13th arrondissement of Paris

13th arrondissement of Paris
—  French municipal arrondissement  —
Paris and its closest suburbs
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Paris
Commune	Paris
Government
• Mayor	Jérôme Coumet
Area
• Total	7.15 km2 (2.8 sq mi)
Population (8 March 1999 census)
• Total	171,533
• Estimate (2005)	181,300
• Density	23,990.6/km2 (62,135.4/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 13th arrondissement of Paris (also known as "arrondissement des Gobelins") is one of the 20 arrondissements (administrative districts) of the capital city of France.

Situated on the Left Bank of the River Seine, it is home to Paris's main Chinatown, 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), 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.

The 13th arrondissement also hosts the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand and the newly built business district of Paris Rive Gauche.

Geography

The land area of this arrondissement is 7.146 km² (2.759 sq. miles, or 1,766 acres). The central place of this arrondissement is Place d'Italie from which the main avenues, boulevards and metro from the arrondissement start. Place d'Italie is also the joining point between the different parts of the arrondissement: Buttes aux Cailles, Les Gobelins and China town. Only the new area of Paris Rive Gauche along the Seine is somewhat independent from the centralised organisation.

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 (modern-day Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) settled there. Cantonese, Vietnamese and Khmer 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. 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

Place of birth of residents of the 13th arrondissement in 1999 Born in Metropolitan France Born outside Metropolitan France 76.2% 23.8% Born in Overseas France Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹ EU-15 immigrants² Non-EU-15 immigrants 1.8% 4.5% 2.9% 14.6% 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.

Map

Map of the 13th arrondissement

Economy

Ubisoft has its business office in the arrondissement. Accor has its Paris office in the Immueble Odyssey in the arrondissement.

Cityscape

Places of interest

• Paris's main Chinatown, also locally called la petite Asie ("Little Asia"), is located in the high rise buildings of this arrondissement.^{[citation needed]} The following can be found in this area:
  • Les Olympiades, Super-Italie and various other towers among the tallest in Paris
  • Tang Frères and Paristore Asian supermarkets and grocery stores.
• Bibliothèque nationale de France
• Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
• Butte-aux-Cailles
• Gare d'Austerlitz
• Gobelins manufactory
• University of Chicago Center in Paris
• 6 Villa des Gobelins - residence of Hồ Chí Minh from July 1919 to July 1921

Streets and squares include

• Rue Zadkine
• Boulevard de la Zone
• Place d'Italie

• 

  City hall in the 13th arrondissement

• 

  Public housing built in the first half of the 20th century

• 

  Boulevard Vincent Auriol

• 

  A large section of the 13th arrondissement was rebuilt in modernist style in the 1970s

• 

  McDonald's in the 13th arrondissement's Chinatown

• 

  Chinese New Year celebrations in the 13th arrondissement

• 

  Library Glacière

• 

  National School of Architecture

A panoramic view of the towers in Paris's 13th arrondissement

External links

• 13th arrondissement travel guide from Wikitravel