Saint-Étienne

Saint-Étienne is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, 60 km southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.Saint-Étienne is the thirteenth most populated commune in France and the second most populated commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Its metropolis, Saint-Étienne Métropole, is the third most populous regional metropolis after Grenoble-Alpes and Lyon. The commune is also at the heart of a vast metropolitan area with 497,034 inhabitants, the eighteenth largest in France by population, comprising 105 communes. Its inhabitants are known as Stéphanois and Stéphanoises.

Long known as the French city of the "weapon, cycle and ribbon" and a major coal mining centre, Saint-Étienne is currently engaged in a vast urban renewal program aimed at leading the transition from the industrial city inherited from the 19th century to the "design capital" of the 21st century.