Nanterre

Nanterre
Paris and inner ring departements
Location within Île-de-France region  Nanterre
Administration
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Hauts-de-Seine
Arrondissement	Nanterre
Mayor	Patrick Jarry (2004–2008)
Statistics
Elevation	22–127 m (72–417 ft) (avg. 30 m/98 ft)
Land area1	12.19 km2 (4.71 sq mi)
Population2	90,903  (2006)
- Density	7,457 /km2 (19,310 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	92050/ 92000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 48°53′56″N 2°11′49″E / 48.898807°N 2.196922°E / 48.898807; 2.196922

Nanterre (French pronunciation: [nɑ̃.tɛʁ]) is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.1 km (6.9 mi) west of the center of Paris.

Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre.

The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering the communes of Courbevoie and Puteaux, contains a small part of the La Defense business district of Paris and some of the tallest buildings in the Paris region. Because the headquarters of many major corporations are located in La Défense, the court of Nanterre is well known in the media for the number of high-profile lawsuits and trials that take place in it. The city of Nanterre also includes the University Paris X – Nanterre, one of the largest universities in the Paris region.

Name

The name of Nanterre originated before the Roman conquest of Gaul. The Romans recorded the name as Nemetodorum. It is composed of the Celtic word nemeto meaning "shrine" or "sacred place" and the Celtic word duros (cognate of English door and German Tür) meaning "door or gate", or "fortress". The sacred place referred to is supposed to have been a famous shrine that existed in antiquity on the top of the hill known as Mont-Valérien.

Inhabitants of Nanterre are called Nanterriennes (feminine) and Nanterriens (masculine).

History

Sainte Genevieve, patron saint of Paris, was born in Nanterre ca. 419–422.^[1]

On 27 March 2002, Richard Durn, a disgruntled local activist, shot and killed eight town councilors and 14 others were wounded in what the French press dubbed the Nanterre massacre. On 28 March, the murderer killed himself by jumping from the 4th floor of the « Quai des orfèvres », in Paris, while he was questioned by two policemen about the reason for his killing in the Nanterre City Hall.

Demographics

Immigration

Place of birth of residents of Nanterre in 1999 Born in Metropolitan France Born outside Metropolitan France 75.7% 24.3% Born in Overseas France Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹ EU-15 immigrants² Non-EU-15 immigrants 2.7% 2.8% 3.9% 14.9% ¹This group is made up largely of pieds-noirs from Northwest Africa, followed by former colonial citizens who had French citizenship at birth (such as was often the case for the native elite in French colonies), and to a lesser extent foreign-born children of French expatriates. Note that a foreign country is understood as a country not part of France as of 1999, so a person born for example in 1950 in Algeria, when Algeria was an integral part of France, is nonetheless listed as a person born in a foreign country in French statistics. ²An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still considered an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.

Administration

Nanterre is divided into three cantons:

• The Canton of Nanterre-Nord has a population of 33,173.
• The Canton of Nanterre-Sud-Est has a population of 22,350.
• The Canton of Nanterre-Sud-Ouest has a population of 28,758.

Transport

Nanterre is served by three stations on RER line A: Nanterre – Préfecture, Nanterre – Université, and Nanterre – Ville.

Nanterre – Université station is also an interchange station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.

Economy

Groupe du Louvre and subsidiary Louvre Hôtels have their head office in Village 5 in La Défense and Nanterre.^[2][3][4]

Sport

The rugby union club Racing Métro 92, currently based in another Paris suburb, Colombes, are planning to build a new stadium in Nanterre. The venue, scheduled to open in 2014, is tentatively known as Arena 92. It will have a capacity of 32,000 for rugby and 40,000 for concerts.

See also

Paris portal

• La Défense business district.
• List of tallest structures in Paris
• Communes of the Hauts-de-Seine department

Twin towns

• Craiova, Romania
• Pesaro, Italy
• Tlemcen, Algeria
• Novgorod, Russia
• Watford, United Kingdom
• Žilina, Slovakia

References

• INSEE

1. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia St. Genevieve
2. ^ "Contact." Groupe du Louvre. Retrieved on 27 June 2010.
3. ^ "Plan interactif." Nanterre. Retrieved on 27 June 2010.
4. ^ "Legal notice." Louvre Hôtels. Retrieved on 27 June 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Université Paris 10 Nanterre (in French)
• Nanterre students (in French)
• News coverage of March 2006 University occupation (in English)
• Pictures of Nanterre (in French)
• Nanterre Cathedral gallery of pictures