La Défense is the major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's department of Hauts-de-Seine in the communes of Courbevoie, La Garenne-Colombes, Nanterre, and Puteaux.
Clockwise from top: La Défense skyline at night; La Défense station; Esplanade with Grande Arche; La Défense de Paris
La Grande Arche de la Défense and the Yaacov Agam Fountain (1977). The bronze sculpture on the left, seen from the rear, is La Défense de Paris by Louis-Ernest Barrias, after which La Défense is named.
Paris, with the skyscrapers of La Défense in the background and the Eiffel Tower in the foreground taken in 2014
The Grande Arche is the central and defining building of La Défense. It is, with the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the third arch on the Historical Axis of Paris.
Central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city center" or "downtown". However, these concepts are not necessarily synonymous: many cities have a central business district located away from its commercial and/or cultural center and/or downtown/city center, and there may be multiple CBDs within a single urban area. The CBD will often be highly accessible and have a large variety and concentration of specialized goods and services compared to other parts of the city.
Midtown Manhattan, the largest central business district in the United States
Sydney central business district
Melbourne central business district
Brisbane central business district
