Lille is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders.
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Lille was again under siege in 1792 during the Franco-Austrian War, and in 1914 and 1940.
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Today, the historic center, Old Lille, is characterized by its 17th-century red brick town houses, its paved pedestrian streets and its central Grand'Place.
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Lille pushed the counties of Flanders and Hainaut towards sedition against Jeanne in order to recover his land.
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Lille fell under the rule of France from 1304 to 1369, after the Franco-Flemish War .
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In 1858, Lille annexed the adjacent towns of Esquermes, Fives, Moulins-Lille and Wazemmes.
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In 1896 Lille became the first city in France to be led by a socialist, Gustave Delory.
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Lille was liberated by the Allies on 17 October 1918, when General Sir William Birdwood and his troops were welcomed by joyous crowds.
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Lille was the hunting ground of the German World War I flying ace Max Immelmann, who was nicknamed "the Eagle of Lille".
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The Opera de Lille, designed by Lille architect Louis M Cordonnier, was dedicated in 1923.
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From 1931, Lille felt the repercussions of the Great Depression, and by 1935, a third of the city's population lived in poverty.
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When Belgium was invaded, the citizens of Lille, still haunted by the events of World War I, began to flee the city in large numbers.
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Lille was instead controlled under the military administration in Northern France.
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Lille was chosen as a European Capital of Culture in 2004, along with the Italian city of Genoa.
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Lille can be described as having a temperate oceanic climate; summers normally do not reach high average temperatures, but winters can fall below freezing temperatures, but with averages quite a bit above the freezing mark.
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Former major mechanical, food industry and textile manufacturing centre as well as a retail and finance center, Lille is the largest city of a conurbation, built like a network of cities: Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing and Villeneuve-d'Ascq.
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The conurbation forms the Metropole Europeenne de Lille which is France's fourth-largest urban conglomeration with a 2016 population of over 1.
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Employment in Lille has switched over half a century from a predominant industry to tertiary activities and services.
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Metropole Europeenne de Lille has a mixed mode public transport system, which is considered one of the most modern in the whole of France.
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The Lille Metro is a VAL system that opened on 16 May 1983, becoming the first automatic light metro line in the world.
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Lille is an important junction in the European high-speed rail network.
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Sixth one—the A24—would have linked Amiens to Lille if built, but the project was rejected several times then abandoned.
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Lille is the third-largest French river port after Paris and Strasbourg.
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Lille is site of the University and Polytechnic Federation of Lille, a large private educational university that includes a medical school, business school, law school, etc.
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Lille is home to Lille Lacrosse, former national champion and continuously one of France's best lacrosse teams.
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