4 ms·

You are right of course, but, for someone outside France, it doesn't matter that much.

• gtk40 11y ago
  In the U.S. at least we often refer informally to a metropolitan area as a city. For example, I work in an office that isn't in the city limits, but is instead outside the city by its airport (one of the busiest in the country). We still say we're in the city, even though we're about 20 miles away (though we do have the city in our mailing address, even though we're in the city limits of a suburb).
  • bmm6o 11y ago
    Right. The actual boundaries of a city are often the result of historical accident and depend on the governmental power structure of the region. "White flight" and "urban decay" cause people to live as close to a city as possible without actually living within it. I think the inclusive meaning is even truer in areas of greater sprawl, e.g. most of US and Asia. Los Angeles is a big city, but when people talk about LA they often mean the entire county or more.