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 . 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 . The city is also a major rail , highway , and air-transport hub served by two international airports : Paris-Charles de Gaulle ( the second busiest airport in Europe after London Heathrow Airport with 63.8 million passengers in 2014 ) and Paris-Orly . It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro .