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Hauts-de-France
Region
Country	France
Prefecture	Lille
Departments	5 Aisne Nord Oise Pas-de-Calais Somme
Government
• President	Xavier Bertrand (DVD)
Area
• Total	31,813 km2 (12,283 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Total	5,973,098
• Density	190/km2 (490/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	FR-HDF
NUTS Region	FRE
Website	www.regionhautsdefrance.fr

Hauts-de-France^[1] (French pronunciation: ​[o d(ə) fʁɑ̃s], translates to "Upper France" in English; Picard: Heuts-d'Franche) is a region of France created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. The new region came into existence on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections in December 2015.^[2] France's Conseil d'État approved Hauts-de-France as the name of the region on 28 September 2016, effective 30 September 2016.^[3]

The region covers an area of more than 31,813 km² (12,283 sq mi), and has a population of 5,973,098.^[4] It borders Normandy, Grand Est, Île-de-France, Belgium (Flemish Region and Wallonia) and England via the English Channel.

Toponymy

The region's interim name Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie was a hyphenated placename, created by hyphenating the merged regions' names—Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie—in alphabetical order.^[5]

On 14 March 2016, well ahead of the 1 July deadline, the Regional council decided on Hauts-de-France as the region's permanent name.^[1][5] The provisional name of the region was retired on 30 September 2016, when the new name of the region, Hauts-de-France, took effect.^[3]

Geography

Map of the new region with its five départements, colored according to the historical provinces as they existed until 1790.

  Picardy

  Île-de-France

  Artois

  French Flanders

  French Hainaut

  Cambrai (fr)

  Champagne

  Other

The region borders Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia) to the northeast, the English Channel to the northwest, as well as the French regions of Grand Est to the southeast, Île-de-France to the south, and Normandy to the southwest. It is connected to the United Kingdom (England) via the Channel Tunnel.

Departments

Hauts-de-France comprises 5 departments : Aisne, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-calais, Somme.

Major communities

Lille

Amiens

View of England from Cap Gris Nez, France

1. 
   Lille (227,560; region prefecture)


2. 
   Amiens (133,448)


3. 
   Roubaix (94,713)


4. 
   Tourcoing (91,923)


5. 
   Dunkirk (90,995)


6. 
   Calais (72,589)


7. 
   Villeneuve-d'Ascq (62,308)


8. 
   Saint-Quentin (55,978)


9. 
   Beauvais (54,289)


10. 
    Valenciennes (42,691)

See also

• Nord-Pas-de-Calais


• Picardy


• Regions of France


• Canadian National Vimy Memorial


• Battle of Vimy Ridge

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Hauts-de-France.

• 
  Official website (in French)
  


• Merger of the regions - France 3

Coordinates: 49°55′14″N 2°42′11″E / 49.9206°N 2.7030°E / 49.9206; 2.7030