DEMOGRAPHY - 4th largest city in urban area (after Paris, Lyon and Marseille) with 1,513,113 inhabitants, 125 communes over an area of 879 km2. - The Lille urban area, which extends beyond the border into Belgium, forms a Euro-City of 1,8 million inhabitants. - 100 million Europeans (Germans, Belgians, British, French, Luxemburgish and Dutch) live less than 300 km from Lille. - Capital of the North-Pas-de-Calais, the second most densely populated region in France INDUSTRY - Largest textile trading centre in France, - 2nd largest printing/publishing centre, - 3rd largest industrial, mechanical and electrical zone, - 3rd largest chemistry, pharmaceutical and health research centre,   - 4th largest food industry. TRADING CENTRE - N°1 in Europe for mail order selling, - Birthplace of a large number of supermarkets. TERTIARY SECTOR - 3rd largest financial centre in France - 60 banks (including 12 with foreign owned banks), 80 credit companies, energetic stockbroking activity. - 2nd largest insurance centre in France, with the corporate seats of 6 insurance companies employ 1,900 people and the industry as a whole employs 5,700. - Lively legal centre : largest faculty of Law in France in terms of the number of students (12,300) - 600 lawyers, 107 notaries, 44 bailiffs of the court - 4 out of 6 major international law firms - Consulting firms - 2,560 consulting firms, offering advice and assistance. UNIVERSITY SECTOR - 100 000 students attend - 3 public universities, the Catholic Faculties, - 13 engineering schools, - 5 Business schools, - the School of Journalism, etc... EUROPEAN CULTURAL CAPITAL Lille has been selected as "European Culture Capital" for 2004 : Acknoledgement of the Region's determination to show off the wealth of its heritage and its creative potential. At a cross-road, looking outwards, with an ancient tradition in trade, Lille had many influences. Since the reign of Louis XIV, it has been Flemish, Burgundian, Spanish and French. This varied past can be seen in th rich architecture of the city, heritage of which the old Stock Exchange and the Rihour Place are perhaps the finest jewels. Lille boasts of a long tradition in music, ballet, opera, art and drama. High points include the Lille Opera, Orchestre National de Lille, Sebastopol Theatre, the Zenith Arena, the Hospice Comtesse Museum, Maison du Général De Gaulle, 11 theatres. The Fine Art Museum, the second largest museum after the Louvre has been totally renovated. The historical city center with its ancient Flemish town houses and cobbled streets is a hive of activity both day and night, with numerous boutiques, antiques dealers, bistros cafés and markets. Lille is a shopping haven and possesses over 1000 restaurants. LILLE GRAND PALAIS The venue incorporates a conference centre with 3 Auditoriums (1500, 500 and 300 places) and 16 Comitee rooms, an Exhibition area with over 20 000 m² of space, a banqueting hall (1500 places) and a Zenith-Arena with a maximum capacity of 7000.