The capital and largest city of France, in the north-central part of the country. Founded as a Gallic fishing village on an island in the Seine River, Paris was captured and fortified by the Romans in 52 BC. Clovis I made it the capital of his kingdom after AD 486, and Hugh Capet established it as the capital of France after 987. Through the succeeding centuries, Paris grew rapidly as a commercial, cultural, and industrial center. The city was occupied by the Germans in World War II from 1940 to 1944.