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Lens, city, France

(Encyclopedia)Lens läNs [key], city (1990 pop. 35,278), Pas-de-Calais dept., N France. During the 19th and 20th cent. it was one of the most important coal centers in N France, but its mines are now closed. Much o...

Laval, town, France

(Encyclopedia)Laval, town (1990 pop. 53,478), capital of Mayenne dept., NW France, in Maine. It has been noted for its linen products since the 14th cent. Among its other industrial products are textiles, shoes, fu...

Landes, region, France

(Encyclopedia)Landes läNd [key], region, SW France. It is a vast, flat, nearly triangular tract of sand and marshland, stretching along the Atlantic coast for more than 100 mi (160 km) between the Adour River and ...

Landes, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Landes, department (1990 pop. 313,100), SW France, in Gascony, on the Atlantic coast. Mont-de-Marsan is the capital. ...

Meuse, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Meuse möz [key], department (1990 pop. 196,344), NE France, in Lorraine, bordering on Belgium. Bar-le-Duc, the capital, and Verdun are the chief towns. Its industries include the manufacture of metal...

Mendès-France, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Mendès-France, Pierre pyĕr măNdĕsˈ-fräNs [key], 1907–82, French statesman. A lawyer and economist, he entered (1932) the chamber of deputies as a Radical Socialist. In World War II he was a pi...

Montmorency, town, France

(Encyclopedia)Montmorency, town (1990 pop. 21,003), Val d'Oise dept., N France, a suburb N of Paris. J. J. Rousseau lived there (1756–62), first at the nearby “Hermitage,” a cottage on the estate of his frien...

Lyons, city, France

(Encyclopedia)Lyons, Fr. Lyon both: lyôNˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 422,444), capital of Rhône dept., E central France, at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers. As an economic center and a densely populat...

Loire, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Loire, department (1990 pop. 747,100), E central France, in part of Beaujolais and Lyonnais. Saint-Étienne is the capital. ...

Loire, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Loire, longest river of France, c.630 mi (1,010 km) long, rising in the Cévennes Mts., SE France, and flowing in an arc through central and W France to the Atlantic Ocean at Saint-Nazaire. The upper ...