A tension-absorbing cladding layer is formed around a cladding layer, with
a refractive index equal to that of a center core region or higher. The
center core region has a relative refractive index difference of -0.1% to
0% with respect to a pure silica glass, a chlorine concentration of wt %
to 0.10 wt %, and a fluorine concentration of 0.10 wt % to 0.30 wt %. The
tension-absorbing cladding layer has a relative refractive index
difference of 0% to 0.05% with respect to the pure silica glass and a
chlorine concentration of 0.15 wt % or lower. A ratio of an outer
diameter of the tension-absorbing cladding layer to an outer diameter of
the cladding layer is 1.10 to 1.40.