Grand Place of Lille and Belfry © Velvet - licence [CC BY-SA 3.0] from Wikimedia Commons
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Last Updated: 30 January 2022

The important news of the day is the new name chosen for the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie.

It was announced this very morning that the newly created region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie had a new name: Hauts-de-France. The new name was preferred over Terres-du-Nord and Nord-de-France. The Hauts-de-France region was created on the 1st January 2016 with the amalgamation of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy regions.

Hauts-de-France Map © French Moments
Hauts-de-France Map © French Moments

The new name will be confirmed by the Government and the Conseil d’État before October this year. The region is home to almost 6 million people, making it France’s third most populous region. The Hauts-de-France includes 5 départements (Aisne, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Somme) and 3,838 communes including large cities such as Lille, Amiens, Roubaix, Dunkirk, Tourcoing, Lens, Douai, Valenciennes, Calais, Maubeuge, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Saint-Quentin, Beauvais and Béthune.

Squares of Arras from above © Pir6mon - licence [CC BY-SA 3.0] from Wikimedia Commons
Squares of Arras from above © Pir6mon – licence [CC BY-SA 3.0] from Wikimedia Commons

The Hauts-de-France region includes some of France’s beautiful sites such as the belfries of Flanders listed by Unesco, the old town centres of Lille, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Bergues and Cassel, the cathedrals of Amiens, Laon, Senlis and Beauvais, the castles of Compiègne, Pierrefonds and Chantilly.

The chateau of Chantilly seen from the gardens © French Moments
The chateau of Chantilly seen from the gardens © French Moments

The next region to announce its new name towards the end of April: Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine which will have to choose between Acalie, Rhin-Champagne, Nouvelle Austrasie or Grand-Est.

Featured image: Grand Place of Lille and Belfry © Velvet – licence [CC BY-SA 3.0] from Wikimedia Commons

Gems of Paris by French Moments
About the author

Pierre is a French/Australian who is passionate about France and its culture. He grew up in France and Germany and has also lived in Australia and England. He has a background teaching French, Economics and Current Affairs, and holds a Master of Translating and Interpreting English-French with the degree of Master of International Relations, and a degree of Economics and Management. Pierre is the author of Discovery Courses and books about France.

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