Pas-de-Calais kalɛ]) is a department in northern France. Its name is the French
equivalent of the Strait of Dover, which it borders.
History Inhabited since prehistoric times, the
Pas-de-Calais region was populated in turn by the Celtic Belgae, the Romans,
the Germanic Franks and the Alemanni. During the fourth and fifth centuries,
the Roman practice of co-opting Germanic tribes to provide military and defence
services along the route from Boulogne to Cologne created a Germanic-Romance
linguistic border in the region that persisted until the eighth century.
Saxon colonization into the region from the fifth to the eighth centuries likely
extended the linguistic border somewhat south and west so that by the ninth
century most inhabitants north of the line between Béthune and Berck spoke a
dialect of Middle Dutch, while the inhabitants to the south spoke Picard, a
variety of Romance dialects. This linguistic border is still evident
today in the toponyms and patronyms of the region. Beginning in the ninth
century, the linguistic border began a steady move to north and the east, and
by the end of the 15th century Romance dialects had completely displaced those
of Dutch. Pas-de-Calais is one of the original 83
departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was
created from parts of the former provinces of Calaisis, formerly English,
Boulonnais, Ponthieu and Artois, this last formerly part of the Spanish
Netherlands. Some of the costliest battles of World
War I were fought in the region. The Vimy Memorial commemorates the Battle of
Vimy Ridge and is Canada's most important memorial to its fallen
soldiers. Pas-de-Calais was also the target of
Operation Fortitude during World War II, which was an Allied plan to deceive the
Germans that the invasion of Europe at D-Day was to occur here, rather than in
Normandy. Geography
Pas-de-Calais is in the current region of Nord-Pas de Calais and is surrounded
by the departments of Nord and Somme, the English Channel, and the North Sea.
It shares a nominal border with the English county of Kent halfway through
the Channel Tunnel. Its principal towns are, on the coast,
Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer and Étaples, and in Artois, Lens, Liévin, Arras, and
Saint-Omer. The principal rivers are the following:
Authie Canche
Ternoise Liane
Sensée Scarpe
Deûle Lys
Aa Economy
The economy of the department was long dependent on mining, primarily the coal
mines. However, since World War II, the economy has become more diversified.
Demographics The inhabitants of the department are
called Pas-de-Calaisiens. Pas-de-Calais is one of the most heavily
populated departments of France, and yet it has no large cities. Calais has only
about 80,000 inhabitants, followed closely by Arras, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Lens
and Liévin. The remaining population is primarily concentrated along the border
with the department of Nord in the mining district, where a string of small
towns constitutes an urban area with a population of about 1.2 million. The
center and south of the department are more rural, but still quite heavily
populated, with many villages and small towns.
Although the department saw some of the heaviest fighting of World War I, its
population rebounded quickly after both world wars. However, many of the mining
towns have seen dramatic decreases in population, some up to half of their
population. Education
There are two public universities in the department. Although it is one of the
most populous departments of France, Pas-de-Calais did not contain one until
the early nineties. In 1991, the French government took the decision to create
two universities : ULCO on the western part of the department, and Université
d'Artois on the eastern part. Tourism
See also Cantons of the Pas-de-Calais department
Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department Arrondissements of the Pas-de-Calais
department References
External links (French) A whole wiki about the
Pas-de-Calais (French) Prefecture website
(French) General Council website (English) Official Tourist website
(English) Short regional tourism guide (English) Coats of arms of the
municipalities in Pas-de-Calais