Lille:
Lille is the capital of the Nord-Pas de Calais region.
In the 19th century, Lille became the centre of French industry.
The city has large coal deposits. Lille is also the central part of the country's rail network.
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, Tournai) was estimated in 2000 at around 1,730,000
inhabitants, ranking as one of the major metropolitan areas of Europe.
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