ARRONDISSEMENTS OF PARIS

The city of Paris is divided into 20 ''arrondissements municipaux'' (“municipal boroughs,” approximately, in English), more simply referred to as '''arrondissements''' (pronounced , or as in French: ). These are not to be confused with departmental arrondissements, which subdivide the 100 French ''départements''. The number of the arrondissement is indicated in Parisian postal codes by the last two digits.

Contents

Description

History

Before 1860

After 1860

See also

External links

Description

The 20 arrondissements are arranged in the form of a clockwise spiral, starting with the 1st in the middle of the city on the right bank (north bank) of the Seine River.
The list below indicates Right Bank (R) or Left Bank (L) bank:

Arrondissement	Name	Area (in km²)	Population (1999 census)	Population (2005 estimate)	Density (2005) (inh. per km²)	Peak of population
Ier arrondissement R	Louvre	1.826	16,888	unknown	9,249 (1999)	before 1861
IIe arrondissement R	Bourse	0.992	19,585	unknown	19,743 (1999)	before 1861
IIIe arrondissement R	Temple	1.171	34,248	unknown	29,247 (1999)	before 1861
IVe arrondissement R	Hôtel-de-Ville	1.601	30,675	unknown	19,160 (1999)	before 1861
Ve arrondissement L	Panthéon	2.541	58,849	59,300	23,337	1911
VIe arrondissement L	Luxembourg	2.154	44,919	45,800	21,263	1911
VIIe arrondissement L	Palais-Bourbon	4.088	56,985	55,700	13,625	1926
VIIIe arrondissement R	Élysée	3.881	39,314	39,200	10,100	1891
IXe arrondissement R	Opéra	2.179	55,838	58,800	26,985	1901
Xe arrondissement R	Enclos-St-Laurent	2.892	89,612	89,600	30,982	1881
XIe arrondissement R	Popincourt	3.666	149,102	150,500	41,053	1911
XIIe arrondissement R	Reuilly	16.324¹ 6.377²	136,591	139,100	21,813²	1962
XIIIe arrondissement L	Gobelins	7.146	171,533	177,900	24,895	20055
XIVe arrondissement L	Observatoire	5.621	132,844	134,200	23,875	1954
XVe arrondissement L	Vaugirard	8.502	225,362	231,500	27,229	1962
XVIe arrondissement R	Passy	16.305³ 7.8464	161,773	146,900	18,7234	1962
XVIIe arrondissement R	Batignolles-Monceau	5.669	160,860	160,300	28,277	1954
XVIIIe arrondissement R	Butte-Montmartre	6.005	184,586	188,500	31,391	1931
XIXe arrondissement R	Buttes-Chaumont	6.786	172,730	185,400	27,321	20055
XXe arrondissement R	Ménilmontant	5.984	182,952	188,600	31,517	1936

Notes:

1. With the Bois de Vincennes

2. Without the Bois de Vincennes

3. With the Bois de Boulogne

4. Without the Bois de Boulogne

5. 2005 is the year of the most recent official estimate; population of these arrondissements may still be growing



Each arrondissement is subdivided administratively into four ''quartiers''. Paris thus has 80 ''quartiers administratifs'', each containing a police station. For a table giving the names of the 80 ''quartiers'', see .

History

Before 1860

On October 11, 1795, Paris was divided into 12 arrondissements. They were numbered from west to east, with numbers 1-9 situated on the right bank of the Seine, and 10-12 on the left bank.
Each arrondissement was subdivided into 4 ''quartiers'', which corresponded to the 48 original districts created in 1790.

After 1860

On January 1, 1860, new territory was defined to be within the city by Napoleon III. The previous 12 arrondissements were rearranged with this new territory to become the present 20.
In references to historical records (where it is important to distinguish between the old and new systems), the old arrondissements are indicated by following the number with the term ''ancienne'' (e.g. ''2ème ancienne'' or ''7ème anc.'').

See also

★ Arrondissement, for other uses of the term.

★ Paris districts

★ ''Paris, je t'aime'', movie composed of five-minute sequences on each arrondissement

External links

★ Official Paris website

★ Diagrams of each arrondissement showing its quartiers administratifs