A privileged geographical location

Located at the heart of Western Europe on the Rhine-Rhone axis, Grand Besançon occupies a privileged position less than four hours from the great high technological value European industrial regions.

An economic basin with 250,000 inhabitants

Economic basin with 250,000 inhabitants, the Grand Besançon area constitutes a business centre which offers human and technological competencies of the highest quality.

Besançon, in figures

• A breeding ground for almost 360 dynamic businesses
• A European centre for micro-techniques and the biomedical business
• 23,000 students, including 5000 foreign students
• 1,200 Teacher-researchers and engineers at the University of Franche-Comté, the CNRS and the research institutes
• Every year, 5000 trainees come to the Centre of Applied Linguistics (CAL)
• Businesses of international renown: BREITLING, FESTINA, PARKEON, SWATCH, BOURGEOIS, DIXI, MATY...
• The leading French Green city
• Capital of biodiversity (2010)
• Since 2008, Besançon and its Vauban fortifications have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site
• 710 hectares of business premises for companies, including 75 ha immediately available and almost 200 planned, particularly at the gates of the city and around the TGV and feeder lines in the north and north-west of the city. TEMIS, the only French theme-based technology centre dedicated to micro-technologies, MICRONORA is the leading European trade show for micro-techniques.