 The façade of the 'Vieille Bourse' on the 'Grand Place
Lille is the capital of the Nord-Pas de Calais région.
Lille is the main city of France's fourth largest metropolitan area. It is located to the country's north, on the Deûle River. It is also the préfecture (capital) of the Nord département. It lies near the border with Belgium and its Dutch name is Rijsel.
The city of Lille absorbed Lomme on February 27, 2000. Their combined population at the 1999 census was 212,597 inhabitants.
The legend of "Lyderic and Phinaert" puts the foundation of the city of "L'Isle" at 640. Although the first mention of the town appears in archives from the year 1066, some archeological digs seem to show the area as inhabited by as early as 2000 BCE, most notably in the modern-day quartiers of Fives, Wazemmes, and Old Lille.
The name Lille comes from insula or l'Isla, since the area was at one time marshy.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, the region was faced with some problems after the decline of the coal, mining and textile industries. From the start of the 1980s, the city began to turn itself more towards the service sector.
Lille forms the heart of a larger conurbation, regrouping Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing and Villeneuve d'Ascq, which is France's 4th-largest urban conglomeration with a 1999 population of over 1.1 million.
information from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
