City (France)
A city (French: Ville ) is under French law, unlike in the German-speaking sense, not an administrative unit, but a statistical unit.
A distinction is made between two forms: Ville isolée and Ville-center.
Unité urbaine
The unité urbaine is the generic term for both forms of villes.
Ville isolée
When a unité urbaine consists of a single municipality , it is called a ville isolée.
Ville-center
If a unité urbaine is made up of several municipalities, one speaks of a multi-municipal agglomeration. The parishes that make it up are either cities or suburbs. If a municipality makes up more than 50% of the population of the multicommunal agglomeration, it is a Ville-center. Otherwise, all municipalities that have more than 50% of the population of the most populous municipality are villes-centers. The remaining municipalities form the suburbs.
Ville de Paris
The Ville de Paris is can otherwise suspect as the name, no ville in a statistical sense. but a regional body that combines the competencies of a department and a municipality.