Nantes is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire. The city is the sixth-largest in France. With Saint-Nazaire, a seaport on the Loire estuary, Nantes forms one of the main north-western French metropolitan agglomerations.
| Country | France |
|---|---|
| Region | Pays de la Loire |
| Department | Loire-Atlantique |
| Arrondissement | Nantes |
| Canton | 7 cantons |
| Intercommunality | Nantes Métropole |
| Government | |
| Mayor (2020–2026) | Johanna Rolland (PS) |
| Area1 | 65.19 km2 (25.17 sq mi) |
| Urban (2017) | 537.7 km2 (207.6 sq mi) |
| Metro (2017) | 3,404.9 km2 (1,314.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2017-01-01)[1] | 309,346 |
| Rank | 6th in France |
| Density | 4,700/km2 (12,000/sq mi) |
| Urban (2017) | 650,081 |
| Metro (2017) | 972,828 |
| Metro density | 290/km2 (740/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
In 2020, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Nantes as a Gamma world city. It is the third-highest-ranking city in France, after Paris and Lyon. Nantes has been praised for its quality of life, and it received the European Green Capital Award in 2013.
Geography
Location
Nantes is in north-western France, near the Atlantic Ocean and 342 kilometres (213 miles) south-west of Paris. Bordeaux, the other major metropolis of western France, is 274 kilometres (170 miles) south. Nantes and Bordeaux share positions at the mouth of an estuary, and Nantes is on the Loire estuary.
It is an architectural junction; northern French houses with slate roofs are north of the Loire, and Mediterranean dwellings with low terracotta roofs dominate the south bank.
Hydrology
The Loire is about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) long and its estuary, beginning in Nantes, is 60 kilometres (37 miles) in length. In Nantes the Loire had divided into a number of channels, creating a dozen islands and sand ridges. The Loire in Nantes now has only two branches, one on either side of the Isle of Nantes.
The city is at the confluence of two tributaries. The Erdre flows into the Loire from its north bank, and the Sèvre Nantaise flows into the Loire from its south bank. These two rivers initially provided natural links with the hinterland. When the channels of the Loire were filled, the Erdre was diverted in central Nantes and its confluence with the Loire was moved further east. The Erdre includes Versailles Island, which became a Japanese garden during the 1980s.
Climate
Nantes has an oceanic climate influenced by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. West winds produced by cyclonic depressions in the Atlantic dominate, and north and north-west winds are also common. The city has strict variations of temperatures and few freezing days in average annual. Winters are cool and rainy, with an average temperature of 6 °C (43 °F); snow is rare. Summers are warm, with an average temperature of 20 °C (68 °F). The climate in Nantes is suitable for growing a variety of plants, from temperate vegetables to exotic trees and flowers imported during the colonial era.
Parks and environment
Nantes has 100 public parks, gardens and squares covering 218 hectares (540 acres). The oldest is the Jardin des Plantes, a botanical garden created in 1807. It has a large collection of exotic plants, including a 200-year-old Magnolia grandiflora and the national collection of camellia. Other large parks include the Parc de Procé, Parc du Grand Blottereau and Parc de la Gaudinière, the former gardens of country houses built outside the old town. Natural areas, an additional 180 hectares (440 acres), include the Petite Amazonie (a Natura 2000 protected forest) and several woods, meadows and marshes. Green space (public and private) makes up 41 percent of Nantes’ area.
Population
Since 2000 the population of Nantes began to rise due to redevelopment, and its urban area has continued to experience population growth. The Nantes metropolitan area had a population of 907,995 in 2013, nearly doubling since the 1960s.
The population of Nantes is younger than the national average, with 44.7 percent under age 29 (France 36.5 percent). People over age 60 account for 18.7 percent of the city’s population (France 24 percent). Single-person households are 51.9 percent of the total, and 16.8 percent of households are families with children. Young couples with children tend to move outside the city because of high property prices, and most newcomers are students (37 percent) and adults moving for professional reasons (49 percent). Students generally come from within the region, and working people are often from Paris. That year, 43.3 percent of the population over 15 had a higher-education degree and 22.3 percent had no diploma.
Ethnicity, religions and languages
Nantes has long had ethnic minorities. Spanish, Portuguese and Italian communities were mentioned during the 16th century, and an Irish Jacobite community appeared a century later. France does not have ethnic or religious categories in its census, but counts the number of people born in a foreign country. In 2013 this category had 24,949 people in Nantes, or 8.5 percent of the total population. Their primary countries of origin were Algeria (13.9 percent), Morocco (11.4 percent) and Tunisia (5.8 percent).
Nantes is historically a Catholic city, with a cathedral, two minor basilicas, about 40 churches and around 20 chapels. The main Protestant church belongs to the United Protestant Church of France, but the city also has a number of newer Evangelical and Baptist churches. The city has one synagogue, built in 1852. The city had several hundred Muslim inhabitants during the 1950s. Nantes’ first mosque was built in 1976, with three more built in 2010–2012.
The city is part of the territory of the langues d’oïl, a dialect continuum which stretches across northern France and includes standard French. The local dialect in Nantes is Gallo, spoken by some in Upper Brittany. Nantes signed the charter of the Public Office for the Breton Language in 2013. Since then, the city has supported its six bilingual schools and introduced bilingual signage.
Culture
Museums
Nantes has several museums. The Fine Art Museum is the city’s largest. The museum includes works by Tintoretto, Brueghel, Rubens, Georges de La Tour, Ingres, Monet, Picasso, Kandinsky and Anish Kapoor. The Historical Museum of Nantes, in the castle, is dedicated to local history and houses the municipal collections. Items include paintings, sculptures, photographs, maps and furniture displayed to illustrate major points of Nantes history such as the Atlantic slave trade, industrialisation and the Second World War.
The Dobrée Museum, closed for repairs as of 2017, houses the département‘s archaeological and decorative-arts collections.
The Natural History Museum of Nantes is one of the largest of its kind in France. It has more than 1.6 million zoological specimens and several thousand mineral samples.
The Machines of the Isle of Nantes, opened in 2007 in the converted shipyards, has automatons, prototypes inspired by deep-sea creatures and a 12-metre-tall (39 ft), walking elephant.
Venues
Le Zénith Nantes Métropole, an indoor arena in Saint-Herblain, has a capacity of 9,000 and is France’s largest concert venue outside Paris. Nantes’ largest venue is La Cité, Nantes Events Center, a 2,000-seat auditorium. It hosts concerts, congresses and exhibitions, and is the primary venue of the Pays de la Loire National Orchestra.
The Graslin Theatre, built in 1788, is home to the Angers-Nantes Opéra. The former LU biscuit factory, facing the castle, has been converted into Le Lieu unique. It includes a Turkish bath, restaurant and bookshop and hosts art exhibits, drama, music and dance performances.
Events and festivals
The Royal de Luxe street theatre company moved to Nantes in 1989, and has produced a number of shows in the city. The company is noted for its large marionettes (including a giraffe, the Little Giant and the Sultan’s Elephant).
Estuaire contemporary-art exhibitions were held along the Loire estuary in 2007, 2009 and 2012. They left several permanent works of art in Nantes and inspired the Voyage à Nantes, a series of contemporary-art exhibitions across the city which has been held every summer since 2012.
Festivals
- The September Rendez-vous de l’Erdre couples a jazz festival
- The Three Continents Festival is an annual film festival dedicated to Asia, Africa and South America
- Univerciné (festivals dedicated to films in English, Italian, Russian and German) and a smaller Spanish film festival.
- Scopitone festival is dedicated to digital art
- Utopiales is an international science fiction festival
Cuisine
Beurre blanc is Nantes’ most-famous local specialty. Made with Muscadet, it was invented around 1900 in Saint-Julien-de-Concelles (on the south bank of the Loire) and has become a popular accompaniment for fish. Other specialties are the LU and BN biscuits, including the Petit-Beurre (produced since 1886), berlingot (sweets made with flavoured melted sugar) and similar rigolette sweets with marmalade filling, gâteau nantais (a rum cake invented in 1820), Curé nantais and Mâchecoulais cheeses and fouace, a star-shaped brioche served with new wine in autumn.
Sport
Nantes has several large sports facilities. The largest is the Stade de la Beaujoire, built for UEFA Euro 1984. The second-largest venue is the Hall XXL, an exhibition hall on the Stade de la Beaujoire grounds. The 10,700-seat stadium was selected as a venue for the 2017 World Men’s Handball Championship. Smaller facilities include the 4,700-seat indoor Palais des Sports, a venue for EuroBasket 1983. The nearby Mangin Beaulieu sports complex has 2,500 seats and Pierre Quinon Stadium, an athletics stadium within the University of Nantes, has 790 seats. La Trocardière, an indoor 4,238-seat stadium, is in Rezé. The Erdre has a marina and a centre for rowing, sailing and canoeing, and the city has six swimming pools.
