Geography of Nantes
Nantes, (French: äNt), France, the capital of Loire-Atlantique Department, in the western part of the country. The city is on the Loire River. Saint-Nazaire, which lies 30 miles (50 km) to the east where the river flows into the Atlantic Ocean, serves as a port for the city. An important shipping and industrial city, Nantes produces processed foods, metals, naval and agricultural equipment, and clothing. A 15th-century cathedral here has tombs of dukes of Brittany.
Nantes was the chief town of the Gallic Namnetes, who inhabited the area before the Roman conquest of Gaul. Normans invaded the area in the ninth century, and occupied the town for almost a century. The dukes of Brittany controlled Nantes from the 10th century until 1499, when it passed to the French crown. The Edict of Nantes was issued here by Henry IV in 1598, giving the Huguenots (French Protestants) civil rights and religious freedom. Nantes was a supply base for the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and was a center of French underground resistance in World War II.
Population: 244,514.