An urban unit is a commune or a group of communes with a continuous built-up area (no gap of more than 200 meters between two buildings) and at least 2,000 inhabitants (INSEE definition, 2020 zoning). It is the closest notion to an urban area or conurbation in everyday language.
The population of each urban unit is the sum of the official populations of its communes (total population in force in 2026). The ranking shows the top 1,300. Each name links to its detailed page, in French.
The urban units ranked by population
| Rank | Urban unit | Population | Proportional bar | Communes | Largest commune |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris | 11,100,589 | 406 | Paris | |
| 2 | Lyon | 1,742,641 | 123 | Lyon | |
| 3 | Marseille-Aix-en-Provence | 1,666,493 | 50 | Marseille | |
| 4 | Toulouse | 1,108,481 | 81 | Toulouse | |
| 5 | Lille (partie française) | 1,072,984 | 60 | Lille | |
| 6 | Bordeaux | 1,048,195 | 73 | Bordeaux | |
| 7 | Nice | 999,312 | 51 | Nice | |
| 8 | Nantes | 700,328 | 22 | Nantes | |
| 9 | Toulon | 611,206 | 27 | Toulon | |
| 10 | Douai-Lens | 509,580 | 67 | Douai | |
| 11 | Strasbourg (partie française) | 499,314 | 23 | Strasbourg | |
| 12 | Montpellier | 492,014 | 22 | Montpellier | |
| 13 | Rouen | 487,789 | 50 | Rouen | |
| 14 | Avignon | 478,454 | 59 | Avignon | |
| 15 | Grenoble | 464,206 | 38 | Grenoble | |
| 16 | Rennes | 388,364 | 16 | Rennes | |
| 17 | Saint-Étienne | 380,499 | 32 | Saint-Étienne | |
| 18 | Tours | 376,927 | 38 | Tours | |
| 19 | Béthune | 360,401 | 94 | Béthune | |
| 20 | Valenciennes (partie française) | 335,051 | 56 | Valenciennes | |
| 21 | Orléans | 298,585 | 19 | Orléans | |
| 22 | Metz | 298,543 | 42 | Metz | |
| 23 | Nancy | 289,568 | 28 | Nancy | |
| 24 | Clermont-Ferrand | 277,457 | 17 | Clermont-Ferrand | |
| 25 | Bayonne (partie française) | 269,141 | 28 | Bayonne | |
| 26 | Angers | 259,125 | 12 | Angers | |
| 27 | Dijon | 257,462 | 15 | Dijon | |
| 28 | Pointe-à-Pitre-Les Abymes | 255,929 | 11 | Les Abymes | |
| 29 | Mulhouse | 249,869 | 20 | Mulhouse | |
| 30 | Le Havre | 235,032 | 18 | Le Havre | |
| 31 | Le Mans | 222,488 | 18 | Le Mans | |
| 32 | Caen | 220,290 | 24 | Caen | |
| 33 | Reims | 218,105 | 9 | Reims | |
| 34 | Pau | 214,257 | 55 | Pau | |
| 35 | Perpignan | 212,242 | 15 | Perpignan | |
| 36 | Brest | 210,974 | 7 | Brest | |
| 37 | Chambéry | 207,995 | 35 | Chambéry | |
| 38 | Genève (SUI)-Annemasse (partie française) | 204,217 | 34 | Annemasse | |
| 39 | Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) | 201,243 | 17 | Saint-Nazaire | |
| 40 | Saint-Denis | 194,669 | 2 | Saint-Denis | |
| 41 | Annecy | 191,255 | 14 | Annecy | |
| 42 | Nîmes | 190,144 | 9 | Nîmes | |
| 43 | Limoges | 189,555 | 10 | Limoges | |
| 44 | Saint-Paul (Réunion) | 180,622 | 3 | Saint-Paul | |
| 45 | Saint-Pierre (Réunion) | 176,710 | 3 | Saint-Pierre | |
| 46 | Amiens | 170,022 | 11 | Amiens | |
| 47 | Dunkerque | 163,544 | 8 | Dunkerque | |
| 48 | La Rochelle | 144,629 | 11 | La Rochelle | |
| 49 | Besançon | 143,992 | 13 | Besançon | |
| 50 | Troyes | 142,853 | 18 | Troyes | |
| 51 | Thionville | 140,170 | 12 | Thionville | |
| 52 | Poitiers | 137,500 | 8 | Poitiers | |
| 53 | Valence (Drôme) | 135,300 | 10 | Valence | |
| 54 | Le Robert | 130,812 | 11 | Le Robert | |
| 55 | Creil | 130,119 | 23 | Creil | |
| 56 | Lorient | 128,332 | 6 | Lorient | |
| 57 | Cayenne | 127,713 | 3 | Cayenne | |
| 58 | Fort-de-France | 116,809 | 4 | Fort-de-France | |
| 59 | Angoulême | 113,891 | 18 | Angoulême | |
| 60 | Montbéliard | 113,493 | 25 | Montbéliard | |
| 61 | Maubeuge (partie française) | 109,377 | 22 | Maubeuge | |
| 62 | Fréjus | 106,931 | 3 | Fréjus | |
| 63 | Alès | 105,896 | 22 | Alès | |
| 64 | Vienne | 102,741 | 25 | Vienne | |
| 65 | Saint-Brieuc | 99,199 | 9 | Saint-Brieuc | |
| 66 | Béziers | 98,996 | 5 | Béziers | |
| 67 | Cluses | 97,510 | 18 | Cluses | |
| 68 | Sète | 96,822 | 7 | Sète | |
| 69 | Colmar | 95,925 | 7 | Colmar | |
| 70 | Calais | 93,408 | 6 | Calais | |
| 71 | Chartres | 91,109 | 9 | Chartres | |
| 72 | Arras | 90,583 | 15 | Arras | |
| 73 | Ajaccio | 89,400 | 5 | Ajaccio | |
| 74 | Bourges | 87,422 | 6 | Bourges | |
| 75 | Vannes | 86,803 | 4 | Vannes | |
| 76 | Thonon-les-Bains | 85,730 | 13 | Thonon-les-Bains | |
| 77 | Meaux | 84,760 | 7 | Meaux | |
| 78 | Montauban | 84,439 | 9 | Montauban | |
| 79 | Boulogne-sur-Mer | 84,107 | 8 | Boulogne-sur-Mer | |
| 80 | Agen | 83,435 | 16 | Agen | |
| 81 | Cherbourg-en-Cotentin | 83,393 | 3 | Cherbourg-en-Cotentin | |
| 82 | Roanne | 83,025 | 15 | Roanne | |
| 83 | Tarbes | 82,523 | 15 | Tarbes | |
| 84 | Armentières (partie française) | 82,489 | 10 | Armentières | |
| 85 | Chalon-sur-Saône | 81,670 | 13 | Chalon-sur-Saône | |
| 86 | Sarrebruck (ALL)-Forbach (partie française) | 80,630 | 15 | Forbach | |
| 87 | Belfort | 79,827 | 16 | Belfort | |
| 88 | Quimper | 79,717 | 3 | Quimper | |
| 89 | Brive-la-Gaillarde | 79,173 | 12 | Brive-la-Gaillarde | |
| 90 | Albi | 77,476 | 9 | Albi | |
| 91 | Niort | 76,667 | 4 | Niort | |
| 92 | Saint-Omer | 75,519 | 23 | Saint-Omer | |
| 93 | Draguignan | 75,132 | 6 | Draguignan | |
| 94 | Compiègne | 73,235 | 14 | Compiègne | |
| 95 | Bastia | 71,892 | 7 | Bastia | |
| 96 | La Teste-de-Buch-Arcachon | 71,301 | 4 | La Teste-de-Buch | |
| 97 | Blois | 70,791 | 7 | Blois | |
| 98 | Menton-Monaco (partie française) | 69,135 | 9 | Menton | |
| 99 | Périgueux | 68,274 | 7 | Périgueux | |
| 100 | Vichy | 67,821 | 13 | Vichy |
Source: INSEE, geographic classification of communes (current zonings) and official population figures. Data sources.