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Nord Nord (French, the north) is a dpartement in the north of France. History Nord comprises the French part of former Flanders, excluding the western part separated in 1237 as the county of Artois (now a part of the neighbouring Pas-de-Calais). This territory had been ruled by Spain since 1556, but was ceded to France in successive treaties (1659, 1668, and 1678). It was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Geography Nord is part of the current region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and is surrounded by the French departments of Pas-de-Calais and Aisne, as well as by Belgium and the North Sea. Situated in the north-east of the country along the western half of the Belgian frontier, the department is unusually long and narrow. Its principal city is Lille, which with nearby Roubaix and Tourcoing constitutes the center of a cluster of industrial and mining towns totalling slightly over a million inhabitants. Other important cities are Valenciennes, Douai, and Dunkirk. The principal rivers are the following: Economy At the forefront of France's 19th century industrialisation, the area suffered severely during World War I and now faces the economic, social and environmental problems associated with the decline of coal mining with its neighbours following the earlier decline of the Lille-Roubaix textile industry. Until recently, the department was dominated economically by coal mining, which extends through the heart of the department from neighbouring Artois into central Belgium. Demographics Nord is the most heavily populated department, with a population of 2.55 million and an area of 5,740 km². Culture West Flemish is spoken by around 20,000 people in the northern part of the department. External links
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