7th arrondissement of Paris

7th arrondissement of Paris
French municipal arrondissement
View over the 7th arrondissement, dominated by the Eiffel Tower, and the Invalides.
Paris and its closest suburbs
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Paris
Commune	Paris
Government
• Mayor	Rachida Dati
Area
• Total	4.09 km2 (1.58 sq mi)
Population (8 March 1999 census)
• Total	56,985
• Estimate (2005)	55,400
• Density	14,000/km2 (36,000/sq mi)
^[p] Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

The 7th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements (administrative districts) of the capital city in France. It includes some of the major tourist attractions of Paris, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Hôtel des Invalides (Napoléon's resting place), and a concentration of such world-famous museums as the Musée d'Orsay, Musée Rodin, and the Musée du quai Branly.

Situated on the Rive Gauche—the "Left", or Southern, bank of the River Seine—this central arrondissement, which includes the historical aristocratic neighbourhood of Faubourg Saint-Germain, contains a number of French national institutions, among them the French National Assembly and numerous government ministries. It is also home to many foreign diplomatic embassies, some of them occupying outstanding Hôtels particuliers.

The arrondissement has been home to the French upper class since the 17th century, when it became the new residence of French highest nobility. The district has been so fashionable within the French that the phrase le Faubourg—referring to the ancient name of the current 7th arrondissement—has been used to describe French nobility ever since. The 7th arrondissement of Paris and Neuilly-sur-Seine form the most affluent and prestigious residential area in France.

During the 17th century, French high nobility started to move from the central Marais, the then-aristocratic district of Paris where nobles used to build their urban mansions (see Hotel de Soubise), to the clearer, less populated and less polluted Faubourg Saint-Germain.