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is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded. The population of the commune of Valenciennes is 41,000, and that of the metropolitan area is 400,000.
The German army occupied the town in 1914, and it was only retaken after bitter fighting in 1918, by British and Canadian troops
The town's first antenna was set up in Lille in 1964, then the Centre universitaire was set up in 1970, becoming independent in 1979 as the University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrésis.
In 2005, a local resident, Isabelle Dinoire became the first person to have a partial face transplant.
Valenciennes 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 15 July 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 2003. International conferences are held in Lille.
Valenciennes was again almost completely destroyed during World War II, and has since been rebuilt in concrete.
A few surviving monuments are:
The façade of the city offices, which managed to survive the bombardments of the war.
Notre-Dame du Saint-Cordon, to which there is an annual pilgrimage.
La Maison Espagnole, the remains of the Spanish occupation, which ended in 1678.
The Dodenne Tower, the remaining part of the mediaeval fortifications after Charles V ordered them reduced.
The "Beffroi", a large, pin-like monument 45 metres (148 ft) in height, was built in 2007, on the site of the former belfry, destroyed in 1843.
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