France

Paris is the capital and most populous city in France, with an official population of 2,206,488 (2015). The city is a commune and department, and the heart of the Île-de-France region (colloquially known as the 'Paris Region'), whose 2016 population of 12,142,802 represented roughly 18 percent of the population of France.

Montpellier is a city in southern France. It is the capital of the Hérault department. Montpellier is the 7th-largest city of France, and is also the fastest-growing city in the country over the past 25 years. In 2014, 589,610 people lived in the urban area and 275,318 in the city itself.

Nearly one third of the population are students from three universities and from three higher education institutions that are outside the university framework in the city.

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France. The municipality (commune) of Bordeaux proper has a population of 246,586 (2014). Together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Bordeaux is the centre of the Bordeaux Métropole. With 760,933 inhabitants (as of 2014) and 1,195,335 in the metropolitan area, it is the sixth largest in France.