UEFA Euro 2016 host city: Lens. [Photo/IC]

Region: Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Population: 34,190

Located 28 km away from Lille in northern France, the former coal mining stronghold of Lens is, not for the first time in its history, striving to adapt to change. Part of the Spanish Netherlands between 1526 and 1659, and heavily affected by the last century's world wars, the town has been anxious to forge a new identity since the closure of the last colliery in 1990.