20th arrondissement of Paris

20th arrondissement of Paris
—  French municipal arrondissement  —
Rue de Ménilmontant in the 20th arrondissement.
Paris and its closest suburbs
Country France
Region Île-de-France
Department Paris
Commune Paris
Government
 • Mayor Frédérique Calandra
Area
 • Total 5.98 km2 (2.3 sq mi)
Population (8 March 1999 census)[p]
 • Total 182,952
 • Estimate (2005) 191,800
 • Density 30,594/km2 (79,238/sq mi)
^[p] Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).
The
20 arrondissements
of Paris
17th 18th 19th
  8th 9th 10th 11th 20th
16th 2nd 3rd
1st 4th 12th
River Seine
  7th 6th 5th 13th
15th 14th

The 20th arrondissement, also known as arrondissement de Ménilmontant, located on the Right Bank, is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France. It contains the cosmopolitan districts of Ménilmontant and Belleville which have welcomed many successive waves of immigration since the middle of the 19th century. Despite this, the arrondissement elected and was represented by the anti-immigration Front National politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, as a municipal councilor from 1983 to 1989. Today, Belleville contains the second largest Chinatown in Paris.

The 20th arrondissement is also internationally known for hosting the Père Lachaise Cemetery where one can find the burials of many famous composers (such as Frédéric Chopin and Gioacchino Rossini), writers (including Oscar Wilde and Marcel Proust), painters (Camille Pissarro, Jacques-Louis David, and others), and the rock singer Jim Morrison of The Doors.

Contents

Geography

The land area of this arrondissement is 5.984 km2 (2.31 sq. miles, or 1,479 acres).

Demographics

The population of Paris's 20th arrondissement peaked in 1936, when it had 208,115 inhabitants. Today it remains very dense in population and business activity with 182,952 inhabitants and 54,786 jobs as of the last census, in 1999.

Historical population

Year
(of French censuses)		 Population Density
(inh. per km2)
1872 92,772 15,503
1936 (peak of population) 208,115 34,779
1954 200,208 33,457
1962 199,310 33,307
1968 188,921 31,571
1975 175,795 29,378
1982 171,971 28,738
1990 184,478 30,829
1999 182,952 30,574
2005 estimate 191,800 32,052

Immigration

Place of birth of residents of the 20th arrondissement in 1999
Born in Metropolitan France Born outside Metropolitan France
74.7% 25.3%
Born in
Overseas France		 Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹ EU-15 immigrants² Non-EU-15 immigrants
1.9% 4.0% 3.1% 16.3%
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.

Cityscape

Places of interest

Important districts

External links

Population over 2 million
Population over 100,000
Population over 75,000
Population over 50,000
Population over 25,000
Population under 25,000
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