Nord-pas de Calais
Nord-Pas de Calais is one of the 26 régions of France. It combines the départements of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, in the far north of the country, bordering with Belgium. Until the end of the 20th century "Nord" was also the name of the région, as well as that of the département. The région was once part of the Southern Netherlands, within the Low Countries, and became totally French in 1713. The historical provinces now included in Nord-Pas de Calais are, mainly, Artois and Flanders (Flandre in French, in the singular), designations which are still frequently used by the inhabitants.
It is an extremely densely populated region with some 4 million inhabitants - 7% of France´s total population, making it the fourth most populous region in the country - 83% of whom live in urban communities. Its administrative centre is the city of Lille. Other major towns include Valenciennes, Lens, Douai, Béthune, Dunkirk, Maubeuge, Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer and Arras.
Demographics
While the region is predominately French-speaking, it also has two significant minority language communities: the western Flemings, whose presence is evident in the many Dutch placenames in the area and who speak the West Flemish dialect of the Dutch language, and the Picards, who speak the Picard language. In addition, the region´s ethnic diversity has been affected by repeated waves of immigrant workers from abroad - Belgians before 1910, Poles and Italians in the 1920s and 1930s, and North Africans since 1945.
The French administration has continuously oppressed the Flemish language and culture which is now largely eradicated. Despite some local efforts to support the original culture and language of these departements, the French government continues to refuse to recognize Dutch as an official minority language.
The French state has also sought to boost the region´s relatively neglected culture; in 2004, it was announced that a branch of the Louvre would be opened in the city of Lens.
Economy
Nord-Pas de Calais became a major centre of heavy industry in the 19th century with coal mines, steel mills and traditional textile manufacture. It suffered badly in both World Wars and did less well than other parts of France in the subsequent recoveries. In recent years, it experienced an economic slump as the mines closed, the steel industry declined and the textile industry ran into problems. Between 1975-1984, the region lost over 130,000 jobs and unemployment rose to 14% of the working population, well above the national average. The region has, however, benefited from major government and European Union investment over the past 20 years. The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 was welcomed in the region as a means of boosting its prosperity. Tourism, particularly in Lille at the apex of the London-Brussels-Paris railway lines, has grown considerably, to the extent that in 2004, 7 million passengers used the Eurostar, as well as 2 million vehicles on the Eurotunnel (formerly Le Shuttle). On top of the trains, in 2002, there were about 15 million embarkations and disembarkations from the three major ferry ports of the region (Calais, Dunkerque and Boulogne-sur-Mer).
