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.

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 .

## 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.

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

## 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/km2. The *arrondissement* of Lille, with 1,232,513 inhabitants, is the *arrondissement* with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Nord**

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 bar:2014 at: 2603472 fontsize:S text: 2,603,472 shift:(-22,5)

The 10 *communes* in the department with more inhabitants are:

## Gallery

File:Lille Cathedral exterior 01.JPG|Lille cathedral.
File:Mairie de Dunkerque - panoramio.jpg|Dunkirk town hall.
File:Douai - Vue à partir du Beffroi (03).JPG|Overview of Douai.
File:Valenciennes 001.jpg|Valenciennes town hall.
File:Valenciennes - Place Verte.JPG|*Place Verte*, Valenciennes.

## Related pages
* Arrondissements of the Nord department
* Communes of the Nord department

## References
## Other websites
* Tourism in Nord-Pas de Calais