title: Nantes Metropolis
text: # Nantes Metropolis
  
  The Nantes Metropolis (French: Nantes Métropole) is the métropole, an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Nantes. It is located in the Loire-Atlantique department, in the Pays de la Loire region, western France. It was created in January 2015, replacing the previous Communauté urbaine de Nantes. Its area is 523.4 $km^2.$ Its population was 636,013 in 2018, of which 314,138 in Nantes proper.
  
  The metropolis is a member of the Nantes - Saint-Nazaire and Loire-Bretagne metropolitan clusters, as well as the Eurocities network, of which it chaired the Culture Forum in 2009.
  
  ## History
  
  The Communauté urbaine de Nantes was founded in 2001. On January 1, 2015, the Metropolis replaced the Urban Community in accordance with a law of January 2014.
  
  ## Administration
  
  The Metropolitan Council consists of 97 members, one of them being the president, currently Johanna Rolland, the mayor of Nantes.
  
  ## Composition
  
  The 24 communes of the métropole are:
  
  | Commune | Population (2019) | Area $(km^2)$ | Notes |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Basse-Goulaine | 9,146 | 13.74 | |
  | Bouaye | 8,008 | 13.83 | |
  | Bouguenais | 19,903 | 31.5 | |
  | Brains | 2,849 | 15.31 | |
  | Carquefou | 20,365 | 43.42 | |
  | La Chapelle-sur-Erdre | 19,551 | 33.42 | |
  | Couëron | 22,309 | 44,.03 | |
  | Indre | 4,040 | 4.72 | |
  | Mauves-sur-Loire | 3,244 | 14.75 | |
  | La Montagne | 6,290 | 3.64 | The smallest commune |
  | Nantes | 318,808 | 65.19 | The largest and most populated commune |
  | Orvault | 27,209 | 27.67 | |
  | Le Pellerin | 5,200 | 30.65 | The least densely populated commune (150 $inhabitants/km^2)$ |
  | Rezé | 42,919 | 13.78 | |
  | Saint-Aignan-Grandlieu | 3,954 | 17.94 | |
  | Saint-Herblain | 47,715 | 30.02 | |
  | Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau | 5,987 | 11.4 | |
  | Saint-Léger-les-Vignes | 1,939 | 6.49 | The least populated commune |
  | Sainte-Luce-sur-Loire | 15,319 | 11.45 | |
  | Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire | 27,493 | 11.65 | |
  | Sautron | 8,478 | 17.28 | |
  | Les Sorinières | 8,765 | 13.02 | |
  | Thouaré-sur-Loire | 10,482 | 12.76 | |
  | Vertou | 25,541 | 35.68 | |
  
  Nantes Métropole encompasses only the center of the metropolitan area of Nantes (see infobox at Nantes article for the metropolitan area). Communes further away from the center of the metropolitan area have formed their own intercommunal structures, such as:
  
  * Communauté de communes d'Erdre et Gesvres
  * Communauté de communes de Grand-Lieu
  * Communauté de communes Sèvre et Loire
  * etc.
  