page_title: Lyon
section_title: Administration
hierarchical_section_title: Lyon / Administration
context_page_description: Lyon or Lyons is the third-largest city and second-largest urban area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, about 470 km south of Paris, 320 km north of Marseille and 56 km northeast of Saint-Étienne. Inhabitants of the city are called Lyonnais.
  Lyon had a population of 513,275 in 2015. It is the capital of the Metropolis of Lyon and the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The Lyon metropolitan area had a population of 2,265,375 in 2014. The city is recognized for its cuisine and gastronomy, and historical and architectural landmarks; part of it is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk. Lyon played a significant role in the history of cinema: it is where Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinematograph. It is also known for its light festival, the Fête des Lumières, which begins every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of Capital of Lights.
  Economically, Lyon is a major centre for banking, as well as for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries.
context_section_description: Like Paris and Marseille, the city of Lyon is divided into a number of municipal arrondissements, each of which is identified by a number and has its own council and town hall. Five arrondissements were originally created in 1852, when three neighbouring communes (La Croix-Rousse, La Guillotière, and Vaise) were annexed by Lyon. Between 1867 and 1959, the third arrondissement (which originally covered the whole of the Left Bank of the Rhône) was split three times, creating a new arrondissement in each case. Then, in 1963, the commune of Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe was annexed to Lyon's fifth arrondissement. A year later, in 1964, the fifth was split to create Lyon's 9th – and, to date, final – arrondissement. Within each arrondissement, the recognisable quartiers or neighbourhoods are:
  1st arrondissement: Slopes of La Croix-Rousse, Terreaux, Martinière/St-Vincent
  2nd arrondissement: Cordeliers, Bellecour, Ainay, Perrache, Confluence, Sainte-Blandine
  3rd arrondissement: Guillotière (north), Préfecture, Part-Dieu, Villette, Dauphiné/Sans Souci, Montchat, Grange Blanche (north), Monplaisir (north)
  4th arrondissement: Plateau de la Croix-Rousse, Serin
  5th arrondissement: Vieux Lyon (Saint-Paul, Saint-Jean, Saint-Georges), Saint-Just, Saint-Irénée, Fourvière, Point du Jour, Ménival, Battières, Champvert (south)
  6th arrondissement: Brotteaux, Bellecombe, Parc de la Tête d'or, Cité Internationale
  7th arrondissement: Guillotière (south), Jean Macé, Gerland
  8th arrondissement: Monplaisir (south), Bachut, États-Unis, Grand Trou/Moulin à Vent, Grange Blanche (south), Laënnec, Mermoz, Monplaisir-la-Plaine
  9th arrondissement: Vaise, Duchère, Rochecardon, St-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe, Gorge de Loup, Observance, Champvert (north)
  Geographically, Lyon's two main rivers, the Saône and the Rhône, divide the arrondissements into three groups:
  To the west of the Saône, the fifth arrondissement covers the old city (Vieux Lyon), Fourvière hill and the plateau beyond. The 9th is immediately to the north, and stretches from Gorge de Loup, through Vaise to the neighbouring suburbs of Écully, Champagne-au-Mont-d'Or, Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or, Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d'Or and Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or.
  Between the two rivers, on the Presqu'île, are the second, first, and fourth arrondissements. The second includes most of the city centre,  Bellecour and Perrache railway station, and reaches as far as the confluence of the two rivers. The first is directly to the north of the second and covers part of the city centre (including the Hôtel de Ville) and the slopes of La Croix-Rousse. To the north of the Boulevard is the fourth arrondissement, which covers the Plateau of La Croix-Rousse, up to its boundary with the commune of Caluire-et-Cuire.
  To the east of the Rhône, are the third, sixth, seventh, and eighth arrondissements.
caption: Map of the City of Lyon divided into 9 arrondissements