Arpajon

Arpajon ([aʁpaʒɔ̃] ^ⓘ) is a commune in the Essonne department in the Île-de-France region of northern France.

The commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.

Arpajon is the capital of a canton located in the Paris urban area in the heart of the department of Essonne and the natural region of Hurepoix some 31 km south of Paris (Notre-Dame - point zero for distances from Paris), 15 kilometres west of Évry, 14 km south of Palaiseau, 6 km south of Montlhéry, 14 km north-west of La Ferté-Alais, 19 km east of Dourdan, 17 km west of Corbeil-Essonnes, 18 km north of Étampes, and 26 km north-west of Milly-la-Forêt.

The commune is also 410 km north of its homonym Arpajon-sur-Cère in Cantal department., the original stronghold of the lords of the town.

The commune consists of only 240 hectares but it is the capital of Arpajonnais Country which extends from Breuillet in the east to Brétigny-sur-Orge in the west and from Leuville-sur-Orge in the north to Cheptainville in the south. The relatively small size of the commune does not preclude a significant height differential from 89 to 47 metres altitude which causes a relatively large concentration of buildings on nearly 80% of the territory. Agricultural areas, which represent only 10% of the territory, are located in the extreme north-east of the commune along Route nationale 20.

Arpajon lies at the confluence of the Rémarde and the Orge rivers which join then separate in the centre of the town to permanently join at the border with Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon. On the communal area the two rivers flow in parallel, the Rémarde coming from the west from Ollainville and, further south, the Orge comes from Égly with both streams flowing towards the north-east.

The city centre is in the Orge valley at an altitude of approximately 47 metres but the territory extending north and south rises rapidly to the Avrainville plateau in the south, La Norville in the east, and the start of the Linas hill to the north which means it is necessary to climb to exit the commune. The highest point in the commune at 89 metres is located north of the Butte-aux-Grès area near the Linas forest. Due to the low height of the town relative to the surroundings there are many television receiving antennae which are sometimes ten metres above the roofs.

The territory lies on the boundary of the limestone geological area of the Paris basin and the sand of the Beauce with, in the extreme north, the remains of sandstone quarries.