Paris

Paris is the capital city of France, as well as the capital of the Île-de-France région, whose territory encompasses Paris and its suburbs. The city of Paris proper is also a département, called Paris département (French: département de Paris). It is a wonderful city for aimless wandering of which features a wide variety of style and décor and boasts a wide assortment of entertainment to satisfy even the most benign of tastes.

Economy

:Note: Paris GDP figures listed in this section are in fact those for the Île-de-France région, which matches quite well the territory of Paris metropolitan area, although it is about 2.5% smaller than the actual metropolitan area.

Related Topics:
Île-de-France - Région

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The metropolitan area of Paris is one of the engines of the global economy. In 2002, at a time when the euro was very low, the GDP of the metropolitan area of Paris as calculated by INSEE and Eurostat was US$398.4 billion (at real exchange rates, not at PPP). In 2003, with the recovery of the euro, the GDP of the metropolitan area was approximately US$497 billion. If it were a country, the metropolitan area of Paris would be the 15th largest economy in the world (as of 2003), above Brazil (US$492.3 billion) and Russia (US$432.9 billion).

Related Topics:
2002 - Euro - GDP - INSEE - Eurostat - PPP - 2003 - Brazil - Russia

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Year in, year out, the metropolitan area of Paris accounts for about 29% of the total GDP of metropolitan France, although its population is only 18.7% of the total population of metropolitan France (as of 2004). In 2002, according to Eurostat, the GDP of the metropolitan area of Paris accounted alone for 4.5% of the total GDP of the European Union (of 25 members), although its population is only 2.45% of the total population of the EU25. Inside Europe, the only other metropolitan area that can compare with Paris is London. The GDP of either Paris or London metropolitan areas far outweighs the GDP of any other metropolitan area in Europe.

Related Topics:
Metropolitan France - European Union - London

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As a matter of comparison, the total GDP of Greater London in 2002, as published by Eurostat, was US$309.8 billion (approximately US$358 billion in 2003) at real exchange rates. The metropolitan area of London, however, is larger than Greater London proper, but given that no government agency or statistical office has ever officially defined the extent of London metropolitan area, it is difficult to give a figure for its GDP. According to Eurostat figures, the combined GDP of Greater London and all the NUTS 2 regions around Greater London was US$574.6 billion in 2002 (approximately US$664 billion in 2003). However, this vast area extends from Brighton to Oxford to Bedford to Colchester to Dover and is much larger than what most people understand as the metropolitan area of London. Thus, we can only say that in 2003 the actual GDP figure for the metropolitan area of London was somewhere between US$358 billion and US$664 billion; and it seems reasonable to say that the total GDP of London metropolitan area is approximately equal to the total GDP of Paris metropolitan area (US$497 billion).

Related Topics:
Greater London - NUTS 2 - Brighton - Oxford - Bedford - Colchester - Dover

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In North America, there are only two metropolitan areas that have a GDP larger than Paris: the New York-Newark-Bridgeport metropolitan area and the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County metropolitan area. According to 2003 figures released by the US Conference of Mayors in November 2004, the total GDP of the New York-Newark-Bridgeport metropolitan area was US$847.6 billion, whereas the total GDP of the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County metropolitan area was US$699.8 billion. Paris metropolitan area, with US$497 billion, had a larger GDP than all other North American metropolitan areas: Chicago-Naperville-Michigan metropolitan area (US$390.5 billion), Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia metropolitan area (US$362.6 billion), San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area (Bay Area) (US$346.4 billion), etc.

Related Topics:
New York-Newark-Bridgeport metropolitan area - Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County metropolitan area - Chicago-Naperville-Michigan metropolitan area - Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia metropolitan area - Bay Area

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Outside of North America, the only other metropolitan areas in the world with a GDP larger than Paris are Tokyo metropolitan area and Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. According to data from the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the GDP of the Tokyo metropolitan area in 2003 was US$1,315 billion (at real exchange rates), while the GDP of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area was US$578 billion.

Related Topics:
Tokyo metropolitan area - Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area

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Paris and London, which were once the largest cities in the world, are now only approximately the 20th largest metropolitan areas in the world, but when looking at GDP figures, both metropolitan areas still stand in the top 5 of the largest gross metropolitan products in the world.

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Metropolitan areas

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2003 GDP(in billion US$)(at real exchange rates)

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01- Tokyo

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1,315

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02- New York

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847.6

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03- Los Angeles

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699.8

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04- Osaka

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578

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05- Paris05- London

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497between 358 and 664

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