Paris (nicknamed the City of light) is the capital city of France

Paris is the capital of France and the largest city in terms of population. Located on the banks of the Seine in the northern part of the country in the heart of the Ile-de-France.

 In 2010, its population stood at 2,243,833 within its administrative scope only, while the city's population with its suburbs is more than 12 million.

Paris remained an area of ​​great importance for over two thousand years. By the turn of the 12th century, Paris had become a European center of science and art and the largest city of the Western world until the early 18th century. Paris has been the scene of many important political events throughout history, such as the French Revolution.

At present, it is one of the largest economic and cultural centers with an important influence in politics, science, entertainment, media, fashion and arts, making it one of the world's major cities.

In 2011, the city's GDP was 607 billion euros ($ 845 billion), one of the largest domestic outputs of cities in the world. Paris is one of the world's leading tourist destinations as it is home to most French companies.

Paris has a variety of museums, theaters and monuments built over the centuries, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre Museum and the Versailles Palace.

Paris is one of the largest centers of art in the world, with a large number of museums that include paintings of the world's leading artists.

The city's cuisine has a global reputation, attracting the world's most famous chefs.

Paris and its environs include the finest French schools and universities, as well as the headquarters of the largest French newspapers, such as Le Monde, Le Figaro and Liberation.

Paris is home to the Paris St Germain football club, and France's stadium is built to host the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

The city also hosts the Roland Garros Tennis Championship. Paris is distinguished by the diversity and quality of transport.

The city has two major international airports: Charles de Gaulle International Airport and Paris Orly Airport. The Paris Metro - which opened in 1900 - serves about 9 million passengers a day.

Etymology
The name Paris derives from its early inhabitants, one of the Gaul tribes known as Parisi. The city of Lutchia was called during the Roman period between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. But it was called Paris again in the reign of Julian the apostate (360-363).
 The Parisian name is thought to come from the expensive Celtic word Pariso, which means working people or artisans.

He described the Moorish traveler Ahmed bin Qasim al-Hajri in the journey of the shehab to the meeting Ahbab, and named its name in Arabic «Brish»:

   Paris is the home of the Sultanate of the Franks, and between it and the city of Rouen about three days, and five thousand five hundred steps and width four thousand and five hundred step, and the houses high, and full of people, and the houses of the Acres built stone abandoned but over time the color reigns stone, and Christians say that the greatest cities Constantinople, then the city of Brich, then the city of Lisbon (Lisbon) in the Andalusia. Paris
Paris has many titles, known as the City of Love and the capital of fashion, but the most famous title of the city is La Ville-Lumière, a title earned by Paris for its reputation as a center of science and thought during the Enlightenment and because of its early adoption of the street lighting system.

Paris was known as the city of light in the second half of the 19th century, when Baron Haussmann, appointed by Napoleon III, removed medieval streets and neighborhoods and transformed Paris into a modern city.