The Paris aire urbaine (or "metropolitan area") is a statistical area that describes the reach of commuter movement to and from Paris and its surrounding urban area. The aire urbaine, a statistical area created by France's INSEE economy and census institution to describe suburban development around centres of urban growth, is composed of a couronne périurbaine (commuter belt) surrounding a more densely-constructed and densely-populated unité urbaine (or "urban area"). At present the Paris aire urbaine, with its 14,549 km², extends slightly beyond Paris' administrative Île-de-France administrative region, or "Paris Region".

The Paris aire urbaine expands at each population census due to the rapid population growth in the Paris area: new communes (municipalities) surrounding Paris become included in the aire urbaine when they meet the 40% commuter threshold required to be considered part of the aire urbaine. At the 1968 census, the earliest date for which population figures were retrospectively computed for French aire urbaines, the Paris aire urbaine had 9 872 000 inhabitants in an area that only encompassed central Île-de-France. At the 1999 census the Paris aire urbaine was by then slightly larger than Île-de-France and had 11,174,743 inhabitants. Its population is now estimated to be nearly 12 million in its 1999 limits, and this number will change again upon the INSEE publication of the 2006 population census.

Coordinates: 48°51′24″N 2°21′03″E / 48.8567°N 2.3508°E / 48.8567; 2.3508

Paris (ⁱ/ˈpærɨs/; French: [paʁi] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (or Paris Region, French: Région parisienne). As of January 2008 the city of Paris, within its administrative limits (the 20 arrondissements) largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated population of 2,211,297 and a metropolitan population of 12,089,098, and is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe. Paris was the largest city in the Western world for about 1,000 years, prior to the 19th century, and the largest in the entire world between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. It hosts the headquarters of many international organizations such as UNESCO, the OECD, the International Chamber of Commerce or the European Space Agency. Paris is considered one of the greenest and most liveable cities in Europe. It is also one of the most expensive.

The aire urbaine (French for "urban area") is a statistical region created by the INSEE (National statistics bureau of France) that comprises a commuter belt (couronne périurbaine) surrounding a contiguous urban core (pôle urbain). As defined, it is similar (though not identical) to the more general term, "metropolitan area", used in English.

The aire urbaine is a demographic unit that is based on France's nation-wide map of abutting communes (municipalities). It centers on a core of communes (the pôle urbain) that represents a distinct and unified connurbation, a zone of economically and socially interdependent communities displaying interconnected and unbroken urban growth.

This center forms a "pole of attraction" for a "periurban ring" or "commuter belt" (couronne périurbaine). Communes having at least 40% of their resident populations commuting back and forth to the pôle urbain, or commuting to other communes having the same relation to the pôle urbain, are defined as being part of the aire urbaine commuter belt. The result is a precise demographic map of a center of urban growth and its socio-economic reach into the surrounding area.

Sharmila Tagore (born 8 December 1946) is an Indian film actress. She has won National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for her performances. She has led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011. In December 2005 she was chosen as an UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Sharmila was born in a Hindu Bengali family in Hyderabad State to Gitindranath Tagore who was then deputy general manager of the East India Company owner of Elgin Mills. Gitindranath was the son of Kanakendranath Tagore who is the son of noted painter Gaganendranath Tagore. She attended St. John's Diocesan Girls' Higher Secondary School and Loreto Convent, Asansol. She is the great-grand niece of noted poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Sharmila began her career as an actress in Satyajit Ray's 1959 Bengali film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), as the ill-fated bride of the title character. She appeared in a number of Ray films, often co-starring with Soumitra Chatterjee.

James Beeland Rogers, Jr. (born October 19, 1942) is an American investor and author. He is currently based in Singapore. Rogers is the Chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc. He was the co-founder of the Quantum Fund with George Soros and creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index (RICI).

Rogers is an outspoken proponent of the free market, but he does not consider himself a member of any school of thought. Rogers acknowledged, however, that his views best fit the label of Austrian School of economics.

Rogers was born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Demopolis, Alabama. He started in business at the age of five by selling peanuts and by picking up empty bottles that fans left behind at baseball games. He got his first job on Wall Street, at Dominick & Dominick, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in History from Yale University in 1964. Rogers then acquired a second BA degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Balliol College, Oxford University in 1966.