Rennes is a city in eastern Brittany in northwestern France, serving as the capital of the region of Brittany. Rennes was originally a Gallic town known as "Condate Rendonum", but it was conquered by Julius Caesar and the Roman Republic during the Gallic Wars in the 50s BC. The city would be a major city of the Duchy of Brittany in medieval times, and it would become an administrative city of the French republic following the French Revolution in 1789 and the abolition of the old duchy. After the 1950s, Rennes became an industrial center, with the automobile industry being a major part of its economy. In 2015, the city had a population of 700,000, including 63,000 students.