Nord-Pas-de-Calais
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Nord-Pas-de-Calais | ||
---|---|---|
Coordinates: 50°28′N 2°43′E / 50.467°N 2.717°E | ||
Country | France | |
Dissolved | 1 January 2016 | |
Prefecture | Lille | |
Departments | 2
| |
Government | ||
• Body | NUTS Region FR3 | |
Website | www.nordpasdecalais.fr |
Nord-Pas-de-Calais (French pronunciation: [nɔʁ pɑ d(ə) kalɛ] ⓘ); Picard: Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been 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). Until the 17th century, the history of the North was largely in common with the history of Belgium (the Celtics Belgians during Antiquity were a multitude of Celtic peoples from the north of Gaul), that of a land that “for almost a thousand years served as a battlefield for all of Europe.” 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 (part of Hainaut and Flanders is in the Kingdom of Belgium). These provincial designations are still frequently used by the inhabitants. The former administrative region was created in 1956 under the name "Nord" and maintained that name until 1972 when "Pas-de-Calais" was added. This remained unchanged until its dissolution in 2016.
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
Name
Nord-Pas-de-Calais combines the names of the constituent departments of
The northern part of the region was historically a part of the County of Flanders, with Lille 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 français; Dutch: Franse Nederlanden or Franse Lage Landen). Other alternative names are Région Flandre(s)-Artois, Hauts-de-France, ('Upper France') and Picardie-du-Nord ('Northern Picardy').
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. 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 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.[5]
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.
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.
During the wars between France and Spain in the 17th century (
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
World War I
When the
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
During the
Postwar period
Presidents of Nord-Pas-de-Calais | |||
---|---|---|---|
President | Party | Term | |
Pierre Mauroy | PS | 1974-1981 | |
Noël Josèphe | PS | 1981-1992 | |
Marie-Christine Blandin | Green | 1992-1998 | |
Michel Delebarre | PS | 1998-2001 | |
Daniel Percheron | PS | 2001- |
Since the war, the region has suffered from severe economic difficulties (see Economy below) but has benefited from the opening of the Channel Tunnel and the growth in cross-Channel traffic in general.
Demographics
While the region is predominantly French-speaking, it also has two significant
The region's ethnic diversity has been affected by repeated waves of immigrant workers from abroad: Belgians and Welsh before 1910; Poles and Italians in the 1920s and 1930s; Eastern European groups and Germans since 1945; and North Africans and Portuguese since 1960;[9] and large cities like Lille, Calais, and Boulogne-sur-Mer are home to sizable communities of British, Dutch, Scandinavian, Greek and Balkans, Sub-Saharan African, and Latin American immigrants and their descendants.[citation needed]
The French state has sought to boost the region's relatively neglected culture. In 2004, it was announced that a branch of the
The region's religious profile is representative of France as a whole, with the majority being
Economy
General data
In 2014, the Nord-Pas de Calais
The unemployment rate is higher than the national average. About 11% of the population was unemployed in 2014, particularly people aged between 18 and 25.
The economy is essentially led by the service sector, which employs 75% of the working population, followed by manufacturing (23%) and agriculture (2%).
Agriculture and fishing
Due to its location close to the North Sea, the Nord-Pas de Calais region has a strong fishing industry.
The Boulogne-sur-Mer harbor is the biggest French port in terms of capacity with more than 150 boats. 45,000 tons of fish were traded there in 2012. The harbor is also a leading European seafood processing center with 380,000 tons of shellfish, fish and seaweed traded every year.[11] Some 140 companies are present in the port.
The agricultural sector comprises 13,800 farm businesses using 820,000 hectares (2,000,000 acres) of farmland. The temperate climate as well as great fertility makes the region a leading production center.[12] The Nord-Pas de Calais region supplied 26.1 million tons of wheat (approximately 7% of the national production) and a third of the French potato production.
Industry
The region's industry was originally focused on coal and textile production, and was one of the cradles of the
The
Automobile industry
In the 1970s, the sector represented a small part of the working population. Some 40 years later, it is the main industry in the region, employing 55,000 people. In terms of productivity, the Nord-Pas de Calais region is ranked second nationwide and is one of the main export areas.
Three main worldwide car manufacturers operate plants in the region:
Nord-Pas de Calais is the second main region for the automotive industry in France after Île de France (Paris region). The sector trade fair, the Forum on European Automotive Industry in Lille Region (FEAL),[17] takes place biennially to showcase the industry of the region and its importance for France and Europe.
Food industry
The food industry in Nord-Pas de Calais draws on the agricultural sector of the region. By income, this is the most important industry of the region due to strong exports (€3.2bn in 2006). More than 27,000 employees were employed in the sector in 2007. Many global corporations such as
Services
Mulliez Family
The services sector of the Nord-Pas de Calais region is dominated by the multi-billionaire
Transport Infrastructures
As most of its population is urbanized, the region has a dense and complex transport system of
Highways
Nine highways are passing through the region; most of them are free:
- A2 towards Brussels
- A16 Between Dunkirk and Paris
- A21 between Bouvignies and Pecquencourt
- A22 between Lille and Ghent
- A23 between Lesquin and Valenciennes
- A25 between Dunkirk and Lille
- A26 between Calais and Troyes
- A27 between Lille and Tournai
Railways
Eurotunnel
Since 1994, the Nord-Pas de Calais region is linked to the United Kingdom by the Eurotunnel. The structure comprises three tunnels (one single-track railway tunnel each way and a service road tunnel for maintenance and emergency use) and has the longest undersea tunnel section of the world (38 kilometres (24 mi)).
TER-Nord
The
Air transportation
The main airport of Nord-Pas de Calais is
Inland and International freight transport
Dunkirk harbour
Dunkirk Harbour is one of the biggest seaports of France. It is the third-largest port nationally in terms of total volume but first in fruit and copper imports. A terminal able to handle LNG carriers is built by TotalEnergies.[21]
Canal Seine-Nord
The Canal Seine-Nord is a future high-capacity canal between the Seine and Arleux in order to connect the former to the other northern canals in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. It is due to open in 2016. The project has attracted controversy mostly because of its huge cost (€4.6bn).[22]
Sports and culture
Training base for the Olympics
Before
Sports in Nord-Pas de Calais
Major communities
- Lille and surrounding area is home to over 1.5 million inhabitants.
- Arras
- Boulogne
- Calais
- Cambrai
- Douai
- Dunkirk
- Lens
- Liévin
- Marcq-en-Barœul
- Maubeuge
- Roubaix
- Saint-Omer
- Tourcoing
- Valenciennes
- Villeneuve d'Ascq
- Wattrelos
Education
The regional education system of the Académie de Lille includes one million pupils and students. Higher education and research are supported within the Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) Lille Nord de France - (University of Lille).
An invitation to tender for a school construction and maintenance contract let by the region and the Département du Nord in 1998 included provision for employment generation to be included as an evaluation criterion for the award of the contract. The European Court of Justice held that the award criterion was illegal, but also ruled that where a contracting authority had to assess two or more economically equivalent bids, they could adopt employment opportunities as an "accessory criterion" as long as the use of this criterion was not discriminatory.[23]
See also
- List of châteaux in Nord-Pas-de-Calais
- Cuisine and specialties of Nord-Pas-de-Calais
- Culture of Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Notes and references
- ^ "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat". Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ Loi n° 2015-29 du 16 janvier 2015 relative à la délimitation des régions, aux élections régionales et départementales et modifiant le calendrier électoral (in French)
- ^ Région Nord-Pas de Calais: Qu'est ce que la Région? Archived 5 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 4 January 2011
- ^ "Et si on se décidait enfin à changer le nom de la région ?" [What if we finally decided to change the name of the region?]. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- S2CID 144987612.
- ^ "Canadian National Vimy Memorial, France". The Great War UK. The Great War UK. 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "The Euromosaic study: Flemish in France". European Commission. 2006. Archived from the original on 19 September 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
- ^ Article 2 of the Constitution of France states that "French is the language of the Republic"; see the article on French linguistic policy for more information.
- INSEE
- ^ "Nord Pas de Calais camps trail". National Anglo-Jewish Heritage Trail. 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ "Port du peche". Port de Boulogne-sur-Mer. Archived from the original on 20 December 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ "Insee - Régions". Insee.fr. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Nord-Pas-de-Calais". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ "Toyota : Usine Toyota Valenciennes, Fabrication Yaris". Toyota-valenciennes.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Le groupe automobile Renault". Renault.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Les véhicules du site". Sevelnord.psa.fr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Autoforumlille". Autoforumlille. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
- ^ "Insee - Régions". Insee.fr. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "The Channel Tunnel infrastructure". Eurotunnelgroup.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Eurotunnel celebrates 300 million passengers | News". Breaking Travel News. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "TERMINAL MÉTHANIER : DÉMARRAGE DES TRAVAUX PRÉPARATOIRES - Actualité du port de Dunkerque". Dunkerque-port.fr. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "France 3 Picardie - Actualités" (in French). Picardie.france3.fr. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ InfoCuria, C-225/98 - Commission v France, Judgment of the Court of 26 September 2000, accessed 13 June 2022
External links
- Nord-Pas-de-Calais : between yesterday's resistance and today's hospitality- Official French website (in English)
- Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (in French)
- Official website: Tourism in Nord-Pas-deCalais