15th arrondissement of Paris
The 15th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements (administrative districts) of the capital city of France.
Situated on the Rive Gauche (left bank) of the River Seine and sharing the Montparnasse district with the 6th and 14th arrondissements, it is the city's most populous arrondissement. The Tour Montparnasse – the tallest skyscraper in Paris – and the neighbouring Gare Montparnasse are both located in the 15th arrondissement, at its border with the 14th. It is also home to the Parc des Expositions which near the Parc des Princes and houses Porte de Versailles exhibition centre, the high-rise district of the Front de Seine (or Beaugrenelle).
Geography
The land area of this arrondissement is 8.502 km2 (3.283 sq. miles, or 2,101 acres).
Demography
The peak of population of Paris's 15th arrondissement occurred in 1962, when it had 250,551 inhabitants. Since then it has lost approximately one-tenth of its population, but it remains the most populous arrondissement of Paris, with 225,362 inhabitants at the last census in 1999. With 144,667 jobs at the same census, the 15th is also very dense in business activities.
Historical population
Year
(of French censuses) |
Population |
Density
(inh. per km2) |
| 1872 |
75,449 |
8,874 |
| 1954 |
250,124 |
29,419 |
| 1962 (peak of population) |
250,551 |
29,470 |
| 1968 |
244,080 |
28,709 |
| 1975 |
231,301 |
27,205 |
| 1982 |
225,596 |
26,534 |
| 1990 |
223,940 |
26,340 |
| 1999 |
225,362 |
26,507 |
| 2005 estimate |
232,400 |
27,335 |
Immigration
Place of birth of residents of the 15th arrondissement in 1999
| Born in Metropolitan France |
Born outside Metropolitan France |
| 80.0% |
20.0% |
Born in
Overseas France |
Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹ |
EU-15 immigrants² |
Non-EU-15 immigrants |
| 1.0% |
4.8% |
4.0% |
10.2% |
¹This group is made up largely of pieds-noirs from Northwest Africa, followed by former colonial citizens who had French citizenship at birth (such as was often the case for the native elite in French colonies), and to a lesser extent foreign-born children of French expatriates. Note that a foreign country is understood as a country not part of France as of 1999, so a person born for example in 1950 in Algeria, when Algeria was an integral part of France, is nonetheless listed as a person born in a foreign country in French statistics.
²An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still considered an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants. |
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Places of interest
Economy
The headquarters of France Télécom are located in the 15th arrondissement.[1] La Poste, the French mail service, has its head office in the arrondissement.[2][3] The publisher Hachette Livre also has its headquarters in the arrondissement.[4]
Prior to the completion of the current Air France headquarters in Tremblay-en-France in December 1995,[5][6] Air France was headquartered in a tower located next to the Gare Montparnasse rail station in Montparnasse and in the 15th arrondissement; Air France had its headquarters in the tower for about 30 years.[7][8][9]
History
The loi du 16 juin 1859 decreed the annexation to Paris of the area between the old Wall of the Farmers-General and the wall of Thiers. The communes of Grenelle, Vaugirard, and Javel were incorporated into Paris in 1860.
Quarters
As in all the Parisian arrondissements, the fifteenth is made up of four administrative quarters (quartiers).
- To the south, quartier Saint-Lambert occupies the former site of the village of Vaugirard, built along an ancient Roman road of the same name. The geography of the area was particularly suited to wine-making, as well as quarrying. In fact, many Parisian monuments, such as the École Militaire, were built from Vaugirard stone. The village, not yet being part of Paris, was considered by Parisians to be an agreeable suburb, pleasant for country walks or its cabarets and puppet shows. In 1860 Vaugirard was annexed to Paris, along with adjoining villages. Today, the only notable attractions in this area are the Parc des Expositions (an exhibition center which hosts the Foire de Paris, agricultural expositions, and car shows), and Parc Georges Brassens, a park built on the former site of a slaughterhouse.
- To the east, quartier Necker was originally an uninhabited space between Paris and Vaugirard. The most well-known landmarks in the area are the Gare Montparnasse train station and the looming Tour Montparnasse office tower. The area around the train station has been renovated and now contains a number of office and apartment blocks, a park (the Jardin Atlantique, built directly over the train tracks), and shopping centers. Finally, the quartier contains a number of public buildings: the Lycée Buffon, Necker Children's Hospital, and the Institut Pasteur.
- To the north, quartier Grenelle was originally a village of the same name. Grenelle plain extended from the current Hôtel des Invalides to the suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux on the other side of the Seine, but remained mostly uninhabited in centuries past due to difficulties farming the land. At the beginning of the 19th century, an entrepreneur by the name of Violet divided off a section of the plain: this became the village of Beaugrenelle, known for its series of straight streets and blocks, which remain today. The whole area broke off from the commune of Vaugirard in 1830, becoming the commune of Grenelle, which was in turn annexed to Paris in 1860. A century later, a number of apartment and office towers were built along the Seine, along with Beaugrenelle shopping mall.
- To the west, quartier Javel lies to the south of Grenelle plain. In years past, it was the industrial area of the arrondissement: first with chemical companies (the famous Eau de Javel [bleach] was invented and produced there), then electrical companies (Thomson), and finally car manufacturers (Citroën), whose factories occupied a large part of the quartier up until the early 1970s. The industrial areas have since been destroyed, and the neighbourhood now contains Parc André Citroën, Georges Pompidou Hospital, and a number of large office buildings and television studios (Sagem, Snecma, the Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile, Canal Plus, France Télévisions, etc.). In addition, to the south of the circular highway (boulevard périphérique), an extension of the 15th, formerly an aerodrome at the beginning of the 20th century, is now a heliport, a gym and a recreation center.
- The early airfield here has been encroached upon by urban development and a sports centre but the residual area, mainly laid to grass, continues to serve Paris as a heliport. The Sécurité Civile has a detachment here close to maintenance facilities. Customs facilities are available and the facility is especially busy during the Salon d'Aeronautique airshows held at Le Bourget on the other side of the city.
Education
Schiller International University has a campus in the arrondissement. It is in proximity to Place de la Convention.[10]
References
External links
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