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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...

Moselle, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Moselle mōzĕlˈ [key], department (1990 pop. 1,011,400), NE France, bordering on Luxembourg and Germany. Metz is the capital. ...

Oise, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Oise wäz [key], department (1990 pop. 733,200), N France, in Picardy. Beauvais is the capital. ...

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...

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...

Marie de France

(Encyclopedia)Marie de France də fräNs [key], fl. 1155–90, poet. Born in France, she spent her adult life in England in aristocratic circles and wrote in Anglo-Norman. She is best known for some dozen lais; sev...

Marne, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Marne märn [key], department (1990 pop. 559,600), NE France, in Champagne. Châlons-en-Champagne is the capital. ...

Marne, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Marne, river, c.325 mi (520 km) long, rising in the Langres plateau, NE France, and flowing in an arc generally NW to the Seine River near Paris. It passes through Chaumont and Châlons-en-Champagne. ...

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...

Loire, department, France

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