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Nantes is a city in West France, located on the Loire River, 50 km (31 mi) from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, with a metropolitan area of about 900,000 inhabitants.

Nantes is the capital city of the Pays de la Loire region and the Loire-Atlantique département and also the largest city in the Grand-Ouest, North western France in English. Together with Vannes, Rennes and Carhaix, it was one of the major cities of the historic province of Brittany, and the ancient Duchy of Brittany. Though officially separated from Brittany in 1789, Nantes is culturally Breton and still widely regarded as its capital city.

The Nantes Tramway opened in 1985, a reversal of the trend of tramway closures that had been going on since the middle of the 20th century. The tramway system is one of the largest and busiest in France. The city also has a Busway line, an innovative and notable Bus Rapid Transit. Nantes is served by an international airport, Nantes Atlantique Airport and a major French railway station, the Gare de Nantes.

In 2004, Time named Nantes as "the most liveable city in Europe". In 2010, Nantes was named a hub city for innovation in the Innovation Cities Index by innovation agency, 2thinknow. The city was ranked 36th globally from 289 cities and 4th overall in France, behind Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg for innovation across multiple sectors of the economy. As of 2013, Nantes holds the title of European Green Capital awarded by the European Commission for its efforts to reduce air pollution and CO² emissions, for its high quality and well-managed public transport system and for its biodiversity with 3,366 hectares of green spaces and several Natura 2000 zones which guarantee a protection of nature in the area.

Euronantes is the city's Central business district, which is currently in development near Gare de Nantes and on Île de Nantes, offering by 2015 500,000 m² of office space, retail space and upscale hotels. The district is served by Busway line 4 at Cité Internationale des congrès et Tripode stations.

In 2012, Nantes is classified as a global city by the GAMMA GaWC ranking of Loughborough University in England. This ranks Nantes 4th French city behind Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Nantes is ahead of cities such as Porto, Kansas City, Strasbourg, Lille, Toulouse, Florence, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Hanover, Genoa, Bordeaux, or Nice.