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Nord Pas de Calais

Nord Pas de Calais




CapitalLille

Nord Pas de Calais is one of the 26 regions of France. The name 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 northern part of the region was historically a part of Flanders, with Douai as its capital. The minority who wish to reunite this region with Belgium and/or the Netherlands prefer to call this region the French Netherlands or Pays Bas français in French. Various petitions, which have no impact on the population, are currently taking place in favour of renaming and making Douai the capital once more. Other alternative names are Hauts de l'Artois ('Upper Artois') and Picardie du Nord ('Northern Picardy').

It consists of the departments of Nord and Pas de Calais, in the north and has a border with Belgium. Until the end of the 20th century both the region and the department were called Nord. Most of the region was once part of the Southern Netherlands, within the Low Countries, and gradually became part of France between 1477 and 1678. The historical provinces now included in Nord Pas de Calais are Artois, Boulonnais, Cambraisis, Flanders, and Hainaut, and portions of northern Picardy. These provincial designations are still frequently used by the inhabitants, which offers a sense of civic pride.

It is an extremely densely populated region with some four million inhabitants - seven percent 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. The second largest city is Calais, which serves as a major continental economic hub with Dover, England of Great Britain 26 miles away; the white cliffs of Dover are visible from Calais on a clear day. Other major towns include Valenciennes, Lens, Douai, Béthune, Dunkirk, Maubeuge, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Arras, Cambrai and Saint-Omer.

Nord Pas de Calais.JPG
Nord Pas de Calais.JPG