Nantes is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, 50 km (31 mi) from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabitants (2018). … See more

Prehistory and antiquity
The first inhabitants of what is now Nantes settled during the Bronze Age, later than in the surrounding regions (which have Neolithic monuments … See more

Local government
Nantes is the préfecture (capital city) of the Loire-Atlantique département and the Pays de la Loire région. It is the residence of a région and département prefect, local representatives of the French government. Nantes is also the … See more

For centuries, Nantes' economy was linked to the Loire and the Atlantic; the city had France's largest harbour in the 18th century. Food processing predominated during the See more

Nantes is named after a tribe of Gaul, the Namnetes, who established a settlement between the end of the second century and the beginning … See more

Location
Nantes is in north-western France, near the Atlantic Ocean and 340 kilometres (210 miles) south-west of Paris. Bordeaux, the other major metropolis of western France, is 275 kilometres (171 miles) south. Nantes and … See more

Nantes had 314,138 inhabitants in 2018, the largest population in its history. Although it was the largest city in Brittany during the See more