France Attractions Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Country Name: French Republic

Capital City: Paris

Population: 60,876,136 (2006)

Population Growth: 0.35% (2006)

Currency: euro (EUR)

Languages: French

Area: 547,030 sq km

Inflation Rate: 1.5% (2006 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 8.7% (December 2006)

Domain extension: .fr

FRANCE ATTRACTIONS BY PROVINCE

Nord-Pas-de-Calais -Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region is combines the d?partements of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, in the far north of the country adjoining the border with Belgium. It is an extremely densely populated region with some 4 million inhabitants - 7% of France's total population, making it the third 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, B?thune, Dunkirk, Maubeuge, Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer and Arras.

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Main Attraction province

Lille is a city in northern France on the De?le River. It is the capital of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais r?gion. It is also the pr?fecture (capital) of the Nord d?partement. It lies near the border with Belgium and its Dutch name is Rijsel. The city of Lille absorbed Lomme on February 27, 2000. Their combined population at the 1999 census was 212,597 inhabitants. The whole metropolitan area of Lille, both on French and Belgian territory (Kortrijk) was estimated in 2000 at around 1,730,000 inhabitants, ranking as one of the major metropolitan areas of Europe. (Photo: Author: FoeNyx, License: GNUFDL)

Calais is a city in northern France. It is in the d?partement of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sous-pr?fecture. Population of the city (commune) at the 1999 census was 77,333 inhabitants (74,800 inhabitants as of February 2004 estimates). Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel, which is only 34 km (21 miles) wide here, and is the closest French town to England. The white cliffs of Dover can easily be seen on a clear day. The old part of the town, Calais proper (or Calais-Nord), is situated on an artificial island surrounded by canals and harbours. The modern part of the town, St-Pierre, lies to the south and southeast.