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Name | Nantes |
---|---|
Image flag | nantes1.gif |
Image coat of arms | Blason_Nantes.svg |
Flag legend | Traditional flag |
Coat of arms legend | Coat of arms |
City motto | ("May Neptune favour the travellers") |
Time zone | CET (GMT +1) |
Region | Pays-de-la-Loire |
Department | Loire-Atlantique |
Arrondissement | Nantes |
Canton | chief town of 11 cantons |
Intercommunality | Nantes Métropole |
Mayor | Jean-Marc Ayrault |
Party | PS |
Term | 2008–2014 |
Area km2 | 65.19 |
Population | 283,025 |
Population date | 2007 census |
Population ranking | 6th in France |
Urban area km2 | 523.6 |
Urban area date | 2008 |
Urban pop | 580,502 |
Urban pop date | 2007 |
Metro area km2 | 2,242.6 |
Metro area date | 1999 |
Metro area pop | 804,000 |
Metro area pop date | 2008 |
Intercom | Urban Communityof Nantes |
Insee | 44109 |
Postal code | 44000, 44100, 44200 and 44300 |
Dialling code | 02 |
Website | www.nantes.fr |
Nantes is the capital city of the Pays de la Loire region and Loire-Atlantique département. It is also the major city of the historic province of Brittany, and culturally remains strongly identified with it.
In 2004, the Time magazine described Nantes as "the most liveable city in Europe". The city is also home to the Audencia Nantes School of Management, broadly well-ranked according to the FT rankings. In 2010, the 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.
Nantes' most common nickname is the Venice of the West (, ), a name owing to its position on the river delta of the Loire, the Erdre, and the Sèvre (whose tributaries were infilled in the early 20th century).
When the Duchy of Brittany was annexed by the kingdom of France in 1532, Nantes kept the Parliament of Brittany for a few years before it was moved to Rennes. In 1598, King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes here, which granted Protestants rights to their religion.
During the 18th century, prior to abolition of slavery, Nantes was the slave trade capital of France. This kind of trade led Nantes to become the largest port in France and a wealthy city. When the French Revolution broke out, Nantes chose to be part of it, although the whole surrounding region soon degenerated into an open civil war against the new republic known as the War in the Vendée. On 29 June 1793 the town was the site of a Republican victory in this war. The Loire was the site of thousands of executions by drowning, including those using the method which came to be known as the Republican marriage, in which a man and a woman were stripped naked, tied together, and thrown into the river.
In the 19th century, Nantes became an industrial city. The first public transport anywhere may have been the omnibus service initiated in Nantes in 1826. It was soon imitated in Paris, London and New York. The first railways were built in 1851 and many industries were created. In 1940, the city was occupied by German troops. In 1941, the assassination of a German officer, Lt. Col. Fritz Hotz, caused the retaliatory execution of 48 civilians. The city was twice severely bombed by British forces, on 16 and 23 August 1943, before being liberated by the Americans in 1944.
Until the 1970s, Nantes' harbour was located on the Île de Nantes, when it was moved to the very mouth of the Loire River, at Saint-Nazaire. In the subsequent 20 years, many service sector organisations moved into the area, but economic difficulties forced most of these to close. In 2001, a major redevelopment scheme was launched, the goal of which is to revitalise the island as the new city centre. In 2003, the French weekly L'Express voted Nantes to be the "greenest city" in France, while in both 2003 and 2004 it was voted the "best place to live" by the weekly Le Point. In August 2004, Time designated Nantes as "the most livable city in all of Europe."
It is notable that the city of Nantes is at the exact centre of Earth's land hemisphere.
The Nantes metropolitan area (Nantes Métropole) is the intercommunal structure connecting the city of Nantes with nearby suburbs. It had a 1999 population of 554,478, 48.7% of which comprised the city of Nantes. The current mayor of Nantes is Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS), first elected in 1989 and now serving a sixth term, until 2014.
Nine of these neighbourhoods are situated on the right bank of the Loire, one is on the left bank, and one is on the Île de Nantes island.
Historically, the country around Nantes (; ; Gallo: Paeï de Nàntt) was always seen as being part of Brittany. In 1207, the Dukes of Brittany made Nantes their home, building the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany on the banks of the Loire. Most of the dukes and duchesses were buried in either the cathedral or the nearby abbeys.
In 1789, the separation of the historical provinces of France resulted in Brittany being split in five; the lower of the five, Loire-Inférieure (today Loire-Atlantique) was where Nantes was situated. As such, Brittany as an administrative region did not exist during the 19th and early 20th centuries, although it did still exist culturally and informally. When regional regroupments during the 20th century resulted in the reinstatement of the regions, Loire-Atlantique found itself split from the other four départements by the Vichy regime in 1941; a new région had been created centred on Nantes, the Pays de la Loire.
Much debate surrounding this move persists. Those against (sometimes called the Breton militants) maintain that the separation was made by a non-democratically elected government, and that Loire-Atlantique is culturally, historically and geographically united to Brittany; those in favour argue that any reunification would reopen a "quarrel of the capitals" between Nantes and Rennes, and that it would be fatal to the Pays de la Loire région.
The issue of language is also relevant; in Upper Brittany (locally called Bretagne Gallèse or Haute Bretagne) Romance languages especially the local Gallo, as well as French, have long had more influence than Breton. However, in many large cities, including Nantes and Saint-Brieuc, the Breton language has sometimes been spoken more widely than Gallo by the very urban and bourgeois population there (even though in Le Pays Nantais the opposite was true). In recent years, many bilingual plaques have appeared on tourist attractions in the city, with the help of the Ofis ar Brezhoneg (; ).
Most recently, on 15 May 2004, a hastily organized demonstration in Nantes calling for the reunification of Brittany attracted 6,000 participants, while in five surveys on the issue, between 62% and 75% of the population of Loire-Atlantique have come out in favour of reunification.
In 2008, 1.4% of the children in Nantes attended the bilingual schools for primary education.
Nantes railway station lies on a number of rail lines. Nantes is connected by TGV (high speed train) to Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, and Strasbourg, with trains to Paris via the LGV Atlantique taking just over 2 hours. By Corail, Nantes is connected to Quimper, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Lyon, and Toulouse. The regional trains and buses of the TER Pays de la Loire provide links to Saint-Nazaire, Angers, Le Mans, La Roche sur Yon, and many other regional cities.
Nantes was formerly a major commercial port, with port facilities on the River Loire in the city centre. Much of the commercial traffic has since migrated downstream, principally to the area around Saint-Nazaire, although the river remains navigable to ocean-going ships as far as Nantes. River cruises operate on both the Loire and its tributary the Erdre. The Tan network also includes three urban water bus routes on both rivers (known as Navibus).
Nantes Atlantique Airport, located 8 km to the south-west of the city centre, serves the city and surrounding areas. It is the biggest airport in western France, linking with several French and European cities, as well as Montreal in Canada and some northern Africa cities. It is currently planned that this airport will be replaced by the Aéroport du Grand Ouest, that will be situated 30 km to the north-west of Nantes in the commune of Notre-Dame-des-Landes. The €580 million project was approved in February 2008, with construction expected to start in 2012 and a opening date in 2015.
Nantes has two mosques:
A third (Mosquée Assalam) is under construction.
The Celtic band Tri Yann was originally known as Tri Yann an Naoned (the three Johns from Nantes). The DJ group C2C, champion of the Disco Mix Club World Team DJ Championship four years in a row (2003–2006) is native of Nantes.
To see a list of Bands from Nantes, see :fr:Rock à Nantes (French).
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Category:Communes of Loire-Atlantique Category:Companions of the Liberation
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Name | Renan Luce |
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Background | solo_singer |
Born | March 05, 1980Paris, France |
Genre | French chanson |
Instrument | Guitar Vocals |
First album | Repenti |
Url | Official website |
His musical career started in a choir with his brother Damien and his sister Claire, afterwards he began classical piano at the conservatory of Brest and then at Saint-Brieuc. He gave up the piano for the saxophone and then taught himself the guitar on which he composed his first songs.
After two years of preparatory classes in Rennes, where he performed in bars and at a few festivals (e.g., support act for Matmatah), he was admitted to the superior school of commerce in Toulouse. He is married to Lolita Sechan, the daughter of Renaud.
He has been successful in France with the songs like "Les Voisines" and "La Lettre".
In September 2006 Renan Luce released his first album Repenti that comprises 13 tracks + 3 live versions. # Les Voisines # Repenti # Le Lacrymal Circus # Je suis une feuille # La Lettre # Chien mouillé # Monsieur Marcel # 24h01 # Camelote # Mes racines # I Was Here # Nuit blanche # L'Iris et la Rose # Les Voisines (live) # Monsieur Marcel (live) # La Lettre (live)
On October 2009 Renan Luce released his second studio album La Clan des Miros, album that includes "On est pas à une bêtise prês", a song from the movie "Le petit Nicolas" original Soundtrack. # Les clan des Miros # La fille de la bande # Les gens sont fous # Nantes # Rue de l’oiseau lyre # Chez toi # Ridicule # Grand-père # Grand-père II # On n’est pas à une bêtise près # Aux timides anonymes # Femme à lunettes
Category:French male singers Category:French-language singers Category:Living people Category:1980 births
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Name | Jools Holland |
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Background | solo_singer |
Birth name | Julian Miles Holland |
Birth date | January 24, 1958 |
Birth place | Blackheath, London, England |
Instrument | Piano, keyboard, guitar |
Genre | Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B; |
Occupation | Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader |
Years active | 1974–present |
Associated acts | Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra |
Url | Official site |
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze, and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.
Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B; music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2.
Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for three weeks. He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.
's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005]]In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album Soul Mining. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped. Holland was again the keyboard player for the band until 1990. At that point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.
In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.
Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television. Since 1992 he has presented the eclectic music program Later... with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve "Hootenanny".
In 1996 Holland signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie. He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV / AIDS charity Mildmay, and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings. He is also patron of the Drake Music Project and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.
Jools Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.
On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years. The wedding at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:English rock pianists Category:English television presenters Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Bandleaders Category:Squeeze members Category:I.R.S. Records artists Category:People from Blackheath, London Category:BBC Radio 2 presenters Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Kent
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.