Nord-Pas-de-Calais

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Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Region of France
Nord-Pas-de-Calais in France.svg
Country France
Prefecture Lille
Departments
2[hide]
Nord
Pas-de-Calais
Government
President Daniel Percheron (PS)
Area
Total 12,414 km2 (4,793 sq mi)
Population (2012-01-01)
Total 4,050,706
Density 330km2 (850sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code FR-O
GDP (2012)[1] Ranked 4th
Total 103.2 billion (US$132.8 bn)
Per capita 25,487 (US$32,781)
NUTS Region FR3
Website nordpasdecalais.fr
Nord-Pas-de-Calais (French pronunciation [n?? p? d(?) kal?] (About this sound
listen), is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is
part of the new region Hauts-de-France.[2] It consisted of the departments of Nord
and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais borders the English Channel (west), the North
Sea (northwest), Belgium (north and east) and Picardy (south). The majority of the
region was once part of the historical (Southern) Netherlands, but gradually became
part of France between 1477 and 1678, particularly during the reign of king Louis
XIV. The historical French provinces that preceded Nord-Pas-de-Calais are Artois,
French Flanders, French Hainaut and (partially) Picardy. These provincial
designations are still frequently used by the inhabitants.

With its 330.8 people per km2 on just over 12,414 km2, it is a densely populated
region, having some 4.1 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 and largest city is Lille. The second
largest city is Calais, which serves as a major continental economictransportation
hub with Dover of Great Britain 42 kilometres (26 mi) away; this makes Nord-Pas-de-
Calais the closest continental European connection to the Great Britain. Other
major towns include Valenciennes, Lens, Douai, Bthune, Dunkirk, Maubeuge,
Boulogne, Arras, Cambrai and Saint-Omer. Numerous films, like Bienvenue chez les
chtis.

Contents [hide]
1 Name
2 History
2.1 World War I
2.2 World War II
2.3 Postwar period
3 Demographics
4 Economy
4.1 General data
4.2 Agriculture and fishing
4.3 Industry
4.3.1 Automobile industry
4.3.2 Food industry
4.4 Services
4.4.1 Mulliez Family
5 Transport Infrastructures
5.1 Highways
5.2 Railways
5.2.1 Eurotunnel
5.2.2 TER-Nord
5.3 Air transportation
5.4 Inland and International freight transport
5.4.1 Dunkirk harbour
5.4.2 Canal Seine-Nord
6 Sports and culture
6.1 Training base for the Olympics
6.2 Sports in Nord-Pas de Calais
7 Major communities
8 Education
9 See also
10 Notes and references
11 External links
Name[edit]
Nord-Pas-de-Calais combines the names of the constituent departments of Nord
(literally 'North', the northernmost department of France) and Pas-de-Calais
('Strait of Calais', the French name of the Strait of Dover). The regional council,
however, spells the name Nord-Pas de Calais.[3]

The northern part of the region was historically a part of the County of Flanders,
with Douai as its capital. Those[4] who wish to evidence the historical links the
region has with Belgium and the Netherlands prefer to call this region the French
Low Countries, which also means French Netherlands in French (French Pays-Bas
franais; Dutch Franse Nederlanden or Franse Lage Landen). Other alternative names
are Rgion Flandre(s)-Artois, Hauts-de-France, ('Upper France') and Picardie-du-
Nord ('Northern Picardy').

History[edit]
See also History of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (fr)

Liane in Pas-de-Calais
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. Over the centuries, it was
conquered in turn by the Celtic Belgae, the Romans, the Germanic Franks, England,
the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands, and the Dutch Republic. After the final
French annexation in the early 18th century, much of the region was again occupied
by Germany during the First and Second World Wars.

During the 4th and 5th centuries, the Roman practice of co-opting Germanic tribes
to provide military and defense services along the route from Boulogne to Cologne
created a GermanicRomance 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.[5]

Winter at Cap Blanc Nez

During the Middle Ages, the Pas-de-Calais department comprised County of Boulogne
and the County of Artois, while the Nord department was mostly made up of the
southern portions of the County of Flanders and the County of Hainaut. Boulogne,
Artois, and Flanders were fiefs of the French crown, while Hainaut and after 1493
Flanders were within the Holy Roman Empire. Calais was an English possession from
1347 to 1558, when it was recovered by the French throne. 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. 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.
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.

Douai
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. During the Italian Wars
much of the conflict between France and Spain occurred in the region. 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. It was also a base for Spanish support of
French Catholics in the French Wars of Religion.

Bog of Vred, natural reserve

During the wars between France and Spain in the 17th century (16351659, 166768,
167278, 168897), these territories became the principal seat of conflict between
the two states and French control over the area was gradually established.
Beginning with the annexation of Artois in 1659, most of the current Nord
department territory had been acquired by the time of the Treaty of Nijmegen in
1678. The current borders were mostly established by the time of the Treaty of
Ryswick in 1697.

The area, previously divided among the French provinces of Flanders, Artois, and
Picardy, was divided into its two present departments following the French
Revolution of 1789. Under Napoleon, the French boundary was extended to include all
of Flanders and present-day Belgium until the Congress of Vienna in 1815 restored
the original French boundary.

During the 19th century, the region underwent major industrialisation and became
one of the leading industrial regions of France, second only to Alsace-Lorraine.
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. However, it suffered catastrophic damage in the
two World Wars of the 20th century.
Lens
World War I[edit]
When the First World War started, the region became a strategic target for the
Allies and the Central Powers, mostly because of the coal and mining resources.
When the German troops launched their attack from Belgium, the region was one of
the first to fall under German occupation. Nevertheless, when the Allies stopped
Germany at the Battle of Marne, the front moved back to the area and stabilized
near Arras. During the next four years, the region was split in two the German
holding the French Flanders and Cambrai area, the Allied controlling Arras and the
Area of Lens. Nevertheless, the combat did not stop, each side wanting the total
control of the area.

Canadian National Vimy Memorial near Arras

The Nord pas de Calais was one of the main theaters of the conflict, with many
battles occurring between 1914 and 1918, including the Battle of Vimy Ridge assault
during the Battle of Arras (1917), the Battle of Artois, Battle of Loos and the
Battle of Cambrai. By the time the region was finally liberated by the Canadian
Expeditionary Forces, the entire country was devastated and Arras had been 90%
destroyed. Currently, there are 650 military cemeteries throughout the Nord-Pas-de
Calais, mostly British and Canadian, as well as large memorials such as the
Canadian National Vimy Memorial and Notre Dame de Lorette, the world's largest
French military cemetery.[6]

World War II[edit]

During the occupation of France, it was attached to the Military Administration in
Belgium and Northern France, ruled from the Wehrmacht kommandantur in Brussels. The
Nord-Pas-de-Calais