Paris Geography

Basic knowledge, Rivers and ground

Paris is in the heart of Parisian basin, at the confluence of many rivers: the Seine links it to the sea and to England. It is in the far west of Europe and on the edge of the industrial-urban pole that goes from Rotterdam to Milan. It is in the middle of a wide motorway and railway network.
The Seine runs through Paris and forms an arc of a circle which begins in the south-eastern part of the city, going up to the centre and ending southwest.
Therefore, the straight bank (the city area in the north of the river) is two times wider than the left one (southern part).

Area: 14. 518 km²
Population: 2.142.800 inhabitants (2004)

North Latitude: 48° 50’ Example of equivalent latitude: Vancouver (Canada)
East Longitude: 2° 20’ (Greenwich meridian) Example of equivalent longitude: Niamey (Niger)
Antipodes: they are somewhere in southern Pacific waters, southeast of New Zealand, by Antipodes islands.

Since 1995 the imaginary line of Paris meridian is marked by 135 ground fixed copper plates, whose diameter is of 12 cm, indicating the North and the South and the name of François Arago (1786-1853), a leading figure as astro-scientist and as politician. This route covers the place where Paris observatory was built in 1669 on the meridian line.