ate[edit]

Main article: Climate of Paris

Autumn in Paris
Paris has a typical Western European oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb), which is affected by the North
Atlantic Current. The overall climate throughout the year is mild and moderately wet. [97] Summer days
are usually warm and pleasant with average temperatures between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F),
and a fair amount of sunshine.[98] Each year, however, there are a few days when the temperature
rises above 32 °C (90 °F). Longer periods of more intense heat sometimes occur, such as the heat
wave of 2003 when temperatures exceeded 30 °C (86 °F) for weeks, reached 40 °C (104 °F) on
some days and rarely cooled down at night.[99] Spring and autumn have, on average, mild days and
fresh nights but are changing and unstable. Surprisingly warm or cool weather occurs frequently in
both seasons.[100] In winter, sunshine is scarce; days are cool, and nights are cold but generally
above freezing with low temperatures around 3 °C (37 °F).[101] Light night frosts are however quite
common, but the temperature seldom dips below −5 °C (23 °F). The city sometimes sees light snow
or flurries with or without accumulation. [102]
Paris has an average annual precipitation of 641 mm (25.2 in), and experiences light rainfall
distributed evenly throughout the year. However, the city is known for intermittent, abrupt, heavy
showers. The highest recorded temperature was 42.6 °C (108.7 °F) on 25 July 2019,[103] and the
lowest was −23.9 °C (−11.0 °F) on 10 December 1879.[104]

hideClimate data for Paris (Parc Montsouris), elevation: 75 m (246 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes
1872–present

Ma
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
y

16. 21. 26. 30. 34. 37. 36. 28. 21.

42.6 39.5 17.1 42.6
1 4 0 2 8 6 2 9 6
Record high °C (°F) (108. (103. (62.8 (108.
(61. (70. (78. (86. (94. (99. (97. (84. (70.
7) 1) ) 7)
0) 5) 8) 4) 6) 7) 2) 0) 9)

Average high °C 7.6 8.8 12. 16. 20. 23. 25.7 25.6 21. 16. 11. 8.0 16.5
(°F) (45. (47. 8 6 2 4 (78.3 (78.1 5 5 1 (46.4 (61.7
7) 8) (55. (61. (68. (74. ) ) (70. (61. (52. ) )
 0) 9) 4) 1) 7) 7) 0)

12. 15. 18. 17. 13.

5.4 6.0 9.2 20.9 20.8 8.7 5.9 12.8
2 6 8 2 2
Daily mean °C (°F) (41. (42. (48. (69.6 (69.4 (47. (42.6 (55.0
(54. (60. (65. (63. (55.
7) 8) 6) ) ) 7) ) )
0) 1) 8) 0) 8)

11. 14. 13.

3.2 3.3 5.6 7.9 16.2 16.0 9.9 6.2 3.8 9.2
Average low °C 1 2 0
(37. (37. (42. (46. (61.2 (60.8 (49. (43. (38.8 (48.6
(°F) (52. (57. (55.
8) 9) 1) 2) ) ) 8) 2) ) )
0) 6) 4)

−14 −14 −9. −3. −0. −3. −14 −23. −23.

3.1 6.0 6.3 1.8
.6 .7 1 5 1 8 .0 9 9
Record low °C (°F) (37. (42.8 (43.3 (35.
(5.7 (5.5 (15. (25. (31. (25. (6.8 (−11. (−11.
6) ) ) 2)
) ) 6) 7) 8) 2) ) 0) 0)

47. 41. 45. 45. 69. 51. 44. 55. 54. 634.
59.4 58.0 62.0
Average precipita 6 8 2 8 0 3 7 2 3 3
(2.34 (2.28 (2.44
tion mm (inches) (1.8 (1.6 (1.7 (1.8 (2.7 (2.0 (1.7 (2.1 (2.1 (24.9
) ) )
7) 5) 8) 0) 2) 2) 6) 7) 4) 7)

Average
10. 108.
precipitation 9.9 9.1 9.5 8.6 9.2 8.3 7.4 8.1 7.5 9.5 11.4
4 9
days (≥ 1.0 mm)

Average snowy
3.0 3.9 1.6 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 2.1 11.9
days

Average relative
83 78 73 69 70 69 68 71 76 82 84 84 76
humidity (%)
 Mean
59. 83. 134 177 201 203 222. 215. 174 118 69. 1,71
monthly sunshine 56.9
0 7 .9 .3 .0 .5 4 3 .7 .6 8 7
hours

Average ultraviole
1 2 3 4 6 7 7 6 4 3 1 1 4
t index

Source 1: Meteo France (snow days 1981–2010),[105] Infoclimat.fr (relative humidity 1961–1990)[106]

Source 2: Weather Atlas (percent sunshine and UV Index) [107]

Administration[edit]
Main article: Administration of Paris

City government[edit]
See also: Arrondissements of Paris and List of mayors of Paris

A map of the arrondissements of Paris

For almost all of its long history, except for a few brief periods, Paris was governed directly by
representatives of the king, emperor, or president of France. The city was not granted municipal
autonomy by the National Assembly until 1974.[108] The first modern elected mayor of Paris
was Jacques Chirac, elected 20 March 1977, becoming the city's first mayor since 1871 and only the
fourth since 1794. The current mayor is Anne Hidalgo, a socialist, first elected 5 April 2014[109] and re-
elected 28 June 2020.[110]
 The Hôtel de Ville, or city hall
The mayor of Paris is elected indirectly by Paris voters; the voters of each of the city's 20
arrondissements elect members to the Conseil de Paris (Council of Paris), which subsequently
elects the mayor. The council is composed of 163 members, with each arrondissement allocated a
number of seats dependent upon its population, from 10 members for each of the least-populated
arrondissements to 34 members for the most populated. The council is elected using closed
list proportional representation in a two-round system. Party lists winning an absolute majority in the
first round – or at least a plurality in the second round – automatically win half the seats of an
arrondissement. The remaining half of seats are distributed proportionally to all lists which win at
least 5% of the vote using the highest averages method.[111] This ensures that the winning party or
coalition always wins a majority of the seats, even if they do not win an absolute majority of the vote.
[112]

Each of Paris's 20 arrondissements has its own town hall and a directly elected council (conseil
d'arrondissement), which, in turn, elects an arrondissement mayor.[113] The council of each
arrondissement is composed of members of the Conseil de Paris and also members who serve only
on the council of the arrondissement. The number of deputy mayors in each arrondissement varies
depending upon its population. There are a total of 20 arrondissement mayors and 120 deputy
mayors.[108]

Métropole du Grand Paris[edit]

Map of the Greater Paris Metropolis and its governing territories

The Métropole du Grand Paris, or simply Grand Paris, formally came into existence on 1 January
2016.[114] It is an administrative structure for co-operation between the City of Paris and its nearest
suburbs. It includes the City of Paris, plus the communes of the three departments of the inner
suburbs (Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne), plus seven communes in the outer
suburbs, including Argenteuil in Val d'Oise and Paray-Vieille-Poste in Essonne, which were added to
include the major airports of Paris. The Metropole covers 814 km2 (314 sq mi) and has a population
of 6.945 million persons.[115][116]
The new structure is administered by a Metropolitan Council of 210 members, not directly elected,
but chosen by the councils of the member Communes. By 2020 its basic competencies will include
urban planning, housing and protection of the environment. [114][116] The first president of the
metropolitan council, Patrick Ollier, was elected on 22 January 2016. Though the Metropole has a
population of nearly seven million people and accounts for 25 percent of the GDP of France, it has a
very small budget: just 65 million Euros, compared with eight billion Euros for the City of Paris. [117]

Regional government[edit]
The Region of Île de France, including Paris and its surrounding communities, is governed by
the Regional Council, composed of 209 members representing its different communes. On 15
December 2015, a list of candidates of the Union of the Right, a coalition of centrist and right-wing
parties, led by Valérie Pécresse, narrowly won the regional election, defeating a coalition of
Socialists and ecologists. The Socialists had governed the region for seventeen years. The regional
council has 121 members from the Union of the Right, 66 from the Union of the Left and 22 from the
extreme right National Front.[118]

National government[edit]

The Élysée Palace, official residence of the President of France

As the capital of France, Paris is the seat of France's national government. For the executive, the
two chief officers each have their own official residences, which also serve as their offices.
The President of the French Republic resides at the Élysée Palace,[119] while the Prime Minister's seat
is at the Hôtel Matignon.[120][121] Government ministries are located in various parts of the city, many
near the Hôtel Matignon.[122]
Both houses of the French Parliament are located on the Rive Gauche. The upper house,
the Senate, meets in the Palais du Luxembourg, while the more important lower house, the National
Assembly, meets in the Palais Bourbon. The President of the Senate, the second-highest public
official in France (the President of the Republic being the sole superior), resides in the Petit
Luxembourg, a smaller palace annexe to the Palais du Luxembourg. [123]

The Palais-Royal, residence of the Conseil d'État

France's highest courts are located in Paris. The Court of Cassation, the highest court in the judicial
order, which reviews criminal and civil cases, is located in the Palais de Justice on the Île de la Cité,
[124]
 while the Conseil d'État, which provides legal advice to the executive and acts as the highest
court in the administrative order, judging litigation against public bodies, is located in the Palais-
Royal in the 1st arrondissement.[125] The Constitutional Council, an advisory body with ultimate
authority on the constitutionality of laws and government decrees, also meets in the Montpensier
wing of the Palais Royal.[126]
Paris and its region host the headquarters of several international organisations including UNESCO,
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Chamber of
Commerce, the Paris Club, the European Space Agency, the International Energy Agency,
the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the European Union Institute for Security
Studies, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the International Exhibition Bureau, and
the International Federation for Human Rights.

Police force[edit]

Police (Gendarmerie) motorcyclists

The security of Paris is mainly the responsibility of the Prefecture of Police of Paris, a subdivision of
the Ministry of the Interior. It supervises the units of the National Police who patrol the city and the
three neighbouring departments. It is also responsible for providing emergency services, including
the Paris Fire Brigade. Its headquarters is on Place Louis Lépine on the Île de la Cité.[127]
There are 43,800 officers under the prefecture, and a fleet of more than 6,000 vehicles, including
police cars, motorcycles, fire trucks, boats and helicopters. [127] The national police has its own special
unit for riot control and crowd control and security of public buildings, called the Compagnies
Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS). Vans of CRS agents are frequently seen in the centre of the city
when there are demonstrations and public events. The police are supported by the National
Gendarmerie, a branch of the French Armed Forces, though their police operations now are
supervised by the Ministry of the Interior. [128]
Crime in Paris is similar to that in most large cities. Violent crime is relatively rare in the city centre.
Political violence is uncommon, though very large demonstrations may occur in Paris and other
French cities simultaneously. These demonstrations, usually managed by a strong police presence,
can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. [129]

Cityscape[edit]