Nord-Pas-de-Calais

**Nord-Pas de Calais** (; Dutch: *Noord-Nauw van Kales*), *Nord* for short, is the northmaist o the 27 regions o Fraunce. It consists o the depairtments o Nord an Pas-de-Calais, in the north an haes a border wi Belgium. Maist o the region wis ance pairt o the Soothren Netherlands, athin the Law Kintras, an gradually became pairt o Fraunce atween 1477 an 1678. The historical provinces nou included in *Nord-Pas-de-Calais* are Artois, Boulonnais, Calaisis, Cambraisis, French Flanders, French Hainaut an portions o northren Picardy, an the regional nickname *[[Bassin Minier]]* or *Meiners-Bassen* (Miners' or Minin Basin in the region's twa leids) derived frae historically lairge minin deposits. These provincial designations are still frequently uised bi the indwallers, which affers a sense o civic pride.

Wi its 323.7 fowk per km2 on juist ower 12,400&nbsp;km2, it is a densely populatit region, haein some fower million indwallers—seiven percent o Fraunce's tot population, makkin it the fowert maist muckle region in the kintra—83% o whom live in urban communities. Its admeenistrative centre an lairgest ceety is Lille. The seicont lairgest ceety is Calais, which serves as a major continental economic/transportation hub wi Dover o Great Breetain 42 kilometres (26&nbsp;mi) away; the White Cliffs o Dover are visible frae Calais on a clear day. Ither major touns include Valenciennes, Lens, Douai, Béthune, Dunkirk, Maubeuge, Boulogne, Arras, Cambrai an Saint-Omer.

## Name
The name *Nord-Pas-de-Calais* combines the names o the constituent depairtments o Nord (literally 'North', the northmaist depairtment o Fraunce) an Pas-de-Calais ('Strait o Calais', the French name o the Strait o Dover).  The regional council, houiver, spells the name *Nord-Pas de Calais*.

The northren pairt o the region wis historically a pairt o Flanders, wi Douai () as its caipital.  The minority who wish tae evidence the historical links the region haes wi Belgium an the Netherlands prefer tae caw this region the **French Law Kintras**, which means *French Netherlands* in French an aw (French: *Pays-Bas français*; Dutch: *Franse Nederlanden* or *Franse Lage Landen*).  Various petitions, which hae impact on the population but no on the politeecians nor the local govrenments, are currently takin place in favour o renamin.

Ither alternative names are *Région Flandre(s)-Artois*, *Hauts-de-France*, ('Upper Fraunce') an *Picardie-du-Nord* ('Northren Picardy'). Even the regional nickname *Bassin des Minieres* is gainin popularity an the momentum for a regional renamin wants less representation o bein "French" an mair o bein "Belgian", while the fowk are patriotic tae Fraunce but proud tae be Flemish.

## Demographics

While the region is predominantly French-speakin, it an aw haes twa significant minority leid communities: the wastren Flemings, whose presence is evident in the mony Dutch placenames in the aurie an who speak French Flemish, a variety o the Wast Flemish dialect o Dutch (aiblins 20,000 indwallers o Nord-Pas-de-Calais uise Flemish daily an an estimatit 40,000 uise it occasionally, baith, primarily in an aroond the arrondissement o Dunkirk ); an the Picards, who speak the Picard leid, or *Ch'ti* (speakers, "*chitimi*", hae been wirkin tae revive the nearly-extinct regional speech syne the 1980s).  Awtho neighbourin Belgium currently recognises an fosters baith Picard an Dutch, an a few ceety-level govrenments athin Nord-Pas-de-Calais hae introduced initiatives tae encourage baith leids, the naitional French govrenment maintains a policy o linguistic unity an generally ignores baith leids, as it daes wi ither regional leids in Fraunce.

The region's ethnic diversity haes been affectit bi repeatit waves o immigrant wirkers frae abroad:  Belgians, some Erse an Welsh frae Breetain, afore 1910; Poles, Czechs, Italians, an Portuguese in the 1920s an 1930s; North Africans, Greeks, Slovaks an Yugoslavs syne 1945; several thoosan descendants o Cheenese an Vietnamese ditch diggers an railwey crews hired bi French govrenment contractors in Warld War I; some Turks hae settled in the region, beginnin in the 1960s; an lairge ceeties lik Lille, Calais, an Boulogne are hame tae sizable communities o Breetish, Dutch, Scandinavian, Sub-Saharan African, an Laitin American immigrants an thair descendants.

The French state haes sought tae boost the region's relatively neglectit cultur. In 2004, it wis annoonced that a branch o the Louvre wad be opened in the ceety o Lens. For decades, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais haes been viewed as a conservative region when compared culturally tae the rest o Fraunce, but recently the region haes at times displayed left-wing tendencies. In the early 2000s, the leftist Green Pairty wan the lairgest nummer o votes tae nearly carry a majority in regional an local representation. The Greens managed tae attract mony conservative voters frae sma touns an fermers muivit bi the Greens' commitment tae boostin agri-industry.

The region's releegious profile is representative o Fraunce as a whole, wi the majority (85%) bein Roman Catholic, but nae aw members regularly attend kirk or practice ivery element o Roman Catholicism.  Ither Christian groups are foond in the region: Protestants, Eastren Orthodox, an Mormons hae a few kirks. North Africans hae introduced Islam tae the region, an smaw but growin communities o Buddhists an Hindus hae been established in recent years. In Warld War II, 18,000 o the region's French Jews wur victims o the Nazi occupation, but a sma Jewish community remains active as it haes been for hunders o years.

## Economy
Nord-Pas-de-Calais became a major centre o hivy industry in the 19t century wi coal mines, steel mills an traditional textile manufactur. It suffered badly in baith Warld Wars an recovered less quickly than did ither pairts o Fraunce. In recent years, it haes experienced economic slumps as the mines closed, the steel industry declined an the textile industry ran intae problems. Atween 1975-1984, the region lost ower 130,000 jobs an unemployment rose tae 14% o the wirkin population, well abuin the naitional average. The region haes, housomeivver, benefitit frae major govrenment an European Union investment ower the past 20 year. The openin o the Channel Tunnel in 1994 wis walcomit in the region as a means o boostin its prosperity. Tourism, pairticularly in Lille at the apex o the Lunnon-Brussels-Paris railwey lines, haes grown considerably, tae the extent that in 2004, 7 million passengers uised the Eurostar, as well as 2 million vehicles on the Eurotunnel (umwhile Le Shuttle). In addition tae the trains, in 2002, thare wur aboot 15 million passengers frae the three major ferry ports o the region (Calais, Dunkirk an Boulogne).

## Major commonties

*Lille an surroondin aurie is hame tae ower 1.5 million indwallers.

*Arras
*Boulogne
*Calais
*Cambrai
*Douai
*Dunkirk
*Lens
*Liévin

*Marcq-en-Barœul
*Maubeuge
*Roubaix
*Saint-Omer
*Tourcoing
*Valenciennes
*Villeneuve d'Ascq
*Wattrelos


The regional eddicational seestem o the Académie de Lille includes 1 million pupils an students. Heicher eddication an research are supportit athin the Université Lille Nord de France.

## See an aw
*Leet o châteaux in Nord-Pas-de-Calais

## Notes an references

## Freemit airtins
* Regional Cooncil o Nord-Pas-de-Calais 
* Offeecial wabsteid: Tourism in Nord-Pas-deCalais