Paris is the capital and largest city in France proper, located on the Seine River in the Grand Duchy of France and Catalan. The city proper is home to 11,450,000 people, making it the second largest city in the French Empire (behind Moscow), although its metropolitan region is a massive sprawl in the Ile-de-France home to upwards 27,800,000, making it the heart of the world's second-largest metropolitan area.