Lyon Map

• Lyon is the capital of the Rhône-Alpes région, the préfecture of the Rhône département, and the capital of 14 cantons, covering 1 commune, and with a total population of 480,660.

• The Urban Community of Lyon, also known as Greater Lyon is the intercommunal structure gathering the city and some of its suburbs. The Urban Community encompasses only the core of the metropolitan area of Lyon.

• 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 3rd 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 5th arrondissement. A year later, in 1964, the 5th was split to create Lyon's 9th – and, to date, final – arrondissement. Within each arrondissement, there are a number of recognisable quartiers or neighbourhoods:

• Geographically, Lyon's two main rivers, the Saône and the Rhône, divide the arrondissements into three groups:

• Saint-Exupéry International Airport, located east of Lyon, serves as a base for domestic and international flights. It is an important transport facility for the entire Rhône-Alpes region. Coach links connect the airport with the centre of Lyon and other towns in the area including Chambéry and Grenoble. With its in-house train station (Gare de Lyon Saint-Exupéry) the airport is also connected to the TGV network. The new Rhônexpress tram links the international airport with the business quarter of La Part Dieu in less than 30 minutes. The Lyon-Bron Airport is a smaller airport dedicated to General Aviation (both private and commercial). Having helipads, the facility hosts a Gendarmerie and a Sécurité Civile (civilian defence) Base.

• Lyon has two major railway stations: Lyon Part-Dieu, which was built to accommodate the TGV and has become the principal railway station for extra-regional trains; and Lyon Perrache, which is an older station that now primarily serves regional rail services. In practice, many trains, including TGVs, serve both stations. Smaller railway stations include Gorge-de-Loup, Vaise, Vénissieux, Saint-Paul and Jean Macé. Lyon is connected to the north (Lille, Paris, Brussels, and in the future Amsterdam) and the south (Marseille, Montpellier, and in the future Barcelona, Turin) by the TGV. It was the first city to be connected to Paris by the TGV in 1981.

• The City is at the heart of a dense road network and is located at the meeting point of several highways: A6 (to Paris), A7 (to Marseille), A42 (to Geneve), A43 (to Grenoble). The city is now bypassed by the A46. A double motorway tunnel passes under Fourvière, connecting the A6 and the A7 autoroutes, both forming the "Autoroute du Soleil". Prior to the construction of the bypass by the east, the tunnel was famous for its traffic jams, since traffic between northern and southern France, as well as from neighboring countries and local traffic all wanted to cross, Lyon being virtually the only low passage between the Alps and the Massif Central (extinct) volcano range. Lyon is served by the Eurolines intercity coach organisation. Its Lyon terminal is located at the city's Perrache railway station, which serves as an intermodal transportation hub that also includes tramways, local and regional trains and buses, the terminus of metro line A, the bicycle service Vélo'v, and taxis.

• The GDP of Lyon is 62 billion euro, and the city is the second richest city after Paris. Lyon and its region Rhône-Alpes represent one of the most important economies in Europe and, according to the Loughborough university, can be compared to Philadelphia, Mumbai or Athens concerning its international position. The city of Lyon is working in partnerships to more easily enable the establishment of new headquarters in the territory (ADERLY, Chambre du commerce et d'industrie, Grand Lyon...). According to the ECER-Banque Populaire, Lyon is the 14th favorite city in the European Union concerning the creation of companies and investments. High-tech industries like biotechnology, software development, game design, and internet services are also growing. Other important sectors include medical research and technology, non-profit institutions, and universities. Lyon is home to some of the most dangerous viruses in the world (class 4) in the Jean Merieux laboratory of research, like Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, Hendra, and Lassa.

• The city is the headquarters of many companies like Euronews, Lyon Airports, BioMérieux, Sanofi Pasteur, LCL S.A., Cegid Group, Boiron, Infogrames, Groupe SEB, LVL Medical, GL Events, Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, and intergovernmental agencies IARC, Interpol. The specialization of some sectors of activities have the consequence of creating several main business centers: La Part-Dieu, located in the 3rd arrondissement is the second biggest business quarter after La Défense in Paris with over 1,600,000 m (17,222,256.67 sq ft) of office space and services and more than 40,000 jobs. Cité Internationale, created by the architect Renzo Piano is located in the border of the Parc de la Tête d'Or in the 6th arrondissement. The worldwide headquarters of Interpol is located there. The district of Confluence, in the south of the historic centre, is a new pole of economical and cultural development.

• Tourism provides a big boost to the Lyon economy with one billion euros in 2007 and 3.5 million hotel nights in 2006 provided by non-residents. Approximately 60% of tourists visit for business with the rest for leisure. In January 2009 Lyon ranked first in France for hostels business. The festivals most important for attracting tourists are the Fête des lumières, the Nuits de Fourvière every summer, the Biennale d'art contemporain and the Nuits Sonores.

• Lyon is home to the Ligue 1 football team Olympique Lyonnais, commonly known as "Lyon" or "OL". The team has enjoyed unprecedented success recently, winning seven consecutive national titles and establishing themselves as France's premier football club. The team competes in the prestigious UEFA Champions League and currently plays at the Stade de Gerland, where the Danone Nations Cup is held every year. The team is set to move to a new stadium in Décines-Charpieu (in the eastern suburbs) in 2010, which will hold 61,556 people. Lyon also has a rugby union team, Lyon OU, currently playing in Top 14. In addition, Lyon has a rugby league side: Lyon Villeurbanne Rhône XIII, or LVR XIII, play in the French rugby league championship. The club's current home ground is Stade Georges Lyvet in Villeurbanne. Lyon is also home to the Lyon Hockey Club, an ice hockey team that competes in France's national ice hockey league. Finally, Villeurbanne also has a renowned basketball team, ASVEL, who play at the Astroballe arena in Laurent Bonnevay.