Top 10 largest cities of France by population

This list refers to the 10 largest communes in France by population, starting with the capital – Paris – which is by far the most populous city.

A commune is the basic unit of local administration in the French Republic. Each one is run by a municipal council (conseil municipal) whose leader is the mayor (le maire). There are 36,681 communes in France in 2014 of various surface areas. The data was compiled by INSEE, the French National Statistical Office for the 2010 census. These figures do not include the population of the town’s metropolitan area nor its suburbs.

1. Paris

• Population: 2,249,975
• Département of Paris, region of Île de France.

2. Marseille

• Population: 850,636
• Département of Bouches-du-Rhône, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.

3. Lyon

• Population: 491,268
• Département of Rhône, region of Rhône-Alpes.

4. Toulouse

• Population: 447,340
• Département of Haute-Garonne, region of Midi-Pyrénées.

5. Nice

• Population: 344,064
• Département of Alpes-Maritime, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.

6. Nantes

• Population: 287,845
• Département of Loire-Atlantique, region of Pays-de-la-Loire.

7. Strasbourg

• Population: 272,222
• Département of Bas-Rhin, region of Alsace.

8. Montpellier

• Population: 264,538
• Département of Hérault, region of Languedoc-Roussillon.

9. Bordeaux

• Population: 239,399
• Département of Gironde, region of Aquitaine.

10. Lille

• Population: 227,533
• Département of Nord, region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.