1.
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
2.
Prefectures in France
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There are 101 prefectures in France, one for each department. The official in charge is the prefect, the prefect represents the national government at the local level and as such exercises the powers that are constitutionally attributed to the national government. The prefect issues ordinances written for the application of law, to close a building that does not conform to safety codes. In the past, the prefect was head of the department, but since 1982, there is an exception in Paris and its three surrounding departments. These departments are administered by a prefecture for law enforcement and security purposes, called the Prefecture of Police. The power of law enforcement is usually invested in the mayor in other French communes, the departments are divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons. The chef-lieu darrondissement is the subprefecture, the official in charge is the subprefect (French, sous-préfet. Cantons have relatively few competences, the most important one being the local organisation of elections, administrative divisions of France French National Police
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.
Subprefectures in France
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In France, a subprefecture is the administrative center of a departmental arrondissement that does not contain the prefecture for its department. The term also applies to the building houses the administrative headquarters for an arrondissement. The civil servant in charge of a subprefecture is the subprefect, between May 1982 and February 1988, subprefects were known instead by the title commissaire adjoint de la République. Where the administration of an arrondissement is carried out from a prefecture, the municipal arrondissements of Paris, Lyon, and Marseille) are divisions of the city rather than the prefecture, and so are not arrondissements in the same sense
7.
Nogent-sur-Marne
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Nogent-sur-Marne is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.6 km from the centre of Paris, Nogent-sur-Marne is a sous-préfecture of the Val-de-Marne département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Nogent-sur-Marne. Several origins of the name are proposed, Novigentum, new people, nov. indicates fatty or soaked grounds. Novientum which is the Gallic equivalent of medieval French Villeneuve or English Newtown, in the Middle Ages, several castles were built. Le Château de Plaisance, built in the 13th century, which hosted Charles V, the only vestige which remains is a house of the current private hospital,30 rue de Plaisance, as well as the bottom of the enclosing wall of the gardens. Le Château de Beauté sur Marne, 14th century, is a royal stay, cardinal de Richelieu destroyed it in 1626. In the 17th century, whereas the population was made up of a majority of vine growers, the middle-class discovered the charms of the country. Jean-Antoine Watteau lived in Mr. Lefevres house his last moments, the construction of the two railway lines, Paris–Mulhouse and Bastille–La Varenne in the 1850s still accelerated the process. The viaduct, built by Auvergnats and Belgians was destroyed once on 15 September 1870, italians rebuilt it, an Italian community was established there. Coming, for the majority, from the province of Piacenza, isolated since 1854 by the construction of a viaduct for the Paris–Mulhouse line, the commune of Le Perreux sur Marne is born after a fight of more than 10 years in 1887. On 28 February 1887, more than half of the territory of Nogent-sur-Marne was detached, in 1929, the commune of Nogent-sur-Marne lost a small part of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, the eastern fringe of which belonged to Nogent-sur-Marne. Autoroutes, A4 A86 both at 03 - A4–A86 Junction, Nogent-sur-Marne N34 by boat, by Marne, from Paris, collège Pierre Brossolette is in nearby Le Perreux. The commune has two public academic high schools/sixth-form colleges, Lycée Branly and Lycée Louis Armand, as well as two high schools, La Source and Val de Beauté. Private schools, Lycée Albert-de-Mun Institut Montalembert Bibliothèque Cavanna serves as the municipal library
8.
French Communist Party
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The French Communist Party is a communist party in France. Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains an influence in French politics. In 2012, the PCF claimed 138,000 members including 70,000 who have paid their membership fees and this would make it the third largest party in France in terms of membership after the Republicans and the Socialist Party. It was also once the largest French left-wing party in a number of elections, from 1945 to 1960. The PCF has lost further ground to the Socialists since that time, since 2009 the PCF has been a leading member of the Left Front, alongside Jean-Luc Mélenchons Left Party. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, the new SFIC defined itself as revolutionary and democratic centralist. The 1920s saw a number of splits within the party over relations with other left-wing parties, the party entered the French parliament, but also promoted strike action and opposed colonialism. Pierre Sémard, leader from 1924 to 1928, sought party unity and alliances with other parties, with the rise of Fascism after 1934 the PCF supported the Popular Front, which came to power under Léon Blum in 1936. The party supported the Spanish Republicans, and opposed the 1938 Munich agreement with Hitler, PCFs Members of Parliament vote declaration of war against Germany in 1939. But the party was banned after German–Soviet Non-aggression Pact by the government of Édouard Daladier, the leadership, threatened with execution, fled abroad. After the German invasion of 1940 the party began to organise opposition to the occupation, at the same time the PCF began to work with de Gaulles Free France government in exile, and later took part in the National Council of the Resistance. By the time the German occupation ended in 1944, the party had become a force in many parts of France. It was among the parties in elections in 1945 and 1946, and entered into the governing Tripartite alliance. However, amid concerns within France and abroad over the extent of communist influence, under pressure from Moscow, the PCF thereafter distanced itself from other parties and focussed on agitation within its trade union base. For the rest of the Fourth Republic period the PCF, led by Thorez and Jacques Duclos, remained isolated, still taking a Stalinist line. Although the PCF opposed de Gaulles formation of the Fifth Republic in 1958, the years saw a rapprochement with other left-wing forces. With Waldeck Rochet as its new secretary-general, the party supported François Mitterrands unsuccessful presidential bid in 1965, during the student riots and strikes of May 1968, the party supported the strikes while denouncing the revolutionary student movements. Under the Common Programme, however, the PCF steadily lost ground to the PS, initially allotted a minor share in Mitterrands government, the PCF resigned in 1984 as the government turned towards fiscal orthodoxy
9.
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
10.
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
11.
Communes in 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
12.
Estuary
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An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea began to rise about 10. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns, the banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along estuaries and the coast. The word estuary is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, there have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. However, this definition excludes a number of water bodies such as coastal lagoons. This broad definition also includes fjords, lagoons, river mouths, an estuary is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the water flowing from rivers. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of water, the tidal range. Drowned river valleys are known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and this is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border, the width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m, examples of this type of estuary in the U. S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations and these estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches. Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters, bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U. S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments, barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries
13.
Marne (river)
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The Marne is a river in France, an eastern tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. The river gave its name to the départements of Haute-Marne, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, the Marne starts in the Langres plateau, runs generally north then bends west between Saint-Dizier and Châlons-en-Champagne, joining the Seine at Charenton just upstream from Paris. Its main tributaries are the Rognon, the Blaise, the Saulx, the Ourcq, the Petit Morin, in the Champagne région, part of the water is led through the artificial lake Lac du Der-Chantecoq, in order to regulate the water discharge. This way, large inundations or low river levels downstream are prevented, the Celts of Gaul worshipped a goddess known as Dea Matrona who was associated with the Marne. The Marne is famous as the site of the two battles during the First World War. The first battle was a point of World War I. The second battle was fought four years later, in 1918, during the heyday of canal transportation, the Marne was a major artery connecting Paris and the Seine with major rivers nearby such as the Meuse, the Moselle and the Rhine, and the Saône and Rhône. To facilitate transportation along the Marne itself, a number of canals were constructed alongside. The most extensive was the Canal latéral à la Marne, which runs 67 km between Vitry-le-François and Dizy, river Marne guide Places, ports and moorings on the river
14.
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
15.
Seine-Saint-Denis
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Seine-Saint-Denis is a French department located in the Île-de-France region. Locally, it is referred to colloquially as quatre-vingt treize or neuf trois. The learned and rarely used demonym for the inhabitants is Séquano-Dionysiens, Seine-Saint-Denis is located to the northeast of Paris. It has an area of only 236 km², making it one of the smallest departments in France. Seine-Saint-Denis and two other departments, Hauts-de-Seine and Val-de-Marne, form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne. They form, together with Paris the Greater Paris since January 1st 2016, Seine-Saint-Denis is made up of three departmental arrondissements and 40 communes, Seine-Saint-Denis was created in January 1968, through the implementation of a law passed in July 1964. It was formed from the part of the Seine department to the north and north-east of the Paris ring road, Seine-Saint-Denis has a history as a veritable left-wing stronghold, belonging to the ceinture rouge of Paris. The French Communist Party especially has maintained a strong presence in the department. A commune of Seine-Saint-Denis, Clichy-sous-Bois, was the scene of the death of two youths which sparked the riots of autumn 2005. In October - November,9,000 cars were burned and 3,000 rioters were arrested, Seine-Saint-Denis is the French department with the highest proportion of immigrants,21. 7% at the 1999 census. This figure does not include the children of immigrants born on French soil as well as some native elites from former French colonies, the ratio of ethnic minorities is difficult to estimate accurately as French law prohibits the collection of ethnic data for census taking purposes. However estimates suggest there are 500,000 Muslims out of a population of 1.53 million. Saint-Denis is home to the Union of French Islamic Organizations in the Bourget district, in 2005,56. 7% of young people under 18 were of foreign origin including 38% of African origin. Islam is believed to be the most practiced religion in the department, Seine-Saint-Denis was scheduled to be the site of a 2004 International Exhibition. Website of the General council Prefecture website Seine-Saint-Denis Tourist Board
16.
Hauts-de-Seine
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Hauts-de-Seine is a department of France. It is part of the Métropole du Grand Paris and of the Île-de-France region and it is small and densely populated and contains the modern office, theatre, and shopping complex known as La Défense. Its creation reflected the implementation of a law passed in 1964, in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Hauts-de-Seine received national attention as the result of a corruption scandal concerning the misuse of public funds provided for the departments housing projects. Implicated were former minister and former President of the council of the Hauts-de-Seine, Charles Pasqua. Hauts-de-Seine is Frances second wealthiest département and one of Europes richest areas and its GDP per capita was €62,374 in 2003, according to INSEE official figures. Hauts-de-Seine is the base of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic from 2007 to 2012. He was previously the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine in the department, Charles Pasqua was also based in Hauts-de-Seine. Website of the General council Prefecture website
17.
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
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Fresnes, Val-de-Marne
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Fresnes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.2 km from the center of Paris, Fresnes is situated in the suburbs of Paris. Fresnes is in the Val de marne, Fresnes is located next to Antony, Sceaux and Rungis. The Fresnes Prison is located there, the name Fresnes was recorded for the first time in a papal bull of 1152 as Fraxinum. This name comes from Medieval Latin fraxinus, meaning ash tree, Fresnes is served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Fresnes are Antony or La Croix de Berny station on Paris RER line B and these stations are located in the neighboring commune of Antony,1.6 km from the town center of Fresnes. From Paris to Fresnes, you take the train to La Croix De Berny, the town hall is situated in front of the Church in the street Pierre and Marie Curie, the Mayor Jean Jacques Bridey was elected in 2012. In the MJC Louise Michel you can find a cinema, a theatre, in Fresnes there are a lot of schools, four kindergartens, five elementary schools. There are three high schools and one senior high school/sixth-form college. The AAS Fresnes is the club of the city, they play at Parc des Sports. In Fresnes there is a mall called la Cerisaie, communes of the Val-de-Marne department INSEE Mayors of Essonne Association Official website
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Rungis
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Rungis is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France, in the département of Val-de-Marne. The name Rungis was recorded for the first time in a charter of 1124 as Rungi Villa. Rungis is the base for the headquarters of the Système U supermarket cooperative, Corsair International and HOP. airlines. Prior to its disestablishment, Air Liberté was headquartered in Rungis, Airlinair previously had its head office in Rungis. In 2013 Airlinair merged into HOP, Rungis is located 11.6 km. from the center of Paris and 2 km from Orly Airport, at the junction of the A6 and RN7. Rungis is served by Rungis – La Fraternelle station on Paris RER line C, the community has two preschools, Médicis and Les Sources, two elementary schools, Les Antes and La Grange, and one junior high school, collège les Closeaux. Post-secondary education, Institut aéronautique Jean Mermoz Les Halles Communes of the Val-de-Marne department INSEE Mayors of Essonne Association Rungis town hall official website
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Thiais
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Thiais is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.3 km from the center of Paris, the name Thiais comes from Medieval Latin Theodasium or Theodaxium, meaning estate of Theodasius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. The Austrian writer Joseph Roth, exiled due to his opposition to the Nazi regime, the tomb of Russian writer Yevgeny Zamyatin is also there. Expatriate American journalist and novelist William Gardner Smith died there in 1974, Thiais is served by Pont de Rungis – Aéroport dOrly station on Paris RER line C. It is also served by Choisy-le-Roi station on Paris RER line C, farhad was cremated and is buried in the Thiais. Communes of the Val-de-Marne department INSEE Mayors of Essonne Association Home page
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Chevilly-Larue
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Chevilly-Larue is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.3 km from the center of Paris, Chevilly-Larue was originally called simply Chevilly. The name Chevilly was recorded for the first time in 829 as Civiliacum, probably meaning estate of Civilis, on 5 September 1921 the name of the commune officially became Chevilly-Larue in order to distinguish it from the homonymous commune of Chevilly in the Loiret département. Larue was a hamlet located within the commune, founded at the end of the Hundred Years War along the small road from LHaÿ-les-Roses to Fresnes, it was originally called La Ruelle, later corrupted into La Rue and eventually Larue. Neighboring communes, LHaÿ-les-Roses, Fresnes, Rungis, Thiais and Vitry-sur-Seine, Chevilly-Larue is served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Chevilly-Larue is Villejuif – Louis Aragon station on Métro line and this station is located in the neighboring commune of Villejuif,2.3 km from the town center of Chevilly-Larue
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Villejuif
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Villejuif is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 7 km from the centre of Paris, the name Villejuif can be imprecisely translated as Jewish Town, but the area has no historical connections with the Jewish population of Paris. The name is believed to be a corruption of a Gallo-Roman name, Villa Iuvii, Villejuif is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 7, Villejuif – Léo Lagrange, Villejuif – Paul Vaillant-Couturier, and Villejuif – Louis Aragon. Camille Loiseau, the Doyenne de France from 26 March 2005 to 12 August 2006, issei Sagawa, the Japanese killer and cannibal, was an inmate at high-security Paul Guiraud hospital in Villejuif, in 1982–1984. Komitas Vardapet, the founder of modern Armenian classical music, vladimir Ghika, Catholic parish priest from 1923-1930, killed in Romania in 1954, beatified 31 August 2013
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Cachan
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Cachan is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.7 km from the center of Paris, the prestigious École Normale Supérieure de Cachan and École Spéciale des Travaux Publics are located there. During the Middle Ages, Cachan was referred to in Medieval Latin texts as Caticantum, later corrupted into Cachentum, Cachant, some understand Caticantum as meaning singing of the cat, mewing of the cat, but this is not certain. Some others see a connection with the verb to hunt, Cachan was originally a hamlet within the commune of Arcueil, later renamed Arcueil-Cachan. The commune of Cachan was created on 26 December 1922 when it seceded from the commune of Arcueil-Cachan, Arcueil - north Villejuif - east LHaÿ-les-Roses - southeast Bourg-la-Reine - southwest Bagneux - west Cachan is served by two stations on Paris RER line B, Arcueil – Cachan and Bagneux
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Arcueil
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Arcueil is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 5.3 km from the center of Paris, still standing, the arches of the Roman aqueduct are still visible since the Middle Ages, crossing the Bièvre River valley near Arcueil. The commune of Arcueil was officially renamed Arcueil-Cachan in 1894, after the hamlet of Cachan located within the commune, on 26 December 1922, Cachan seceded from the commune of Arcueil-Cachan and became a commune in its own right. The reduced commune of Arcueil-Cachan was renamed simply Arcueil, orange France, a subsidiary of France Télécom, has its headquarters in Arcueil. Arcueil is served by two stations on Paris RER line B, Laplace and Arcueil – Cachan, residents are served by the Lycée intercommunal Darius-Milhaud in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre. Jean-Antoine de Baïf, member of the Pléiade, adrienne Bolland, first woman to fly an airplane across the Andes, was born in Arcueil. Michel Bulteau, writer and cult film maker, is a native of Arcueil, pierre and Marie Curie installed at Arcueil an annex of the Institut du Radium for the chemical treatment of radioactive elements. Pierre-Simon de Laplace, mathematician, astronomer and physicist, henri Rousseau called Douanier Rousseau, notable naive painter. The Marquis de Sade, writer and libertine, erik Satie, composer, lived in Arcueil from 1898 to 1925. Dulcie September, of the African National Congress, when living in France lodged in Arcueil, an Arcueil high school is named after her
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Gentilly, Val-de-Marne
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Gentilly is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 4.1 km from the center of Paris, the name Gentilly was recorded for the first time in the 6th century as Gentilly, a royal estate of some importance where coinage was minted. The etymology of the name seems to be estate of Gentilius, however, some other researchers think that the name is connected with Latin gentilis in reference to foreign goldsmiths who may have settled in Gentilly in the Early Middle Ages. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes, on that occasion, about half of the commune of Gentilly was annexed to Paris, and forms now the neighborhoods of Maison-Blanche and Glacière, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. On 13 December 1896, about half of the territory of Gentilly was detached and became the commune of Le Kremlin-Bicêtre. The famous photographer Robert Doisneau was born in Gentilly, there is a Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau an international cultural center for humanist photography. Gentilly is served by Gentilly station on Paris RER line, eligius, also known as Éloi de Noyon or Saint Éloi is the patron saint of goldsmiths, metalworkers, coin collectors, horses, and those who work with them. Saint Martial, third-century monk and first bishop of Limoges, pepin the Short, eighth-century king of the Franks, son of Charles Martel, and father of Charlemagne. Blanche of Castile is said to have owned a castle in Gentilly, isaac de Benserade, author and playwright of the seventeenth century, lived in Gentilly and died there in 1691. Jacques Chapelle chemist and potter, director of the works at Sceaux from 1748 to 1763, was born at Gentilly in 1721. Robert Doisneau, the photographer, was born at Gentilly in 1912, sophie Marceau, the movie actress, born in 1966, lived in Gentilly. Raymond Souplex is buried at Gentilly, communes of the Val-de-Marne department Georges Saupique. Église du Sacré-Coeur sculptor INSEE Mayors of Essonne Association Official website
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Charenton-le-Pont
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Charenton-le-Pont is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.2 km from the centre of Paris and it is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. The Charenton Psychiatric Hospital is located in the neighbouring commune Charenton-Saint-Maurice, a Bronze Age hoard of weapons was found in the river Seine at Charenton in the late nineteenth century. Comprising swords, axes, spear heads and other miscellaneous objects, on 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighbouring communes. On that occasion, half of the commune of Bercy was annexed to the city of the Paris, and the remaining half was annexed to Charenton-le-Pont. In 1929, the commune of Charenton-le-Pont lost about a third of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, Charenton-le-Pont is served by two stations on Paris Métro Line 8, Liberté and Charenton — Écoles. As of 2015 the commune has 14 public and private schools, Charenton-le-Pont city council website Historical notes
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Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne
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Saint-Maurice is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.8 km from the center of Paris, the insane asylum Charenton was located in Saint-Maurice, it is now a psychiatric hospital. Originally called Charenton-Saint-Maurice, the name of the commune was shortened to Saint-Maurice in 1842. In 1929, the commune of Saint-Maurice lost half of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, Saint-Maurice is served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Saint-Maurice is Charenton – Écoles station on Paris Métro Line 8 and this station is located in the neighboring commune of Charenton-le-Pont,0.6 km from the town center of Saint-Maurice. Area senior high schools include Lycée Polyvalent Robert Schuman in Charenton-Le-Pont, Lycée Intercommunal Eugène Delacroix in Maisons-Alfort, and Lycée Marcelin Berthelot in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
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Maisons-Alfort
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Maisons-Alfort is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 8.4 km from the center of Paris, Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort. The Fort de Charenton, constructed between 1841 and 1845, has since 1959 housed the Commandement des Écoles de la Gendarmerie Nationale, originally, Maisons-Alfort was called simply Maisons. The name Maisons comes from Medieval Latin Mansiones, meaning the houses, at the creation of the commune during the French Revolution, the name of the hamlet of Alfort was joined with the name of Maisons. The name Alfort comes from the manor built there by Peter of Aigueblanche, Bishop of Hereford, the name of this Manor of Hereford was corrupted into Harefort, then Hallefort, and eventually Alfort. The National Veterinary School of Alfort was settled several centuries later in the manor, on 1 April 1885, 40% of the territory of Maisons-Alfort was detached and became the commune of Alfortville. In 1905, Buffalo Bill stayed two months in Maisons-Alfort while his famous Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show performed in Paris, Maisons-Alfort is divided into two cantons, Maisons-Alfort-Nord, with 23,704 inhabitants, Maisons-Alfort-Sud, with 27399 inhabitants. Maisons-Alfort is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 8, École Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort, Maisons-Alfort — Stade and it is also served by two stations on Paris RER line D, Maisons-Alfort – Alfortville and Le Vert de Maisons. Communes of the Val-de-Marne department INSEE Mayors of Essonne Association Official website
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Alfortville
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Alfortville is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 7.6 km from the center of Paris, the commune of Alfortville was created on 1 April 1885 from part of the commune of Maisons-Alfort. Alfortville is served by two stations on Paris RER line D, Maisons-Alfort – Alfortville and Le Vert de Maisons, Alfortville is located at only 500 meters from the metro station Ecole vétérinaire de Maisons Alfort on Paris Métro Line 8 The Armenian community of Alfortville is very significant. There is an Armenian Apostolic Church located south of the city and its an important place for the Armenian community, which is very significant in Alfortville. There is a named after Komitas Vartabed, Missak Manouchian. A roundabout has recently been named Place dAchtarak after the Armenian city Ashtarak, Alfortville is twinning convention with the Armenian cities of Ashtarak, Oshakan. On 3 May 1984, the Armenian Genocide memorial of Alfortville was bombed by a hit-team headed by Grey Wolves member Abdullah Catli and paid by the Turkish MİT intelligence agency
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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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Choisy-le-Roi
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Choisy-le-Roi is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. Choisy-le-Roi is located 10.7 km southeast from the center of Paris, the neighbouring communes are, from the north and clockwise, Vitry-sur-Seine, Alfortville, Créteil, Valenton, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Orly and Thiais. Choisy-le-Roi is served by Choisy-le-Roi station on Paris RER line C and it is also served by Créteil-Pompadour station on Paris RER line D
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Villeneuve-le-Roi
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Villeneuve-le-Roi is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 13.7 km from the center of Paris, the early 19th-century French orientalist Jean-Baptiste Rousseau was born in Villeneuve-le-Roi on the boat that arrived from Auxerre. Paris-Orly Airport is partially located in the commune, Villeneuve-le-Roi is twinned with the towns of Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England and Vratsa, Bulgaria Villeneuve-le-Roi is served by Villeneuve-le-Roi station on Paris RER line C. The commune has a library, Bibliothèque municipale Anatole-France. Communes of the Val-de-Marne department INSEE Mayors of Essonne Association Official website
