AKIPRESS.COM - More than a million people surged through the boulevards of Paris behind dozens of world leaders walking arm-in-arm Sunday in a rally for unity described as the largest demonstration in French history.

Millions more marched around the country and the world to repudiate three days of terror that killed 17 people and changed France.

Amid intense security and with throngs rivaling those that followed the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, the city became "the capital of the world" for a day, on a planet increasingly vulnerable to such cruelty.

More than 40 world leaders headed the somber procession setting aside their differences with a common rallying cry: We stand together against barbarity, and we are all Charlie.

At least 1.2 million to 1.6 million people streamed slowly through the streets behind them and across France to mourn the victims of deadly attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher supermarket and police officers ? violence that tore deep into the nation's sense of security in a way some compared to Sept. 11 in the United States.

"Our entire country will rise up toward something better," French President Francois Hollande said.

Giant rallies were held throughout France and major cities around the world, including London, Madrid and New York as well as Cairo, Sydney, Stockholm, Tokyo and elsewhere.

In Paris, the Interior Ministry said "the size of this unprecedented demonstration makes it impossible to provide a specific count," noting that the crowds were too big to fit on the official march route and spread to other streets.

Later, the ministry said 3.7 million marched throughout France, including roughly between 1.2 million and 1.6 million in Paris ? but added that a precise count is impossible given the enormity of the turnout.