Not to be confused with the Strait of Dover, referred to as "Pas de Calais" in France.
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Inhabited since prehistoric times, the Pas-de-Calais region was populated in turn by the Celtic Belgae, the Romans, the GermanicFranks 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-sur-Mer 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.
Its principal towns are, on the coast, Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, and in Artois, Arras, Lens, Liévin, and Béthune. The most populous commune is Calais; the prefecture Arras is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are 10 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:[3]
The economy of the department was long dependent on mining, primarily the coal mines near the town of Lens, Pas-de-Calais where coal was discovered in 1849.[7] 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 densely populated departments of France, but has no cities with over 100,000 residents: Calais has about 73,000 inhabitants. 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 centre 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.
Population development since 1801:
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1801
534,416
—
1821
626,571
+0.80%
1831
655,215
+0.45%
1841
685,021
+0.45%
1851
692,994
+0.12%
1861
724,338
+0.44%
1872
761,158
+0.45%
1881
819,022
+0.82%
1891
874,364
+0.66%
1901
955,391
+0.89%
1911
1,068,155
+1.12%
1921
989,967
−0.76%
1931
1,205,191
+1.99%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1936
1,179,467
−0.43%
1946
1,168,545
−0.09%
1954
1,276,833
+1.11%
1962
1,366,282
+0.85%
1968
1,397,159
+0.37%
1975
1,402,295
+0.05%
1982
1,412,413
+0.10%
1990
1,433,203
+0.18%
1999
1,441,568
+0.06%
2006
1,453,387
+0.12%
2011
1,462,807
+0.13%
2016
1,470,725
+0.11%
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The Université d'Artois' campus in Lens sits in the ancient headquarters of Compagnie des mines.
There are currently two public universities in the department. Although it is one of the most populous departments of France, Pas-de-Calais did not contain a university until 1991 when the French government created two universities: ULCO (Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale)[14] on the western part of the department, and Université d'Artois[15] on the eastern part.
^"Canadian National Vimy Memorial, France". The Great War UK. 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2017. The ridge runs in a direction from Givenchy-en-Gohelle in the north-west to Farbus in the south-east.
^Hakim, Joy (1995). A History of Us: War, Peace and all that Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-509514-6.