into 12 quarters: Centre Thabor - Saint-Hélier - Alphonse Guérin Bourg L’Évesque - La Touche - Moulin du Comte Saint-Martin Maurepas - Bellangerais Jeanne d’Arc - Longs Champs - Atlante Beaulieu Francisco Ferrer - Landry - Poterie Sud Gare Cleunay - Arsenal - Redon - La Courrouze Villejean - Beauregard Le Blosne Bréquigny Mayors The current mayor of Rennes is Nathalie Appéré. A member of the Socialist Party, she replaced retiring Socialist incumbent Daniel Delaveau, in office from 2008 to 2014. Edmond Hervé (b. 1942), Socialist mayor from 1977 to 2008; Henri Fréville (1905–1987), mayor MRP from 1953 to 1977; Eugène Quessot (1882–1949), interim mayor from 15 July 1947 until 26 October 1947; Yves Milon (1897–1987), mayor RPF from 1944 to 1953. Among previous well-known mayors are: Jean Janvier (1859–1923), from 1908 to 1923; Edgar Le Bastard (1836–1891), from 1880 to 1891; Toussaint-François Rallier du Baty (1665–1734) from 1695 to 1734. The (city hall) is right in the centre of Rennes. National representation The French Prison Service operates the Centre pénitentiaire de Rennes, the largest women's prison in France. Geography The ancient centre of the town is built on a hill, with the north side being more elevated than the south side. It is at the confluence of two rivers: the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is located on the European atlantic arc, 50 km from the English Channel (near Saint-Malo, Dinard and Mont Saint-Michel). Rennes has the distinction of having a significant Green Belt around its ring road. This Green Belt is a protected area between the city proper (rather dense) and the rest of its urban area (rather rural). Climate Rennes features an oceanic climate. Precipitation in Rennes is considerably less abundant than in the western parts of Brittany, reaching only half of the levels of, e.g., the city of Quimper, which makes rainfall in Rennes comparable to the levels of larger parts of western Germany. Sunshine hours range between 1,700 and 1,850 annually, which is about the amount of sunshine received by the city of Lausanne. Population In 2018, the inner population of the city was of 221,272 inhabitants, the Rennes intercommunal structure connecting Rennes with 42 nearby suburbs (named Rennes Métropole) counted 450,593 inhabitants and the metropolitan area counted nearly 750,000 inhabitants. Rennes has the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in France after Toulouse and before Montpellier, Bordeaux and Nantes. The inhabitants of Rennes are called Rennais