Nord (French department)

**Nord** is a department in the north of France, in the Hauts-de-France region. Its name is because the department is in the north of France. Its prefecture is Lille.

## History

Nord is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Douai as is capital.

It was divided in eight districts: Avesnes, Bergues, Cambrai, Douai, Hazebrouck, Lille, Le Quesnoy and Valenciennes.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the eight districts were changed into six _arrondissements_: Avesnes, Bergues, Cambrai, Cassel, Douai and Lille.

In 1803, the capital of the department was moved from Douai to Lille and the subprefecture of Bergues was moved to Dunkirk.

The _arrondissement_ of Valenciennes was created in 1824.

The subprefecture of Cassel was moved to Hazebrouck in 1857. On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Hazebrouck was eliminated.

In 1962, the name of the _commune_ Avesnes was changed to Avesnes-sur-Helpe.

## Geography

Nord is part of the Hauts-de-France region. It has an area of .

The department is surrounded by the North Sea, Belgium (West Flanders and Hainaut provinces) and 3 other departments of the Hauts-de-France region:
- Hauts-de-France region
    - Aisne (south)
    - Somme (southwest) (a short distance)
    - Pas-de-Calais (west)

The highest point in the department is in the _commune_ of Anor () near the border with Belgium; it is  high.

Several rivers flow through the department; the main rivers are the Scheldt/Escaut, the Yser, the Lys, the Scarpe, and the Sambre.

### Climate

The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Lille is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype "Cfb".

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Lille is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Lille is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

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## Administration

Nord is managed by the _Departmental Council of Aisne_ in Lille. The department is part of the Hauts-de-France region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 6 _arrondissements_ (districts), 41 _cantons_ and 648 _communes_ (municipalities) in Nord.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|591|Avesnes-sur-Helpe|Avesnes-sur-Helpe|231,727|1,407.5||151|
|592|Cambrai|Cambrai|163,065|901.6||116|
|593|Douai|Douai|246,595|476.6||64|
|594|Dunkirk|Dunkirk|378,499|1,442.7||111|
|595|Lille|Lille|1,232,513|879.5||124|
|596|Valenciennes|Valenciennes|351,073|634.8||82|

The following is a list of the 41 cantons of the **Nord** department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

- Aniche <small>(5901)</small>
- Annœullin <small>(5902)</small>
- Anzin <small>(5903)</small>
- Armentières <small>(5904)</small>
- Aulnoye-Aymeries <small>(5905)</small>
- Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes <small>(5906)</small>
- Avesnes-sur-Helpe <small>(5907)</small>
- Bailleul <small>(5908)</small>
- Cambrai <small>(5909)</small>
- Le Cateau-Cambrésis <small>(5910)</small>
- Caudry <small>(5911)</small>
- Coudekerque-Branche <small>(5912)</small>
- Croix <small>(5913)</small>
- Denain <small>(5914)</small>
- Douai <small>(5915)</small>
- Dunkerque-1 <small>(5916)</small>
- Dunkerque-2 <small>(5917)</small>
- Faches-Thumesnil <small>(5918)</small>
- Fourmies <small>(5919)</small>
- Grande-Synthe <small>(5920)</small>
- Hazebrouck <small>(5921)</small>
- Lambersart <small>(5922)</small>
- Lille-1 <small>(5923)</small>
- Lille-2 <small>(5924)</small>
- Lille-3 <small>(5925)</small>
- Lille-4 <small>(5926)</small>
- Lille-5 <small>(5927)</small>
- Lille-6 <small>(5928)</small>
- Marly <small>(5929)</small>
- Maubeuge <small>(5930)</small>
- Orchies <small>(5931)</small>
- Roubaix-1 <small>(5932)</small>
- Roubaix-2 <small>(5933)</small>
- Saint-Amand-les-Eaux <small>(5934)</small>
- Sin-le-Noble <small>(5935)</small>
- Templeuve <small>(5936)</small>
- Tourcoing-1 <small>(5937)</small>
- Tourcoing-2 <small>(5938)</small>
- Valenciennes <small>(5939)</small>
- Villeneuve-d'Ascq <small>(5940)</small>
- Wormhout <small>(5941)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of Nord are known, in French, as _Nordistes_.

Nord had a population, in 2014, of 2,603,472, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Lille, with 1,232,513 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Nord**

The 10 _communes_ in the department with more inhabitants are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Lille|233,897|Lille|
|Roubaix|95,600|Lille|
|Tourcoing|95,329|Lille|
|Dunkirk|89,160|Dunkirk|
|Villeneuve d'Ascq|62,869|Lille|
|Valenciennes|43,787|Valenciennes|
|Wattrelos|41,337|Lille|
|Douai|40,736|Douai|
|Marcq-en-Barœul|39,291|Lille|
|Cambrai|32,897|Cambrai|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Nord department
- Communes of the Nord department

## Other websites

- Tourism in Nord-Pas de Calais

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Nord
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Hotel de préfecture du Nord.jpg
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Nord department, in Lille
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Nord department, in Lille.
- **image shield**: Blason Nord-Pas-De-Calais.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Nord-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Nord in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Hauts-de-France
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Lille
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Avesnes-sur-Helpe
- **p2**: Cambrai
- **p3**: Douai
- **p4**: Dunkirk
- **p5**: Valenciennes
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Jean-René Lecerf
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5742.8
- **population total**: 2603472
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Nordistes
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 6
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 41
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 648
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-59