Coordinates: 50°25′56″N 2°50′00″E / 50.4322222222°N 2.83333333333°E
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Commune of Lens |
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| Location | |
  Lens, Pas-de-Calais
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| Administration | |
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| Country | France |
| Region | Nord-Pas-de-Calais |
| Department | Pas-de-Calais |
| Arrondissement | Lens |
| Canton | Chief town of 3 cantons |
| Intercommunality | Communaupole de Lens-Liévin |
| Mayor | Guy Delcourt (2001–2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 27–71 m (89–230 ft) |
| Land area1 | 11.57 km2 (4.47 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 36,257 (2006) |
| - Density | 3,134 /km2 (8,120 /sq mi) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 62498/ 62300 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Lens (French pronunciation: [lɑ̃s] (
listen)) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of France's large Picarde cities along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras, and Douai.
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Metropolitan area
Lens belongs to the intercommunality of Lens-Liévin, which consists of 36 communes, with a total population of 250,000. Lens, along with Douai, forms the metropolitan area of Douai-Lens, whose population at the 1999 census was 552,682.
Economy
The city is an industrial and has a long history of coal mining. Surrounding the town are many large slag heaps, evidence of over a hundred years of mining, which came to an end in the 1960s.
The city supports a top-level football team, Racing Club de Lens.
History
At Vimy, a small town very close to Lens, are the Vimy Memorial and Vimy Ridge.
From 2009, Lens will also be the location of the Louvre-Lens.
Notable people
- Émile Basly, trade unionist then mayor of the city, died there in 1928
- Maurice Garin, first winner of Tour de France, died there in 1957
Gallery
 East of Pas-de-Calais (Béthune, Lens, Hénin-Beaumont) |
 Lens church |
 Main shopping district |
See also
References
External links
- Official web site (French)
- Communauté d'Agglomeration of Lens-Liévin (French)
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