LONGWY

town, Meurthe-et-Moselle dpartement, Lorraine rgion, northeastern France, on the Chiers River, near the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg. A part of the former Duchy of Bar, Longwy was annexed by France in 1678. Its 17th-century fortifications in the old quarter (Longwy-Haut) were designed by the military engineer Sbastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The town was successfully assaulted by the Prussians in 1792 and 1815 and by the Germans in 1870 and 1914. Longwy is a centre of heavy industry in an iron-mining area. The uncertain future of the iron industry has necessitated an effort to replace it with other industry. Pop. (1982) 17,317.