Four of the attackers were killed in the concert hall, three by activating their suicide vests while one was shot by police - four policeman were also reportedly killed during the operation.
Just five miles away, suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Stade de France sports stadium where the French football team was playing Germany and a fourth died in a street in eastern Paris.
French police arrested one suspected attacker who claimed to have been recruited by ISIS alongside three other extremists, it has been reported.
French President Francois Hollande declared a national state of emergency following what he called "unprecedented terror attacks", shut its borders and deployed 1500 extra troops to the capital.
Terrorists launched a total of six coordinated attacks at high profile sites across Paris:
• Two suicide bomb attacks at a bar near the Stade de France led to President Hollande being evacuated from the stadium. He has since declared a national state of emergency.
• Two terrorists with AK47s burst into the Bataclan concert hall, where rock band Eagles of Death Metal were performing. They sprayed bullets and threw grenades into thousands of people before they started slaughtering people one by one.
• A terrorist armed with an AK47 killed at least 11 people at Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge in the Bastille area on Rue Bichat.
• Gunfire and bomb blasts have also been reported at the Louvre art gallery, the Pompidou Centre and Les Halles shopping centre.
This is the second time this year that the City of Light has been a scene of mass murder; in January, Islamist gunmen attacked the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, leaving a total of 17 dead. The latest violence will only heighten the tension on a continent that is already on edge from the accumulated strain of a historic migration crisis, growing Islamist extremism and increasingly polarized politics.
World leaders rushed to condemn the attacks, and Hollande vowed revenge, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
"We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless," Hollande said outside the Bataclan concert hall, scene of the most bloodshed. "Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow."
The attacks was quickly celebrated online by backers of the Islamic State and other extremist groups. The scale and sophistication of the attacks will likely prompt questions about how the planning for such an operation evaded the scrutiny of French intelligence services.
The killers traced an arc acrossthe city, targeting a half-dozen lightly secured facilities where tourists and residents had been enjoying the sort of experiences and events that define Friday night in Paris on a cool November evening. Soccer games, concerts and evening meals were all violently disrupted by the sounds of explosions and gunfire.
The scene of the worst carnage was the 19th century Bataclan concert hall, one of the city's most famous music venues, where hundreds of people had gathered for a show by an American band, Eagles of Death Metal. As attacks reverberated elsewhere in the city, gunmen stormed the building. Witnesses said three or four men clad in black used assault rifles to mow down audience members, shooting some as they dove to the floor seeking safety.
"There are survivors inside," posted a man named Benjamin Cazenoves on his Facebook account, sayinghe was inthe hall before police closed in. "They are cutting down everyone. One by one."
Police surrounded the building, and amid the boom of explosions and rattle of gunfire, moved in, shooting dead at least two attackers. As police secured the hall, they found evidence of a massacre inside, with at least 118 people dead, the city's deputy mayor, Patrick Klugman, told CNN.
Government personnel guided survivors of the attack, wrapped in gold-colored heat blankets, down the street to waiting buses. Several had blood spattered on their clothing. Some cried. Most declined to talk to reporters.
One middle-aged woman with brown curly hair in a white sweater called out from the group of survivors to a man on the other side of a police barrier. He rushed over, embraced her and the pair simply stood, locked in each others' arms, for several minutes.
At other sites across the city, attacks left dozens more dead.
Outside a popular café, witnesses reported seeing piles of bodies in the street, the café windows having been riddled with gunfire. At the soccer match, terrified fans gathered on the field, having been barred by authorities from leaving, after suicide bombers detonated explosives outside the stadium just north of Paris. The explosions near the stadium forced authorities to evacuate Hollande, who was among thousands watching a friendly match between France and Germany.
Police said that the attacks near the Stade de France stadium north of Paris were committed by suicide bombers.
Across Paris, normal city life came to a halt. Subway lines were shut down, and authorities advised residents to stay indoors. People who had been on the street in areas near the attacks fled in a panic.
"I was outside smoking a cigarette when I saw some people coming towards us saying an attack was going on at the Bataclan," said Charlotte Baudoin, a 29-year-old event manager. "So everybody ran back inside the restaurant and they locked the doors. We stayed inside for 50 minutes with the lights off. Then they told us to leave, but we did not feel safe on the streets."
Until the early hours of the morning, gunmen were thought to remain at large. But just before 4 a.m. local time, police announced that all the attackers had been killed.
Hollande went on national television Friday night to announce a state of emergency, including restrictions at French borders and the deployment of the army. The president's office said 1,500 French troops would hit the streets of Paris to back up police.
The border controls came amid growing signs across Europe that the continent's tradition of free movement is at grave risk. Despite rules for passport-free travel, Sweden instituted border checks this week to better control an unprecedented flow of migrants from the Middle East, southern Asia and Africa crossing into the country. Slovenia rolled out razor wire on its border with Croatia.
While the new French border controls were expected to be strict, international airlines and trains appeared to still be operating.
In Washington, a somber President Obama appeared in the White House briefing room to offer condolences and U.S. help "to bring these terrorists to justice."
He said the wave of violence was not just an assault on France but "an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share."
Obama, who is scheduled to leave Saturday for the Group of 20 summit in Turkey, said he spoke prior to the attacks with Hollande and plans to talk with him again in the coming days.
"All of Paris needs our prayers tonight," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, tweeted.
Within minutes of the first reports on the violence, Islamic State supporters created hashtags hailing "Paris in flames" and declaring that "ISIS is attacking Paris," the Vocativ Web site reported.
Mary Lou Dorio, the mother of Julian Dorio, the drummer for Eagles of Death Metal band, said in an interview that her son and other band members managed to escape the concert hall when the attack there began. However, the fate of several crew members remains unknown, she said.
"It was awful," she said. She added that her son was at a local police station, where he was able to call his wife.
"It was a bloodbath," said Julien Pearce, a radio reporter in France, in an interview with CNN. He said he was at the concert and saw three or four young men dressed in black open fire on the crowd with assault rifles, firing at random as people screamed.
"They didn't shout anything; they didn't say anything," he said of the assailants. "They were just shooting people."
Full speech from Francois Hollande
My dear compatriots,
As I speak, terrorist attacks of unprecedented proportions are underway in the Paris area. There are dozens killed, there are many injured. It is a horror.
We have, on my decision, mobilized all forces possible to neutralize the terrorists and make all concerned areas safe. I have also asked for military reinforcements.
They are currently in the Paris area, to ensure that no new attack can take place. I have also called a cabinet meeting that will be held in a few minutes.
Two decisions will be taken: A state of emergency will be declared, which means that some places will be closed, traffic may be banned, and there will also be searches which may be decided throughout Ile de France (greater Paris). The state of emergency will be proclaimed throughout the territory (of France).
The second decision I have made is to close the borders. We must ensure that no one enters to commit any crimes and that those who have committed the crimes that we have unfortunately seen can also be arrested if they should leave the territory.
This is a terrible ordeal which once again assails us. We know where it comes from, who these criminals are, who these terrorists are.
In these difficult moments, we must - and I'm thinking of the many victims, their families and the injured - show compassion and solidarity. But we must also show unity and calm.
Faced with terror, France must be strong, it must be great and the state authorities must be firm. We will be.
We must also call on everyone to be responsible.
What the terrorists want is to scare us and fill us with dread. There is indeed reason to be afraid. There is dread, but in the face of this dread, there is a nation that knows how to defend itself, that knows how to mobilise its forces and, once again, will defeat the terrorists.
French citizens, we have not completed the operations. There are still some that are extremely difficult. It's at this moment that the security forces are staging an assault, especially in a place in Paris.
I ask you to keep all your trust in what we can do with the security forces to protect our nation from terrorist acts.
Long live the Republic and long live France.
United States security officials believe the attacks in Paris were co-ordinated.
President Barack Obama, speaking to his nation from the White House, condemned the atrocities as an "attack on all of humanity" and pledged to work with France to bring those responsible to justice.
"Whenever these kinds of attacks happen, we've always been able to count on the French people to stand with us. They have been an extraordinary counterterrorism partner. And we intend to be there with them in that same fashion," Obama said.
He called the attacks outrageous and said the situation was heartbreaking.
France is no stranger to terror-related attacks.
Recent history of terrorism in France
• August 21, 2015 - Thalys train attack
A heavily armed man stormed a carriage on a high-speed train travelling from Amsterdam to Paris, via Brussels, just before 6pm local time on Friday, August 21. The train was passing through Oignies, Pas-de-Calais, France (less than an hour from the French capital) when the man entered the carriage carrying an AK-47 rifle, among other weapons. His attack was thwarted by passengers and no one was killed, but three people were left injured after the attacker let off shots and used a blade to stab at those that were trying to restrain him.
• June 26, 2015 - Beheading in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier factory
On the morning of Friday June 26, a man killed and decapitated his boss and drove a van into gas cylinders at a US-owned factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near Lyon, causing an explosion that injured two people. The victim's head was placed with flags bearing Arabic text on the fence of the factory.
• April 19, 2015 - Police foil 'imminent' attack in Paris
A university student was arrested by police in Villejuif, Paris after he shot himself by accident and called an ambulance. When police arrived at the scene, a trail of blood led them to the man's car where they found a supply of weapons and notes on potential targets. Investigators believed he was planning attacks on one or two churches in the Paris suburbs. He was charged with terror offences and the murder of a woman found in a burning car.
• February 3, 2015 - Soldiers attacked in Nice
A man attacked and injured three French soldiers that were on an anti-terror patrol outside a Jewish community centre in Nice.
• January 7-9, 2015 - Charlie Hebdo attack and the immediate aftermath
At 11:30am local time on Wednesday January 7, French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris was attacked following its decision to publish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. In total, 12 people were killed - eight journalists, two police officers, a caretaker and a visitor.
The next morning, as police continued to hunt for the suspects, a lone gunman shot two people in the southern Paris suburb of Montrouge, killing one of them - a policewoman.
After initially dismissing any link to the Charlie Hebdo attack, French authorities later confirmed the two incidents were connected.
The day after, on the Friday, a Jewish grocery store in Paris was stormed by a gunman. Four people were killed in the attack, while several others were held hostage inside.
• December 20, 2014 - Man attacks police officers and shouts 'God is great!'
A man was shot dead by police in Josue-les-Tours after attacking three police officers with a knife, shouting "God is great!" in Arabic.
• May 23, 2013 - French soldier stabbed in the neck
A French soldier was attacked and stabbed in the neck while on duty in La Defense, Paris. It was treated as a terrorist attack.
• March 11-22, 2012 - Three soldiers, three children and a teacher killed
From 11-22 March in Toulouse and Montauban, a gunman killed seven people in attacks targeting French soldiers and Jewish citizens. He killed three soldiers on March 11 and 15, before shooting three children and a teacher at a Jewish school on March 19. He was eventually killed during a police siege in Toulouse on March 22.
