The City of Paris is divided into twenty arrondissements municipaux, administrative districts, referred to as arrondissements (). These are not to be confused with departmental arrondissements, which subdivide the larger French departments.

The number of the arrondissement is indicated by the last two digits in most Parisian postal codes, 75001 up to 75020. In addition to their number, each arrondissement has a name, often for a local monument. For example, the 5th arrondissement is also called "Panthéon" in reference to the eponymous building. The first four arrondissements have a shared administration, called Paris Centre.

Description

The twenty arrondissements (French: "rounding") are arranged in the form of a clockwise spiral, often likened to a snail shell, starting from the middle of the city, with the first on the Right Bank (north bank) of the Seine.

In French, notably on street signs, the number is often given in Roman numerals. For example, the Eiffel Tower belongs to the VII<sup>e</sup> arrondissement, while Gare de l'Est is in the X<sup>e</sup> arrondissement. In daily speech, people use the ordinal number corresponding to the arrondissement, e.g. "Elle habite dans le sixième", "She lives in the 6th (arrondissement)".

Due to suburbanization, the population of Paris has gradually shifted outward, with only two arrondissements still growing.

Governance

Uniquely among French cities, Paris is both a municipality (commune) and a department (département). Under the PLM Law (Loi PLM) of 1982, which redefined the governance of Paris, Lyon, and Marseille, hence the PLM acronym, there are both a city council called the Council of Paris, and 20 arrondissement councils in Paris. The PLM Law set limits to the prerogatives of the mayor of Paris, who has to deal with the powers granted to the prefect of police on security issues.

The 20 arrondissement councils (conseils d'arrondissement) are similar in operation to a municipal council (conseil municipal), but with very few powers.

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 eighty quartiers, see Quarters of Paris.

Arrondissements

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! class="unsortable" | Coat of arms

! data-sort-type="number" | Arrondissement <br>(R for Right Bank, L for Left Bank)

! Name

! Area (km<sup>2</sup>)

! Population<br>(2017 estimate)

! Density (2017)<br>(inhabitants per km<sup>2</sup>)

! Peak of population

! Mayor (2020–2026)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 1st arrondissement of Paris || 1st (I<sup>er</sup>) R<br/> || Louvre || rowspan="4" | || rowspan="4" | 100,196 (Paris Centre) || rowspan="4" | 17,924 (Paris Center) || before 1861 || rowspan="4" | Ariel Weil|60px<br/>Ariel Weil (PS)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 2nd arrondissement of Paris || 2nd (II<sup>e</sup>) R<br/> || Bourse || before 1861

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 3rd arrondissement of Paris || 3rd (III<sup>e</sup>) R<br/> || Temple || before 1861

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 4th arrondissement of Paris || 4th (IV<sup>e</sup>) R<br/> || Hôtel-de-Ville || before 1861

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 5th arrondissement of Paris || 5th (V<sup>e</sup>) L || Panthéon || || 59,631|| 23,477 || 1911 || Florence Berthout|60px<br/>Florence Berthout (DVD)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 6th arrondissement of Paris || 6th (VI<sup>e</sup>) L || Luxembourg || || 41,976 || 19,524 || 1911 || Jean-Pierre Lecoq|60px<br/>Jean-Pierre Lecoq (LR)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 7th arrondissement of Paris || 7th (VII<sup>e</sup>) L || Palais-Bourbon || || 52,193 || 12,761 || 1926 || Rachida Dati|60px<br/>Rachida Dati (LR)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 8th arrondissement of Paris || 8th (VIII<sup>e</sup>) R || Élysée || || 37,368 || 9,631 || 1891 || 87x87px<br/>Jeanne d'Hauteserre (LR)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 9th arrondissement of Paris || 9th (IX<sup>e</sup>) R || Opéra || || 60,071 || 27,556 || 1901 || Delphine Bürkli (DVD)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 10th arrondissement of Paris || 10th (X<sup>e</sup>) R || Entrepôt || || 90,836 || 31,431 || 1881 || Alexandra Cordebard (PS)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 11th arrondissement of Paris || 11th (XI<sup>e</sup>) R || Popincourt || || 147,470 || 40,183 || 1911 || 60px<br/>François Vauglin (PS)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 12th arrondissement of Paris || 12th (XII<sup>e</sup>) R || Reuilly || <br> || 141,287 || 8,657<br>21,729 || 1962 || Emmanuelle Pierre-Marie (EELV)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 13th arrondissement of Paris || 13th (XIII<sup>e</sup>) L || Gobelins || || 183,399 || 25,650 || 2005 || Jérôme Coumet|60px<br/>Jérôme Coumet (PS)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 14th arrondissement of Paris || 14th (XIV<sup>e</sup>) L || Observatoire || || 136,941 || 24,280 || 1954 || 60px<br/>Carine Petit (Gt.s)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 15th arrondissement of Paris || 15th (XV<sup>e</sup>) L || Vaugirard || || 235,178 || 27,733 || 1962 || Philippe Goujon|60px<br/>Philippe Goujon (LR)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 16th arrondissement of Paris || 16th (XVI<sup>e</sup>) R || Passy || <br> || 149,500 || 9,169<br>19,054 || 1962 || Francis Szpiner|60px<br/>Francis Szpiner (LR)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 17th arrondissement of Paris || 17th (XVII<sup>e</sup>) R || Batignolles-Monceau || || 168,737 || 29,760 || 1954 || 60px<br/>Geoffroy Boulard (LR)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 18th arrondissement of Paris || 18th (XVIII<sup>e</sup>) R || Butte-Montmartre || || 196,131 || 32,634 || 1931 || 60px<br/>Éric Lejoindre (PS)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 19th arrondissement of Paris || 19th (XIX<sup>e</sup>) R || Buttes-Chaumont || ||188,066 || 27,697 || 2005 || 60px<br/>François Dagnaud (PS)

|- align="center"

| 40px|Coat of arms of 20th arrondissement of Paris || 20th (XX<sup>e</sup>) R || Ménilmontant || || 191,800 || 32,052 || 1936 || Éric Pliez (DVG)

|}

History

thumb|300px|A map showing the twelve original arrondissements in 1795. The surrounding grey area shows the size of Paris after [[Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#Paris_doubles_in_size_–_the_annexation_of_1860|the expansion in 1860.]]

On 11 October 1795, Paris was divided into twelve arrondissements. They were numbered from west to east. The numbers 1–9 were on the Right Bank of the Seine. The numbers were 10–12 on the Left Bank. Each arrondissement was subdivided into four quartiers, which corresponded to the 48 original districts created in 1790.

In the late 1850s, Emperor Napoleon III and the Prefect of the Seine Baron Haussmann developed a plan to incorporate several of the surrounding communes into the Paris jurisdiction. In 1859, Parliament passed the necessary legislation, and the expansion took effect when the law was promulgated on 3 November 1859. City taxes were extended to the new neighborhoods in July 1860.

The previous twelve arrondissements were done away with, and twenty new arrondissements were created. In historical records, when it is necessary to distinguish between the two systems, the original arrondissements are indicated by adding the term ancienne ("former" or "old"), for example, 2ème ancienne or 7ème anc.

Before the reorganization, non-married couples who lived together were said to have "married at the town hall of the 13th arrondissement" ("se marier à la mairie du 13e arrondissement"), as a jocular reference to there being no 13th. When Haussmann released his plan for the new boundaries and numbering system, residents of Passy objected because it placed them in the new 13th arrondissement. The mayor of Passy, Jean-Frédéric Possoz, devised the numbering of the arrondissements in a spiral pattern, beginning on the Right Bank, which put Passy in the 16th. This system turned the Louvre area, which contained the Tuileries Palace and other imperial palaces, into the 1st. The Gobelins area became the 13th instead.

In early 2016, mayor Anne Hidalgo proposed that the first four arrondissements should have their administrations merged. The Council of Paris approved this in February 2016. The four have a combined population of about 100,000, with the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 3rd arrondissements in that order being the four smallest in Paris. In August 2016, the matter was taken up in the National Assembly, and approved in February 2017.

In October 2018, in a postal referendum, the town hall of the 3rd arrondissement was chosen to house the new shared administration. The name "Paris Centre" was chosen for the sector. In June 2020, the reform was implemented, the day after the second round of the 2020 Paris municipal election. The four arrondissements now share a mayor and a district council. The four arrondissements continue to exist, but are no longer used as administrative and electoral sectors.

Logos of the town halls

<gallery caption="Logos of the Paris town halls">

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 01-04 - Paris Centre.svg|Paris Centre, ar&shy;ron&shy;dis&shy;se&shy;ments 1, 2, 3, 4

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 05 - Panthéon.svg|5th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 06 - Luxembourg.svg|6th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 07 - Palais Bourbon.svg|7th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 08 - Élysée.svg|8th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 09 - Opéra.svg|9th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 10 - Entrepôt.svg|10th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 11 - Popincourt.svg|11th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 12 - Reuilly.svg|12th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 13 - Gobelins.svg|13th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 14 - Observatoire.svg|14th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 15 - Vaugirard.svg|15th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 16 - Passy.svg|16th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 17 - Batignolles-Monceau.svg|17th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 18 - Buttes-Montmartre.svg|18th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 19 - Buttes-Chaumont.svg|19th arrondissement

Logo Arrondissement de Paris - Mairie 20 - Ménilmontant.svg|20th arrondissement

</gallery>

Works

  • Paris, je t'aime, a 2006 film composed of five-minute sequences on each arrondissement

See also

  • Arrondissement, for other uses of the term.
  • Historical quarters of Paris
  • Administration of Paris

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • Official Paris website
  • Website showing location, numbering conventions, and general info for arrondissements