, Canton of Courbevoie-1 and Canton of Courbevoie-2. Courbevoie is served by two stations on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line, Courbevoie and Bécon-les-Bruyères, Courbevoie is also served by Esplanade de La Défense station on Paris Métro Line 1, in the business district of La Défense. There are also a number of city buses that come through the bustling La Défense station. When it comes to air transportation, Courbevoie can be served by Pariss Charles de Gaulle Airport as well as Paris-Orly to the south, Courbevoie has multiple preschools and elementary schools. A. has its head office in the Tour Total in La Défense and in Courbevoie. Areva has its office in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie. Saint-Gobain also has its office in Courbevoie
27.
Nanterre
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Nanterre is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.1 km north-west of the centre of Paris, Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre. The city of Nanterre also includes the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, the name of Nanterre originated before the Roman conquest of Gaul. The Romans recorded the name as Nemetodorum and it is composed of the Celtic word nemeto meaning shrine or sacred place and the Celtic word duron hard, tough, enduring. The sacred place referred to is supposed to have been a shrine that existed in antiquity. Inhabitants of Nanterre are called Nanterriennes and Nanterriens, the sacred shrine of antiquity that is referred to etymologically had been placed by tradition in Mont-Valérien. Lutetia is mentioned by Julius Caesar in 50 BCE, reporting an assembly in Lutetia in 53 BC between himself, commander of the Roman Legions, and local Gallic leaders. Although this had been thought to possibly be Île de la Cité, largely since Caesar mentions an island, in 52 BC, the Parisii took up arms with the Gallic war leader Vercingetorix, and were defeated by Titus Labienus, one of Caesars legates. Caesar mentions in his Commentarii that the Parisii destroyed the bridges, the archeological work in Nanterre has suggested over 15 hectares of pre-Roman or Roman era construction. These archeologic findings may be an indication that Nanterre was the closest pre-Roman settlement to the Citys modern centre, sainte Genevieve, patron saint of Paris, was born in Nanterre ca. On 27 March 2002, Richard Durn, a local activist, shot. Nanterre is divided into three cantons, Nanterre-Nord canton has a population of 33,173, nanterre-Sud-Est canton has a population of 22,350. Nanterre-Sud-Ouest canton has a population of 28,758, Nanterre is served by three stations on RER line A, Nanterre – Préfecture, Nanterre – Université, and Nanterre – Ville. Nanterre – Université station is also a station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line. Société Générale has its headquarters in the Tours Société Générale in La Défense, the company moved into the building in 1995. Faurecia, the sixth-largest automotive parts supplier, has its headquarters in Nanterre, groupe du Louvre and subsidiary Louvre Hôtels have their head office in Village 5 in La Défense and Nanterre. The rugby union club Racing 92, currently based in another Paris suburb, the venue, scheduled to open in September 2017, is tentatively known as U Arena. It will have a capacity of 32,000 for rugby and 40,000 for concerts, Nanterre is twinned with, La Défense business district
28.
Rueil-Malmaison
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Rueil-Malmaison is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of France. It is located 12.6 kilometres from the centre of Paris and it is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Paris. Rueil-Malmaison was originally called simply Rueil, in medieval times the name Rueil was spelled either Roialum, Riogilum, Rotoialum, Ruolium, or Ruellium. This name is made of the Celtic word ialo suffixed to a radical meaning brook, stream, in 1928, the name of the commune officially became Rueil-Malmaison in reference to its most famous tourist attraction, the Château de Malmaison, home of Napoléons first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais. The name Malmaison comes from Medieval Latin mala mansio, meaning ill-fated domain, in the Early Middle Ages Malmaison was the site of a royal residence which was destroyed by the Vikings in 846. Rueil is famous for the Château de Malmaison where Napoleon and his first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais lived, upon her death in 1814, she was buried at the nearby Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul church, which stands at the centre of the city. The Rueil barracks of the Swiss Guard were constructed in 1756 under Louis XV by the architect Axel Guillaumot, the Guard was formed by Louis XIII in 1616 and massacred at the Tuileries on 10 August 1792 during the French Revolution. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Rueil was located on the front line, at the end of the 19th century, Impressionist painters like Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet and Claude Monet came to paint the Seine River which crosses the town. Rueil is the location of the novel Loin de Rueil by the French novelist Raymond Queneau. The town is twinned with Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in the United Kingdom, the Château de Malmaison, the residence of Napoléons first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, is located in Rueil-Malmaison. It is home to a Napoleonic museum, the main campus of the French Institute of Petroleum research organisation is in Rueil. The city has become home to many large companies moving out of La Défense business district, located only 5 km from Rueil. There are about 850 service sector companies located in Rueil,70 of which more than 100 people. A business district called Rueil-sur-Seine was created near the RER A Rueil-Malmaison station to accommodate these companies, the business district is equipped with a fiber-optic network. Several major French companies have their headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison, such as Schneider Electric. Schneider had its office in Rueil-Malmaison since 2000, previously the building Schneider occupies housed the Schneider subsidiary Télémécanique. Several large international companies have located their French headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison, such as ExxonMobil, AstraZeneca, American Express. Rueil-Malmaison is served by Rueil-Malmaison station on Paris RER line A. Jean-Marie Le Pen and his wife, Jany Le Pen, live in a two-story house on the rue Hortense
29.
Versailles, Yvelines
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According to the 2008 census, the population of the city is 88,641 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. A new town, founded by the will of King Louis XIV, it was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of city, it became the préfecture of Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War and this word formation is similar to Latin seminare which gave French semailles. From May 1682, when Louis XIV moved the court and government permanently to Versailles, until his death in September 1715, during the various periods when government affairs were conducted from Versailles, Paris remained the official capital of France. Versailles was made the préfecture of the Seine-et-Oise département at its inception in March 1790, Versailles was made the préfecture of the Yvelines département, the largest chunk of the former Seine-et-Oise. At the 2006 census the Yvelines had 1,395,804 inhabitants, Versailles is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese which was created in 1790. The diocese of Versailles is subordinate to the archdiocese of Paris, in 1975, Versailles was made the seat of a Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers the western suburbs of Paris. Since 1972, Versailles has been the seat of one of Frances 30 nationwide académies of the Ministry of National Education. Versailles is also an important node for the French army, a tradition going back to the monarchy with, for instance, the palace of Versailles is in the out-skirts of the city. Versailles is located 17.1 km west-southwest from the centre of Paris, the city of Versailles has an area of 26.18 km2, which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1989, Versailles had a density of 3, 344/km2, whereas Paris had a density of 20. Born out of the will of a king, the city has a rational and symmetrical grid of streets, by the standards of the 18th century, Versailles was a very modern European city. Versailles was used as a model for the building of Washington, the name of Versailles appears for the first time in a medieval document dated 1038. In the end of the 11th century, the village curled around a medieval castle, the 14th century brought the Black Death and the Hundred Years War, and with it death and destruction. At the end of the Hundred Years War in the 15th century, in 1561, Martial de Loménie, secretary of state for finances under King Charles IX, became lord of Versailles. He obtained permission to four annual fairs and a weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles was 500 inhabitants, Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomews Day massacre
30.
Vitry-sur-Seine
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Vitry-sur-Seine is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 7.5 km from the centre of Paris, Vitry-sur-Seine was originally called simply Vitry. The name Vitry comes from Medieval Latin Vitriacum, and before that Victoriacum, meaning estate of Victorius, in 1897 the name of the commune officially became Vitry-sur-Seine, in order to distinguish it from other communes of France also called Vitry. Musée dArt Contemporain du Val-de-Marne For some years, Vitry-sur-Seine operated a policy of bringing art to all. For this reason, the commune contains over 100 contemporary sculptures, Vitry hosts the Musée dArt Contemporain du Val-de-Marne. Opened on 18 November 2005, this museum offers in addition to the workshops of arts, an auditorium. Vitry is one of the cities that contributed to the development of the Hip hop movement in France, consequentially, urban art has a very important place in the city Vitry-sur-Seine is served by two stations on Paris RER line C, Vitry-sur-Seine and Les Ardoines. Orly Airport is located near Vitry-sur-Seine, the bordering towns are Ivry-sur-Seine, Villejuif, Chevilly-Larue, Thiais, Choisy-le-Roi, Alfortville. In 2008 the population of the city was estimated at 82,500 inhabitants, the rate of unemployment is 26. 5%, while national average is under 10% Vitry-sur-Seine is the fiftieth most populated city of France and the tenth of Île-de-France. As of circa 1998 Ivry-sur-Seine and Vitry had a combined Asian population of 3,600 and that year about 250 Asians from those communes worked in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, and the overall demographics of Ivry and Vitry Asians were similar to those in the 13th arrondissement
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Antony, Hauts-de-Seine
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Antony is a French commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.3 km from the centre of Paris, Antony is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and the seat of the arrondissement of Antony. Watered by the Bièvre, a tributary of the Seine, Antony is located at the crossroads of important transport routes. Little urbanized until the early 20th century, the city grew considerably between the two wars, under Senator-Mayor Auguste Mounié, from 4,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. In the early 1960s the population increased from 25,000 to 50,000 to accommodate the repatriated people from Algeria. Antony is a city in the suburbs of Paris located in the Hurepoix and is the chief town of the arrondissement of Hauts-de-Seine -12.5 km south-west of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Its altitude is 48m above sea level at the lowest point at rue Gabriel Chamon in the Bièvre Valley, one branch of the Bièvre upstream flows in the open through Heller Park in an area where the Bièvre is maintained by the Inter-communal association for development of the Bièvre Valley. From there it has been channeled and covered since the decision of the council on 26 October 1950 nearly all the way to Paris. It then becomes part of the network of the Inter-departmental association for sanitation of the Paris agglomeration, since the early 2000s, the restoration of the open air to the Bièvre at Antony and downstream has been envisaged. In 2003 this was done to Fresnes at the Pars des Prés on the edge of the La Fontaine district of Antony. Antony is bisected by the South Parisian Green corridor which forms a portion of the via Turonensis, the commune area is 956 hectares with the altitude varying between 45 and 103 m. The plateaux of Beauce ends in the north in an area crossed by tributaries of the Seine. Antony is located in the extreme north-east of this area, called Hurepoix, the crust of limestone of Beauce ends with a ledge at the edge of the Bois de Verrières. These green and blue form a completely waterproof layer about 10 m thick. These set the date of these layers to the Tertiary period when the sea occupying the centre of the Paris Basin began to retreat, the old village of Antony is located on the green marl at the edge of the outcrop of the Water table. Antony climate type is of degraded oceanic, the most commonly used meteorological observation stations for Antony are those at Orly and at the airport of Vélizy-Villacoublay, both being communes located near Antony. The climate in the departments of the suburbs of Paris is characterized by sunshine. Crossing Antony from east to west is the A86 autoroute which, since 1996, the A86 is heavily used by Parisians during peak hours in the morning and late afternoon
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