The first settlements around the beginning of the Christian era were on the banks of the Seine, but the Île de la Cité was soon built on after that. Paris and banlieues have absorbed many once independent villages in their growth. In Europe, Paris was an early center of culture. Many trade routes converge in the city. Already in the 10th century, when Notre Dame and a number of abbeys were built, Paris was one of the most important cities in France, and also an important place for Christianity. Since the 13th century, education, art and recreation have played a central role in it. For example, the University of Paris (which was split up after 1970), together with those of Bologna and Oxford, was one of the most important educational institutions in the Middle Ages. The university enjoys prestige and is regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. This development is partly the result of the centralist policy pursued for centuries within the monarchy and later republic of France, which attributed great importance to the capital. Since the 1960s, political policy in France has been characterized by decentralization and deconcentration, which has created somewhat more balance within the country's borders. The city is internationally oriented and attracts large numbers of tourists every year.

In all likelihood, the area where present-day Paris is located was already inhabited throughout the Neolithic Age. Traces from the Chasseen period (4000 - 3800 BC) of an inhabitant have been found in the area on the right bank of the Seine, where the 12th arrondissement is now located.[5] Remains have also been found of the so-called village of Bercy, which must have been located about 400 years before the beginning of the Christian era on the spot where Paris is now located. These remains can now be seen in the Musée Carnavalet. Julius Caesar conquered in 52 BC. in spite of Vercingetorix's resistance, the village of the Parisii, to which he subsequently gave the name Lutetia Parisiorum. The place was strategically important because trade routes passed through this place. It is not known exactly where the Gallic settlement used to be. It is possible that this was not on the site of Paris proper, but around present-day Nanterre. In the 1st century, a new Roman city was built on the left bank of the Seine according to the checkerboard pattern. At that time, Lutetia had a population of five to six thousand. It was therefore no more than a medium-sized Gallic city, in contrast to some other cities such as Lugdunum, present-day Lyon, which were much larger (in the 2nd century Lugdunum probably had between 50,000 and 80,000 inhabitants). According to tradition, Lutetia was renamed a Christian city by Dionysius of Paris in the 3rd century. As the Roman Empire declined towards the end of the 4th century, Lutetia was engulfed in the Great Migration, with many residents fleeing to the fortified île de la Cité. Paris was attacked by Attila the Hun in the spring of 451. The Parisii and the girl Genoveva or Geneviève, the later patron saint of the city, resisted the attacks of the Huns. The siege and attacks of the Huns failed and they drifted off to Orléans.

Paris is located in the north of France, in the Île-de-France region and on the River Seine. The historic center is built on two islands, the Île Saint-Louis and the larger Île de la Cité which is the oldest part of the city. Paris is situated on both sides of the river on a number of hills: on the right bank Montmartre (130 metres),[14] de Belleville (128.5 metres) which opens onto the rue du Télégraphe, de Ménilmontant (108 metres), the Buttes-Chaumont (103 meters), the Passy (71 meters) and the Chaillot (67 meters). On the left bank are the hills of Montsouris (78 meters), Montparnasse (66 meters), Butte-aux-Cailles (63 meters) and Montagne Sainte-Geneviève (61 meters). The height differences in the city are not great. In 1844, the actual city of Paris was separated from the suburbs by the city wall of Thiers. The annexation of all surrounding areas between the historic core and the ramparts of Thiers in 1860 gave Paris its current size, and from then on it included the current twenty arrondissements. In the 1920s, the city was expanded again by 8.9 km². In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes parks were added to Paris, bringing the current area to an area of ​​105.4 square kilometers (as of January 1, 2020). Without these two parks, the total area of ​​Paris is 86,928 km². Since 1973, the city has been separated from the suburbs by a 35 km long ring road, the Boulevard Périphérique, which connects the historic center of Paris to the suburbs via the Portes de Paris.