Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Nord-Pas-de-Calais (sometimes also Nord-Pas de Calais) used to be an administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Hauts-de-France. Its prefecture was Lille. In 2012, four million people lived there (365,000 in the urban area of Lille). The two departments in the region were Nord and Pas-de-Calais. The local economy was based on carbon, steel and textiles. The secondary sector (industry) employed 33.8% (of an 28.9% national average). Unemployment was at 12.9 per cent (9.8% national average). Structural investment in the TGV and the Channel Tunnel has shown some improvement though. The tourism industry does well thanks to the border with Belgium and closeness to England. Other websites Media related to Nord-Pas-de-Calais at Wikimedia Commons