Valenciennes (Dutch: Valencijn, Latin: Valentianae) is a town and commune in northern France in the Nord département on the Escaut river. While the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded. As of 1999, the commune has a population of 41,278 while the metropolitan area numbers 399,677. This renewed growth is particularly notable for Valenciennes, as well as some suburbs.
EconomyValenciennes is historically renowned for its lace. Until the 1970s, the main industries were steel and textiles. Since their decline, reconversion attempts focus mainly on automobile production. In 2001, Toyota built its Western European assembly line for the Toyota Yaris in Valenciennes. Because of this and other changes, the average unemployment in the region is now lower than the national average.
On July 15, 2004 the Administrative Board of the European Union's Railway Agency held its first meeting in Phénix, with representatives of the 25 Member States and François Lamoureux, those days Director General for Energy and Transportation at the European Commission. Valenciennes was picked as the European Railway Agency headquarters in December of 2003. International conferences are held in Lille.
Public transportation systemLine #1 of the tramway was put into service on July 3, 2006. 9.5 km long, this tramway crosses the five communes in the Valenciennois Metropolitain area, at a cost of 242.75 million Euros.
AdministrationValenciennes is a subprefecture of the Nord département.
Mayors since 1947Valenciennes was almost completely destroyed during World War II, and has hence been rebuilt in concrete.
A few surviving monuments are:
