Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.Rennes's history goes back more than 2,000 years, at a time when it was a small gallic village named Condate. Together with Vannes and Nantes, it was one of the major cities of the historic province of Brittany and the ancient Duchy of Brittany. After the French Revolution, Rennes remained for most of its history a parliamentary, administrative and garrison city of the kingdom of France.Since the 50's, Rennes grew in importance through rural flight and its modern industrial development . The city developed extensive building plans to accommodate upwards of 200,000 inhabitants. During the 80's, Rennes became one of the main centres in Telecommunication and high technology industry. It is now a significant digital innovation centre in France.In 2015, the city is the tenth largest in France, with a metropolitan area of about 700,000 inhabitants. With more than 63,000 students in 2013, is also the eighth-largest university campus of France.