XIIIe arrondissement
Encyclopedia
The 13th arrondissement of Paris (also known as "arrondissement des Gobelins") is one of the 20 arrondissements
Arrondissements of Paris
The city of Paris is divided into twenty arrondissements municipaux administrative districts, more simply referred to as arrondissements . These are not to be confused with departmental arrondissements, which subdivide the 101 French départements...

 (administrative districts) of the capital city
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Situated on the Left Bank
Rive Gauche
La Rive Gauche is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two: looking downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank is to the right....

 of the River Seine, it is home to Paris's main Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...

, which is located in the southeast of the arrondissement in an area that contains many high-rise apartment buildings. The current mayor is Jérôme Coumet (Socialist
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...

), who was re-elected by the arrondissement council on 29 March 2008 after the list which he headed gained 70% of the votes cast in the second round of the French municipal elections, 2008
French municipal elections, 2008
The French municipal elections of 2008 were held on 9 March in that year to elect the municipal councils of France's 36,782 communes...

.

The 13th arrondissement also hosts the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...

 and the newly built business district of Paris Rive Gauche
Paris Rive Gauche
Paris Rive Gauche is a neighbourhood on the left bank of the thirteenth arrondissement of Paris. The district is bordered by the Seine, the railway tracks of Gare d'Austerlitz and the Périphérique...

.

Geography

The land area of this arrondissement is 7.146 km2 (2.759 sq. miles, or 1,766 acres).

Demographics

The 13th arrondissement is still growing in population, mainly because of an influx of Asian immigrants. In the 1980s, ethnic Chinese refugees from the former French colony of French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

 (modern-day Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

 and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

) settled there. Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....

, Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...

 and Khmer
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...

 are spoken by many residents in the community.

At the last census in 1999, the population was 171,533. The 13th arrondissement is also rapidly growing in business activity, thanks to the new business district of Paris Rive Gauche
Paris Rive Gauche
Paris Rive Gauche is a neighbourhood on the left bank of the thirteenth arrondissement of Paris. The district is bordered by the Seine, the railway tracks of Gare d'Austerlitz and the Périphérique...

. In 1999, the arrondissement contained 89,316 jobs, and it is believed to contain more today.

Historical population

Year
(of French censuses)
Population Density
(inh. per km2)
1872 69,431 12,342
1954 165,620 23,164
1962 166,709 23,329
1968 158,280 22,149
1975 163,313 22,854
1982 170,818 23,904
1990 171,098 23,943
1999 171,533 24,004
2005 estimate (peak of population) 181,300 25,371

Immigration

Places of interest

  • Paris's main Chinatown
    Chinatown
    A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...

    , also locally called la petite Asie ("Little Asia"), is located in the high rise buildings of this arrondissement. The following can be found in this area:
    • Les Olympiades
      Les Olympiades
      Les Olympiades is a district of residential towers located in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built from 1969 to 1974, the district consists of a dozen towers built along a huge esplanade, elevated eight meters from the ground, that is dedicated to pedestrians. A shopping mall, known as...

      , Super-Italie and various other towers among the tallest in Paris
    • Tang Frères
      Tang Frères
      Tang Frères is an Asian supermarket chain based in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, one of the quartier chinois of the capital city of France....

       and Paristore
      Paristore
      Paristore is an Asian supermarket in the region of Paris, Lyon and Toulouse.It has many branches, including one in the 13th arrondissement, situated near Tang Frères, another supermarket selling Asian food....

       Asian supermarkets and grocery stores.
  • Bibliothèque nationale de France
    Bibliothèque nationale de France
    The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...

  • Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
    Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
    The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital is a teaching hospital located in Paris, France. Part of the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, it is one of Europe's largest hospitals...

  • Butte-aux-Cailles
    Butte-aux-Cailles
    The Butte-aux-Cailles is a neighbourhood of Paris, France located in the XIIIe arrondissement on one of the hills in the southeast corner of the city....

  • Gare d'Austerlitz
    Gare d'Austerlitz
    Paris Austerlitz is one of the six large terminus railway stations in Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the XIIIe arrondissement...

  • Gobelins manufactory
    Gobelins manufactory
    The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins métro station in the XIIIe arrondissement...

  • University of Chicago Center in Paris
  • 6 Villa des Gobelins - residence of Hồ Chí Minh
    Ho Chi Minh
    Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...

     from July 1919 to July 1921

Streets and squares include

  • Rue Zadkine
    Rue Zadkine
    Rue Zadkine is a commercial street in the XIIIe arrondissement of Paris, named after the sculptor of Russian descent Ossip Zadkine. It runs from the Rue Baudoin to the Rue Duchefdelaville. It has a length of some 90m, and broadens from a width of 15m to 25m along its length.The closest métro...

  • Boulevard de la Zone
    Boulevard de la Zone
    Boulevard de la Zone is a street in the XIIIe arrondissement of Paris named from the historical military zone. It has been planted with trees for much of its length of 515m and has an average width of 8m. It runs from the Avenue de la Porte d'Ivry to the Avenue de la Porte de Choisy...

  • Place d'Italie
    Place d'Italie
    The Place d'Italie is a public space in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The square has an average dimension somewhat less than 200 meters in extent , and the following streets meet there:*Boulevard Vincent-Auriol...


External links

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