PAS-DE-CALAIS

dpartement, Nord-Pas-deCalais rgion, northern France, extending southeast from the English Channel and separated from Belgium by Nord dpartement. Created from the historic province of Artois (q.v.) and a part of Picardy, it has an area of 2,576 square miles (6,671 square km). The coastline runs north from the boundary of Somme dpartement at the Authie River, past Le Touquet-Paris-Plage and Boulogne (qq.v.), to Cap Gris-Nez on the Strait of Dover (French Pas de Calais). It continues east-northeast past Calais (q.v.) to the estuary of the Aa River bordering Nord. Low and marshy to the south and northeast, the coast has high chalk cliffs around Cap Gris-Nez and Cap Blanc-Nez, facing the cliffs of Dover in England across the English Channel. Extending inland from the Boulogne region, the chalk hills of Artois rise to 700 feet (210 m) and are the watershed of several rivers flowing north to Flanders and south to the Canche River, which enters the Channel at Le Touquet-Paris-Plage. The climate is mild with moderate rainfall. Agriculture thrives: dairy farming and market gardening are intensively pursued in the coastal lowlands, on which large areas have been reclaimed and canalized. Inland, cattle are raised, and sugar beets, cereals, and fodder are grown. The eastern half of the dpartement, which embraces part of the coal basin extending across northern France into Belgium, is highly industrialized. The greatest number of pits is in the Bthune-Livin-Lens-Hnin-Beaumont-Litard area, in which coking plants, blast furnaces, steel mills, metalworks, and chemical installations are concentrated. The area is densely populated. Pas-de-Calais is skirted by the Lille-Paris motorway, which passes east of Arras, the capital, in which such industries as textiles and food processing have long been established. Textile, metal, and cement industries are among those in the Calais-Boulogne region. Calais, which, with Boulogne, receives most of the surface traffic from England, is France's major passenger harbour, while Boulogne is France's major fishing harbour. The dpartement has seven arrondissements: Arras, Bthune, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, Lens, Montreuil, and Saint-Omer. It is in the educational division of Lille. Pop. (1990) 1,433,203.