Saint-Nazaire is a port city in western France, in the Loire-Atlantique department, of which it is a subprefecture. Located at the mouth of the Loire River, and at the Atlantic Ocean, it is the most important French port on the Atlantic coast. Saint-Nazaire is the second-largest French city in the Loire-Atlantique department, after Nantes.
The city is connected to the ĂŽle de Noirmoutier by a bridge. The city's inhabitants are called Nazairiens.
Saint-Nazaire was originally a small Roman settlement called Portus Namnetum, named after the Namnetes Celtic tribe that occupied the area before the Roman conquest. After the French Revolution, the town was renamed Saint-Nazaire in honour of the revolutionary martyr Saint-Nazaire.
The town's industry declined in the second half of the 20th century, but the
