France, Paris, La Defence Panorama

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La Défense is a major business district for the city of Paris, bordering Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of the city itself. It is centered in an oval freeway loop straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux. The district is at the westernmost extremity of Paris' 10-km long Historical Axis, which starts at the Louvre in Central Paris and continues along the Champs-Élysées, well beyond the Arc de Triomphe before culminating at La Défense.

Around its 100-metre (330 ft)-high Grande Arche and esplanade ("le Parvis"), the district holds many of the Paris urban area's tallest high-rises. With its 77.5 acres (31.4 ha), its 72 glass-and-steel slick buildings including 14 high-rises above 150 metres (490 ft), its 150,000 daily workers and 3.5 million square metres (37.7 million sq ft) of office space, La Défense is Europe's largest business district.