[image] [image] (New city flag) (Traditional coat of arms) City Motto: – [image] City proper(commune) Région Nord-Pas de Calais Département Nord (59) Mayor Martine Aubry
(PS) (since 2001)Area 39.51 km² 1 Population
2004 estimate
1999 census(Ranked 10th)
222,400 1
212,597 1Density 5,381/km² 1 (1999) Metropolitan area(Aire urbaine) Communes 130 2 (1999) Area 975 km² 2 (1999) Population
1999 census(Ranked 4th)
1,143,125 2
1,730,000 3Yearly growth +0.32 % 2 Density 1,173/km² 2 (1999) Intercommunality
- presidentUrban Community of Lille Métropole
Pierre Mauroy
(PS) (since 1989)Miscellaneous Twin cities Leeds (England)
Cologne (Germany)
Erfurt (Germany)
Liège (Belgium)
Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxemb.)
Turin (Italy)
Valladolid (Spain)
Kharkov (Ukraine)
Safed (Israel)
Nablus (West Bank)
Saint-Louis (Senegal)Notes:
1 Including the annexed communes of Hellemmes and Lomme
2 Only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory
3 Including the part of the metropolitan area on Belgian territory (Mouscron, Kortrijk, etc.)
Lille (Rijsel in Dutch) is a city in northern France on the Deûle River. It is the Capital of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais région. 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 whole metropolitan area of Lille, both on French and Belgian territory (Kortrijk) was estimated in 2000 at around 1,730,000 inhabitants, ranking as one of the major metropolitan areas of Europe.
The city's fortifications were upgraded by Sébastian Le Prestre de Vauban.
In the 19th century Lille became the centre of French industry due to the large nearby Coal deposits. It thus became a central part of the country's rail network.
The name Lille derives from insula (illa insula becomes French l'Île), since the area was at one time marshy. This name was used for the Count of Flanders' castle (Château du Buc), built on dry land in the middle of the marsh.
The Count of Flanders controlled a number of old Roman cities (Boulogne, Arras, Cambrai) as well as some founded by the Carolingians (Valenciennes, Saint-Omer, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp). The region of Flanders thus extended to the left bank of the River Escaut, one of the most rich and prosperous regions of Europe. The original inhabitants of this region were the Celts, who were followed by the Menapii, the Morini, the Atrebates, and the Verviens, Germanic tribes. From 830 until around 910, the Vikings invaded Flanders. After the destruction caused by Norman and Hungarian invasion, the eastern part of the region fell under the eyes of the area princes. It is in this context that the city was created.
The counts of Flanders, Boulogne, and Hainaut came together with England and the Holy Roman Empire of Germany and declared war on France and King Philippe Auguste, a war that ended with the French victory at Bouvines in 1214. Count Ferrand of Portugal was imprisoned and the county fell into dispute: it would be his wife, Jeanne, Countess of Flanders and Constantinople, who ruled the city. They say she was well-loved by the residents of Lille, who by that time numbered 10,000.
In 1224, the monk Bertrand of Rains, doubtless encouraged by local lords, tried to pass himself off as Baldwin I of Constantinople (the father of Jeanne of Flanders), who had disappeared during battle in Andrinople. He pushed the kingdoms of Flanders and Hainaut towards sedition against Jeanne in order to recover his land. She called her cousin, Louis VIII ("The Lion"). He unmasked the imposter, who Countess Jeanne quickly had hanged. In 1226 the King agreed to free Ferrand of Portugal. Count Ferrand died in 1233, and his daughter Marie soon after. In 1235, Jeanne granted a city charter by which city governors would be chosen each All Saints' Day by four commissioners chosen by the ruler. On February 6, 1236, she founded the Countess's Hospital, which remains one of the most beautiful buildings in Old Lille. It was in her honor that the hospital of the Regional Medical University of Lille was named "Jeanne of Flanders Hospital" in the 20th century.
The Countess died in 1244 in the Abbey of Marquette, leaving no heirs. The rule of Flanders and Hainaut thus fell to her sister, Marguerite of Flanders, then to Marguerite's brother, Guy de Dampierre. Lille fell under the rule of France from 1304 to 1369, after the battle of Mons-en-Pévèle.
The county of Flanders fell to the Duchy of Burgundy next, after the 1369 marriage of Marguerite de Male, Countess of Flanders, and Philippe II le Hardi, Duke of Burgundy. Lille thus became one of the three capitals of said Duchy, along with Brussels and Dijon. By 1445, Lille counted some 25,000 residents. Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, was even more powerful than the King of France, and made Lille an administrative and financial capital.
On February 17, 1454, one year after the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, Philippe le Bon organised a Patagruelian banquet at his Lille palace, the still-celebrated "Banquet of the Pheasant's Vow". There the Duke and his court undertook an oath to Christianity.
In 1477, at the death of the last duke of Burgundy, Charles le Téméraire, Marie de Bourgogne married a Habsburg, Maximilian of Austria, who thus became Count of Flanders. At the end of the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Spanish Flanders fell to his eldest son, and thus under the rule of Philip II of Spain, King of Spain. The city remained under Spanish rule until the reign of Philip IV of Spain.
The 16th century was marked, above all, by the outbreak of the Plague, a boom in the regional textile industry, and the Protestant revolts.
The first Calvinists appeared in the area in 1542; by 1555 there was anti-Protestant repression taking place. In 1578, the Hurlus, a group of Protestant rebels, stormed the castle of the Counts of Mouscron. They were removed four months later by a Catholic Wallon regiment, after which they tried several times between 1581 and 1582 to take the city of Lille, all in vain. The Hurlus were notably held back by the legendary Jeanne Maillotte. At the same time (1581), at the call of England's Queen Elisabeth I , the north of the Spanish Netherlands, having gained a Protestant majority, successfully revolted and formed the United Provinces.
In 1667, King Louis XIV (the Sun-King) successfully laid seige to Lille, resulting in it becoming French in 1668 under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, provoking discontent among the citizens of the prosperous city. A number of important public works undertaken between 1667 and 1670, such as the Citadel (erected by Vauban), or the creation of the quartiers of Saint-André and la Madeleine, enabled the King to gain the confidence of his Flemish subjects.
During five years, from 1708 to 1713, the city was occupied by the Dutch, during the War of the Spanish Succession. Throughout the 18th century, Lille remained profoundly Catholic, which explains why the city did not really take part in the French Revolution, though there were riots and the destruction of churches. In 1790, the city held their first municipal elections.
The city continued to grow, and by 1800 held some 53,000 residents, leading to Lille becoming the county seat of the Nord départment in 1804. In 1846, a rail line connecting Paris and Lille was built.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon I's continental blockade against the United Kingdom led to Lille's textile industry developing itself even more fully. The city was known for its Cotton, and the nearby towns of Roubaix and Tourcoing worked Wool.
In 1853, Alexandre Desrousseaux composed his famous lullaby Dors mon p'tit quinquin. In 1858, an imperial decree led to the annexation of the adjacent towns of Fives, Wazemmes, and Moulins. Lille's population was 158,000 in 1872, growing to over 200,000 by 1891. In 1896 Lille became the first city in France to be led by a socialist, Gustave Delory.
By 1912, Lille's population was at 217,000: the city profited from the Industrial Revolution, particularly via Coal and the Steam engine. The entire region had grown wealthy thanks to the mines and to the textile industry.
From 1931 Lille felt the repurcussions of the Great Depression, and by 1935 a third of the city's population lived in poverty. In 1936, the city's mayor, Roger Salengro, became Minister of the Interior of the Popular Front, eventually killing himself after right-wing groups led a slanderous campaign against him.
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.
In 1983, the VAL, the world's first automated subway, was opened. In 1993, a high-speed TGV train line was opened, connecting Paris with Lille in one hour. This, followed by the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994, then the arrival of the Eurostar train, puts Lille in the center of a triangle connecting Paris, London, and Brussels.
The planning of Euralille, an urban remodeling project, began in 1988. The Euralille Center was opened in 1994, and the remodeled district is now full of parks and modern buildings containing offices, shops, and apartments. In 1994 the "Grand Palais" was also opened.
Lille tried an unsuccessful bid for the organization of the Games of the XXVIIIth Olympiad in 2004.
The VAL system (véhicule automatique léger = light automated vehicle) is a driverless metro. Line 2 is 32 km long with 43 stations, the first and longest automatic metro line in the world, opened May 16, 1983. Trains are only 26 m long (two linked cars) and are rubber-tired. There are 60 stations which go as far as the Belgian border.
A sixth one, the A24, will maybe link Amiens to Lille circa 2015
In terms of shipping, it ranks fourth, with almost 38,000 tonnes of freight which pass through each year.
| Year | 1997 | 2000 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millions of tonnes | 5.56 | 6.68 | 7.30 |
| By River or Sea | 8.00% | 8.25% | 13.33% |
| By Rail | 6.28% | 4.13% | 2.89% |
| By Road | 85.72% | 87.62% | 83.78% |
The Euralille urban development project, centred around the new TGV station has fostered a long debate among Lille's citizens. The project has finally been completed with modern Architecture and disruption to the ancient city center.
Lille was elected European Capital of Culture in 2004, along with the Italian city of Genoa.
Lille is part of the Lille Métropole Communauté urbaine (formerly also known as C.U.D.L.).