Paris ( painting) by Bert Hooijer

Paris (French: Paris) is the capital and seat of government of France. The city is bisected by the River Seine. Paris itself had a population of 2,165,423 on 1 January 2019, excluding the banlieues, the set of suburbs and commuter towns. More than 10 million people lived in la Métropole du Grand Paris as a whole in 2014. Paris is located in the Île-de-France region, and the first settlements around the beginning of the Christian era were on the banks of the Seine, but the Île de la Cité was soon built on afterwards as well. Paris and banlieues absorbed many once independent villages in their growth. In Europe, Paris was an early centre of culture. Many trade routes converged in the city. As early as the 10th century, when Notre Dame and a number of abbeys were built, Paris was one of France's most important cities, as well as an important site for Christianity. Since the 13th century, education, art and recreation in particular have taken centre stage there. Thus, the University of Paris (split up after 1970) was, along with those of Bologna and Oxford, among the most important educational institutions in the Middle Ages. The university enjoyed prestige and was considered one of the most prestigious universities in the world. This development is partly the result of centuries of centralist policy within the monarchy and later republic of France, which assigned great importance to the capital. Since the 1960s, political policy within France has been characterised by decentralisation and deconcentration, which has created a little more balance within the country's borders. The city is internationally oriented and attracts large numbers of tourists every year.