Saint-Étienne is a city in the central eastern part of France, 60 km. (40 miles) southwest of Lyon. Located in the Rhône-Alpes région, Saint-Étienne is the préfecture (capital) of the Loire département.

Population of the city (commune) at the 1999 census was 180,210 inhabitants (177,300 inhabitants as of February 2004 estimates). Population of the whole metropolitan area (in French: aire urbaine) at the 1999 census was 321,703 inhabitants.

Inhabitants of Saint-Étienne are called Stéphanois in French. "Saint Étienne" is the French version of Saint Stephen.

Geography

Saint-Étienne is located in the Massif Central.

Miscellaneous

The Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne is a football club based in this area.

Saint-Étienne was the birthplace of:

• Claude Fauriel (1772-1844), historian, philologist and critic
• Marcellin Champagnat (1789-1840) catholic priest who founded the Marist Brothers and was canonised in 1999
• Jules Janin (1804-1874), writer and critic
• Francis Garnier (1839-1873), officer and explorer who explored the Mekong River
• Bernard Lavilliers (b. 1946) (Bernard Ouillon), singer

It was also the place were Andrei Kivilev died.

For the British band named after the football team, see Saint Etienne (band)