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THE Lorraine province in northern France, bordering on Germany, had one of the largest iron ore deposits in Europe and became the major iron producing region in France which, in the 19 century, made the country the third largest iron ore producer in the world.
This was one of the reasons that made the district a disputed area between Germany and France for centuries. The Lorraine iron ore fields, stretched for about 110km in a band about 20km wide, running from Nancy northward to the major iron and steel districts around Longwy, Thionville, and Metz. Indeed, still today, Metz houses the major research centre for the now, ArcelorMittal, steel company, the largest producer of steel in the world. Today, the low iron content of the ore (30-45% Fe) compared with the rich ores of Brazil and Australia, mean they are no longer worked, the last mines closing in the 1990s.
Nancy was the ancient capital of Lorraine (Lothringen in German) which was part of Lotharingia, the central portion of the Empire which Charlemagne gave to his son Lothair I and was named after him. It is located 250km east of Paris, not far from the German border and is a university city of about 400 000 people with a large university and Polytechnic Institute.
Parts of Lorraine became a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1670 it was occupied by France but in 1697 it was recovered by the Austrian Duke Leopold (1679-1729). The Lorraine region changed hands many times between France and...