This is a large metropolitan cemetery to the south of the city in the suburb of Bagneux. It opened in 1886 to compensate for the saturation of the Paris cemetery of Montparnasse. It is one of six cemeteries owned and maintained by the city of Paris that are situated outside of city borders. With its long alleys of almost 6,000 trees that attract many species of birds, it is a sought-after park covering almost 62 hectares (152 acres). Some 83,000 persons have been buried in the cemetery, plotted in 115 numbered Divisions.

There are many World War I and some World War II casualties commemorated in the cemetery. Monuments and graves also honor the memory of Jewish residents of Paris and France who died as combatants during WWII and those who died as victims of the Shoah. Many notable personalities are buried in the cemetery, including artists, filmmakers, musicians, and writers. 

British War graves fall into three main groups. The earliest are those of soldiers who died of wounds in French and British hospitals in or near Paris in 1914, when the ambulance trains ran southwest from the Aisne and the Marne. The second group is due to the presence of British troops in the Aisne and the Marne in the summer of 1918. The third is a number of graves of men who died after the Armistice. In the 19th Division, near the east corner, are two small British plots in which are buried Commonwealth casualties. 

The cemetery is open every day. Advanced queries for plot locations for family members are recommended by email, as gatekeepers can be busy with active burial groups (and the cemetery offices are not open daily). The front entrance is a short walk from one of the nearby Paris bus and subway stops. The closest subway station, opened in 2022 (with the extension of the number 4 line), is named in honor of the singer Barbara, buried in the cemetery.