Région Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Region flag	Region logo
Location
Administration
Capital	Lille
Regional President	Daniel Percheron (PS) (since 2001)
Departments	Nord Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissements	13
Cantons	156
Communes	1,546
Statistics
Land area1	12,414 km²
Population	(Ranked 4th)
- January 1, 2007 est. Lille (lil Rijsel is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest Metropolitan area in the country In France, the president of the regional council (French Président du conseil régional) is the elected official who heads the Conseil régional The Socialist Party ( Parti Socialiste, PS is the largest left-wing political party in France. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Nord (North is a department in the far north of France. It is the country's most populated department Pas-de-Calais is a department in northern France. Its name is the French language equivalent of the Strait of Dover, which it borders The 100 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 341 arrondissements and 100 departments. The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The following are ranked lists of French regions. Population figures are from the 1999 census To help compare Orders of magnitude of different geographical regions  Areas between 10000 km² and 100000 km² are listed here The following are ranked lists of French regions. Population figures are from the 1999 census New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.	4,048,000
- March 8, 1999 census	3,996,588
- Density (2007)	326/km²
1 French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0. Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) The following are ranked lists of French regions. Population figures are from the 1999 census 386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers

Nord-Pas de Calais (French: Nord-Pas-de-Calais; Dutch: Noord-Nauw van Kales) is one of the 26 regions of France. An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. It consists of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, in the north and has a border with Belgium. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Nord (North is a department in the far north of France. It is the country's most populated department Pas-de-Calais is a department in northern France. Its name is the French language equivalent of the Strait of Dover, which it borders The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Until the end of the 20th century both the region and the department were called Nord. The region was once part of the Southern Netherlands, within the Low Countries, and permanently became a part of France in 1713. The Southern Netherlands (Zuidelijke Nederlanden Países Bajos del Sur Pays-Bas du sud were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain ( Spanish The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt The historical provinces now included in Nord-Pas de Calais are Artois and Flanders, designations which are still frequently used by the inhabitants. The Kingdom of France was organised into Provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département Artois (Artesië (adjective Artesian) is a former province of northern France. The County of Flanders was a historical region in the Low Countries.

It is an extremely densely populated region with some 4 million inhabitants - 7% of France's total population, making it the fourth most populous region in the country - 83% of whom live in urban communities. Its administrative centre is the city of Lille. Lille (lil Rijsel is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest Metropolitan area in the country Other major towns include Valenciennes, Lens, Douai, Béthune, Dunkerque, Maubeuge, Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Arras and Cambrai. Valenciennes (Old Dutch: Valencijn, Latin: Valentianae) is a Town and commune in northern France in the Lens is a commune in northern France, in the Pas-de-Calais département. Douai ( Dutch: Dowaai) is a town and commune in the north of France in the département of Nord Béthune (Betun is a city and commune of northern France, sous-préfecture of the Pas-de-Calais département Dunkirk ( French: Dunkerque, dœ̃kɛʀk or; Dutch:; is a harbour city and a commune in the northernmost part of France, in the Maubeuge is a town and commune of northern France, in the département of Nord, situated on both banks of the Sambre Calais (kaˈlɛ in English often kæˈleɪ traditional English pronunciation /ˈkælɨs/ Kales is a town in northern France. Boulogne-sur-Mer ( Bonen in Dutch is a City in Northern France. Arras (Atrecht is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Cambrai (Dutch Kamerijk; old spelling Cambray) is a French town and commune, in the Nord département,

Contents 1 Name 2 History 3 Demographics 4 Economy 5 Major communities 6 Notes and references 7 External links

Name

"Nord-Pas de Calais" (French lit., combining "North" and "Strait of Calais", aka "Strait of Dover") is a name formed by combining the names of the constituent departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The region was historically a part of the Flanders, with Douai (Dutch: Dowaai) as its capital. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname The name French Netherlands (French: Pays-Bas français; Dutch: Franse Nederlanden) is used by some as a replacement for "Nord-Pas de Calais" which is unpopular among some residents. ^[1] Various petitions are currently taking place in favour of renaming and making Douai the capital once more. ^[2] Another alternative name is "Hauts-de-l'Artois".

History

Inhabited since prehistoric times, the Nord-Pas de Calais region has always been a strategic (and hence one of the most fought-over) region in Europe. French President Charles de Gaulle, who was born in Lille, called the region a "fatal avenue" through which invading armies repeatedly passed. Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle ( ( 22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French General and statesman who led the Free French Over the centuries, it was conquered in turn by the Celtic Belgae, the Romans, the Germanic Franks, England and Great Britain, the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands, and the United Provinces of Holland, until the final French annexation in the late 17th century. The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul in the 1st century BC and later also attested in Britain. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Southern Netherlands (Zuidelijke Nederlanden Países Bajos del Sur Pays-Bas du sud were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain ( Spanish

During the 4th and 5th centuries, the Roman practice of coopting Germanic tribes to provide military and defense services along the route from Boulogne to Cologne created a Germanic-Romance linguistic border in the region that persisted until the 8th century. By the 9th century most inhabitants north of Lille spoke a dialect of Middle Dutch, while the inhabitants to the south spoke a variety of Romance dialects. This linguistic border is still evident today in the place names of the region. Beginning in the 9th century, the linguistic border began a steady move to north and the east. By the end of the 13th century the linguistic border had shifted to the river Lys in the south and Cap-Griz-Nez in the west. ^[3]

During the Middle Ages, the Pas-de-Calais department comprised County of Boulogne and the County of Artois, while Nord department is mostly made up of the southern portions of the County of Flanders and the County of Hainaut. The county of Boulogne (Dutch Bonen) was a historical region in the Low Countries. Artois (Artesië (adjective Artesian) is a former province of northern France. The County of Flanders was a historical region in the Low Countries. This article deals with the historical county of Hainaut for other meanings see Hainaut. Boulogne, Artois, and Flanders were fiefs of the French crown, while Hainaut was within the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in Calais, from 1347 to 1558, when it was recovered by the French throne, was an English possession. Calais (kaˈlɛ in English often kæˈleɪ traditional English pronunciation /ˈkælɨs/ Kales is a town in northern France. In the 15th century all of the territories, except Calais, were united under the rule of the Dukes of Burgundy, along with other territories in northern France and areas in what is now Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Luxembourg (Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small Landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands With the death of the Burgundian duke Charles the Bold in 1477, the Boulonnais and Artois were seized by the French crown, while Flanders and Hainaut were inherited by Charles's daughter Marie. Charles the Bold or Charles the Rash (Charles le Téméraire ( 21 November 1433 &ndash 5 January 1477) baptised Charles Martin Shortly thereafter, in 1492, Artois was ceded back to Marie's son Philip the Handsome, as part of an attempt to keep Philip's father, Emperor Maximilian I, neutral in French King Charles VIII's prospective invasion of Italy. Charles VIII, called the Affable (l'Affable 30 June 1470 &ndash 7 April 1498 was King of France from 1483 to his death

Thus, most of the territories of what is now Nord-Pas de Calais were reunited to the Burgundian inheritance, which had passed through Marie's marriage to the House of Habsburg. These territories formed an integral part of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands as they were defined during the reign of Philip's son, Emperor Charles V, and passed to Charles's son, Philip II of Spain. The Seventeen Provinces were a Personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century roughly covering the current Netherlands Charles V (24 February 1500 &ndash 21 September 1558 was Philip II (Felipe II de España Filipe I ( May 21, 1527 &ndash September 13 1598) was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598 When the Netherlands revolted against Spanish rule, beginning in 1566, the territories in what is now Nord-Pas de Calais were those most loyal to the throne, and proved the base from which the Duke of Parma was able to bring the whole southern part of the Netherlands back under Spanish control. The Dutch Revolt, Eighty Years' War or the Revolt of the Netherlands (1568—1648 was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Low Countries Alexander Farnese ( Italian: Alessandro Farnese, Spanish: Alejandro Farnesio, ( August 27 1545 &ndash

During the wars between France and Spain in the 17th century (1635-1659, 1667-1668, 1672-1678, 1688-1697), these territories became the principal seat of conflict between the two states. For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. The Franco-Spanish War was a military conflict between France and Spain. The War of Devolution ( 1667 &ndash 1668) saw Louis XIV 's French armies overrun the Hapsburg controlled Spanish Netherlands and The Franco-Dutch War (1672&ndash1678 was a War fought between the Kingdom of France, Münster-->, Cologne--> and Kingdom of England The Nine Years' War (1688–97 – often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th French control over the area was gradually established - Artois was annexed in 1659, and most of the current Nord department had been acquired by the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678. The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen ( Négotiations de Nimegue or Négotiations de la Paix de Nimègue) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city The current borders were mostly established by the time of the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697. The Treaty of Ryswick was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick (now known as Rijswijk) in the Dutch Republic.

The area, previously divided among the French provinces of Flanders, Artois, and Picardy, was divided into its present two departments following the French Revolution of 1789. French Flanders (La Flandre française Frans-Vlaanderen is a part of the historical originally Dutch-speaking region Flanders in present-day France. Artois (Artesië (adjective Artesian) is a former province of northern France. Picardy (Picardie is an historical Province of France, in the north of France. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an

During the 19th century, the region underwent major industrialisation and became one of the leading industrial regions of France, second only to Alsace-Lorraine. Alsace-Lorraine (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen generally Elsass - Lothringen) was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 Nord-Pas de Calais was barely touched by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870; indeed, the war actually helped it to cement its leading role in French industry due to the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. However, it suffered catastrophic damage in the two World Wars of the 20th century. In the First World War, much of the region was occupied by Germany. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Many of its towns and hundreds of square miles of land were wrecked in four years of trench warfare, with the region suffering more damage than any other part of France. Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static Germany occupied it again in the Second World War and used the region as a launching base for attacks on England by the Luftwaffe and the V-1 and V-2 missile systems. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. The Fieseler Fi 103, better known as V-1 (German Vergeltungswaffe 1 was an early Cruise missile used during World War Two See also Vergeltungswaffe The V-2 rocket ( Vergeltungswaffe 2 was the first Ballistic missile and first man-made object to achieve Heavy Allied bombing and fighting on the ground again devastated many of the region's towns. Although most of the region was liberated in September 1944, Dunkirk was not liberated until 9 May 1945, making it the last French town to be freed from German occupation. Events 1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The region's conflicted history is memorialised in numerous war cemeteries and memorials, such as the Vimy Memorial at Vimy Ridge, which is Canada's most important memorial to its fallen soldiers. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a Canadian National Historic Site and one of Canada 's most important overseas war memorials. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military offensive by the Canadian Corps against elements of the German Sixth Army in World War I. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page

Since the war, the region has suffered from severe economic difficulties (see Economy below) but has benefitted from the opening of the Channel Tunnel and the growth in cross-Channel traffic in general. The Channel Tunnel (Le tunnel sous la Manche also known as the Chunnel, is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in England with

Demographics

While the region is predominantly French-speaking, it also has two significant minority language communities: the western Flemings, whose presence is evident in the many Dutch placenames in the area and who speak French Flemish, a variety of the West Flemish dialect of Dutch, and the Picards, who speak the Picard language or ch'ti and chitimi are working to revive the nearly-extinct regional speech since the 1980s. A minority language is a Language spoken by a Minority of the Population of a country The terms Fleming and Flemings ( Vlaming and Vlamingen in Dutch) denote respectively a person and people and the Flemings or French Flemish ( Dutch: Frans-Vlaams, occasionally used in English is spoken in the north of contemporary France and is considered part of the West Flemish West Flemish (West Flemish Vlaemsch/Vlaams, Dutch: West-Vlaams, French: Flamand occidental) is a group of Dutch dialects spoken in Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Picard is a Language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. While the neighbouring country Belgium currently recognizes and fosters both Picard and Dutch and a few city level governments within the Nord-Pas de Calais have introduced initiatives to encourage both languages, the national French government maintains a policy of linguistic unity and generally ignores both groups. There are an estimated 20,000 daily and 40,000 occasional users of Flemish in Nord-Pas de Calais, primarily around the arrondissement of Dunkirk. ^[4]

In addition, the region's ethnic diversity has been affected by repeated waves of immigrant workers from abroad - Belgians and Welsh from Britain before 1910; Poles, Czechs and Italians in the 1920s and 1930s; North Africans since 1945; some thousand descendants of Chinese ditch diggers and railroad crews hired by French government contractors in World War I; and a small population of Turks since the 1960s settled in the region. Belgium has a population of about 10666866 citizens as of January 2008 The Welsh people ( Welsh: Cymro ("Welshman" Cymraes ("Welsh woman" Cymry ("Welshmen/women" Cymry The Polish people, or Poles, (Polacy) are a Western Slavic Ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Czechs (Češi ˈt͡ʃɛʃɪ archaic Čechové) are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic The' Italian people' are a Southern European Ethnic group located primarily in Italy, Switzerland, France and by virtue of a wide-ranging The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following A person who resides in and holds citizenship of the People's Republic of China (including Hong World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Turkish people (Türk Halkı also known as " Turks " ( Türkler) are defined mainly as being speakers of Turkish as a First language

The French state has also sought to boost the region's relatively neglected culture; in 2004, it was announced that a branch of the Louvre would be opened in the city of Lens. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France For decades, the Nord/Pas-de-Calais was thought of as culturally conservative, but the region currently has liberal tendencies. Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined In the early 2000s, the leftist French Green Party won the largest number of votes to nearly carry a majority in regional and local representation. Les Verts (or The Greens are an Ecologist Political party to the Centre-left of the Political spectrum in France.

The region's religious profile is representative of France with the majority (85%) being Roman Catholic, but not every member regularly attends church or practices every element of Catholicism. Other Christian groups are found in the region: Protestants, Eastern Orthodox and Mormons have a few churches. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world TalkMormon#Latter Day Saint vs Latter-day Saint --> Mormon North Africans have introduced Islam to the region, and there are also small but growing communities of Buddhists and Hindus in recent years. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. In World War II, 18,000 of the region's French Jews were victims of the Nazi occupation, but the small Jewish community remains active as it has for thousands of years. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German The Jewish community in France presently numbers around 600000 according to the World Jewish Congress and 500000 according to the Appel Unifié Juif de France and is

Economy

Nord-Pas de Calais became a major centre of heavy industry in the 19th century with coal mines, steel mills and traditional textile manufacture. Coal mining is the extraction or removal of Coal from the Earth by Mining. Steel Mill was one of Bruce Springsteen 's early bands and performed regularly on the Jersey Shore, in Virginia, and also in California from 1969 A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. It suffered badly in both World Wars and recovered less quickly than did other parts of France. In recent years, it has experienced economic slumps as the mines closed, the steel industry declined and the textile industry ran into problems. Between 1975-1984, the region lost over 130,000 jobs and unemployment rose to 14% of the working population, well above the national average. The region has, however, benefited from major government and European Union investment over the past 20 years. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 was welcomed in the region as a means of boosting its prosperity. The Channel Tunnel (Le tunnel sous la Manche also known as the Chunnel, is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in England with Tourism, particularly in Lille at the apex of the London-Brussels-Paris railway lines, has grown considerably, to the extent that in 2004, 7 million passengers used the Eurostar, as well as 2 million vehicles on the Eurotunnel (formerly Le Shuttle)^[5]. Lille (lil Rijsel is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest Metropolitan area in the country Eurostar is a High-speed train service in Western Europe connecting London and Kent in the United Kingdom, with Paris This article is about the Eurotunnel company Not to be confused with the Channel Tunnel describing the underground infrastructures Eurotunnel Shuttle (previously known as Le Shuttle) is a shuttle service between Calais / Coquelles in France and Folkestone in In addition to the trains, in 2002, there were about 15 million passengers from the three major ferry ports of the region (Calais, Dunkerque and Boulogne-sur-Mer). Calais (kaˈlɛ in English often kæˈleɪ traditional English pronunciation /ˈkælɨs/ Kales is a town in northern France. Dunkirk ( French: Dunkerque, dœ̃kɛʀk or; Dutch:; is a harbour city and a commune in the northernmost part of France, in the Boulogne-sur-Mer ( Bonen in Dutch is a City in Northern France. ^[6]

Major communities

Notes and references

External links

• (French) Regional Council of Nord-Pas de Calais

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