La Défense is a district of high-rise offices, apartment blocks and shopping complexes over part of the communes of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux (all in the Hauts-de-Seine département), to the west of Paris.

It is named for a statue, La Défense de Paris, commemorating the defence of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War. The name of the area sometimes causes confusion with foreigners, who assume it has something to do with the military.