Paris is in the Americas.
Paris ( French pronunciation : [ pɑʁi ] , [ paʁi ] ) is the capital and most populous city of France . The city is both a commune and department and forms the centre and headquarters of the Île-de-France , or Paris Region , which has an area of 12,012 km2 and a population in 2016 of 12,142,802 , comprising roughly 18 percent of the population of France . By the 17th century , Paris was one of Europe 's major centres of finance , commerce , fashion , science , and the arts , and it retains that position still today . The Paris Region had a GDP of $ 624 billion ( US $ 687 billion ) in 2012 , accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe .