Lorient Population and Area (Morbihan)
Largest city in France 2026: up-to-date figures for Lorient (Morbihan)
Lorient: Population and Area
With 59,856 inhabitants (INSEE total population in force on January 1, 2026), Lorient is the 100th most populous town in France in 2026 and the most populous in the Morbihan department, out of 249 communes. It covers 17 km² (9,847th largest area in France, 159th largest in the department), with a population density of 3,424 inhabitants per km², or 31 times the national average (110 inhabitants/km²), which ranks it 243rd in France for density.
Lorient is located in the Morbihan department (56), in the Brittany region, where it ranks 4th by population out of 1,202 communes. It is the most populous town in the Morbihan department, which is home to 804,597 people over 6,817 km².
See the full ranking of communes in the Morbihan department and the regional ranking: largest city in Brittany.
Towns of similar size in the Morbihan department: Vannes (pop. 57,745), Lanester (pop. 23,752), Ploemeur (pop. 19,496).
Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); areas: IGN / Observatoire des territoires; INSEE code 56121. Rankings are calculated across the 34,858 communes of metropolitan and overseas France in our database.
Lorient, the largest town in the Morbihan
Although it is only a subprefecture, Lorient is the most populous town in the Morbihan department, ahead of Vannes, the prefecture. The town was born in 1666 from the French East India Company, which set up its shipyards and warehouses there: its name comes from the Soleil d'Orient, one of the company's first ships.
A seafaring town, rebuilt after the war
A naval base, a commercial port and a major fishing port, Lorient was almost entirely destroyed by the 1943 bombings, which targeted the German submarine base at Keroman, and then rebuilt in the 1950s. On a compact territory at the head of the harbor formed by the Scorff and the Blavet rivers, the town remains dense, and the urban area grows into neighboring towns. Every summer it hosts the Festival Interceltique, one of the largest festivals in Europe, devoted to Celtic cultures.