Armentières

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Coordinates: 50°41′17″N 2°52′52″E / 50.6880555556, 2.88111111111

Administration
Commune of Armentières
Location

Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Department	Nord
Arrondissement	Lille
Canton	Armentières (chief town)
Intercommunality	Lille Métropole
Mayor	Claude Hujeux (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	17 m (avg.)
Land area^¹	6.28 km²
Population^² (1999)	25,273
- Density	4,022/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	59017/ 59280
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.

Armentières is a commune and the chief town of a canton of the département of Nord, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais région, in France. It is a component of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole, and lies on the Belgian border, northwest of the city of Lille, on the right bank of the river Lys.

The motto of the town is Pauvre mais fière (Poor but proud).

[edit] Twin towns

Armentières is twinned with three cities:
Osterode am Harz, Germany
Stalybridge, United Kingdom [1]
Litoměřice, Czech Republic

[edit] History

In 1668, the town became French like the rest of French Flanders. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Armentières acquired fame, being the“City of the Fabric”. The industrial weaving, spinning and brewing grew in Armentières, benefiting from the presence of water. Armentières particularly suffered at the time of the World Wars. However, the town did receive two Military Crosses (one for Great War and the second for the Second World War) and the Legion of Honor. In Armentières and in the neighbourhoods, the military cemeteries are places of remembrance for the casualties of the World Wars. Mademoiselle from Armentières was a popular song amongst Allied soldiers in World War I.