Town (pop., 1999: 34,598) and seaport, northern France, on the English Channel .
French kings, realizing its strategic importance, granted it numerous privileges. In 1668 almost 10,000 of its people died during a plague, and in 1694 the town was almost completely destroyed by English and Dutch fleets. In World War II it was the site of an unsuccessful Allied commando landing (1942). Its port is one of the safest on the Channel, but its shallowness hinders modern shipping.