Calais

This article is about the Northern French town. For other uses, see Calais (disambiguation).

Calais
Pier and lighthouse on the Calais seafront
Calais
Location within Nord-Pas-de-Calais region  Calais
Administration
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Calais
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération du Calaisis
Mayor	Natacha Bouchart (UMP) (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	0–18 m (0–59 ft)
Land area1	33.50 km2 (12.93 sq mi)
Population2	74,817  (2008)
- Density	2,233 /km2 (5,780 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	62193/ 62100
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Calais (French pronunciation: [kalɛ]; in English usually /ˈkæleɪ/ cal-ay, traditionally /ˈkælɨs/; Dutch: Kales) is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras.

The population of the metropolitan area at the 1999 census was 125,584.

Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel, which is only 34 km (21 mi) wide here, and is the closest French town to England, of which Calais was a territorial possession for several centuries. The White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen on a clear day.

The old part of the town, Calais proper (known as Calais-Nord), is situated on an artificial island surrounded by canals and harbours. The modern part of the town, St-Pierre, lies to the south and southeast.

History

Main article: History of Calais

Although the early history of habitation in the area is obscure, the Romans called the settlement Caletum. Later, in medieval times, the settlement was inhabited by people who spoke Dutch, and who called it Kales. Its position as the point in continental Europe closest to England led the English king Edward III, who believed himself the rightful king of France, to capture the town in 1347, after a siege of eleven months following the Battle of Crécy. The Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 ceded the town to England. For two centuries Calais remained an integral part of England, with representation in the English Parliament (see Pale of Calais). In 1558 Calais was finally recaptured by the French. In 1805 Napoleon massed troops there for his planned invasion of England. In World War I Calais was a major base for the BEF. In World War II it was the site of a major engagement, the Siege of Calais, in which some 4,000 British soldiers held out for four days against a German armoured division, suffering 60% casualties. Four years later, the Allies mounted Operation Fortitude, a deception campaign intended to convince the Germans that the main Allied landing would come around Calais instead of in Normandy. The Allied effort succeeded in causing Hitler to keep significant forces in and around Calais until July 1944, a month after the Invasion of Normandy had begun. Calais was finally liberated by the Canadian 1st Army later that year.

Ferry docked at Calais

Economy

The city's proximity to England has made it a major port for centuries. It is the principal ferry crossing point between England and France, with the vast majority of Channel crossings being made between Dover and Calais. Companies operating from Calais include Seafrance, and P&O Ferries. The French end of the Channel Tunnel is situated in the vicinity of Calais, in Coquelles some 4 miles (6.4 km) to the west of the town.

The town also has a number of industries. The principal ones are lace making, chemicals, and paper manufacture. It possesses direct rail links to Paris, 148 miles (238 km) to the south.

Migration

Calais is currently home to around 1,000 migrants, mostly looking to enter the UK avoiding the strict immigration controls at the port.

Some 700–800 migrants, mostly Afghan, were camped in an area among the dunes near the port, locally called 'The Jungle', but this was destroyed by French authorities in a dawn raid on 22 September 2009. The inhabitants were partly imprisoned at the nearby Centre de Rétention of Coquelles, but many more were taken to detention centres all over France before being released and having to make the long journey back to Calais by foot. After the closing of the camp, the French authorities have threatened to repatriate "sans-papiers" ("immigrés en situation irrégulière") to Afghanistan.

Transport

Cranes in the Ferry Terminal, Calais

As well as the large port, the town is served by two railway stations: Gare de Calais-Fréthun and Gare de Calais-Ville, the former being the first stop on mainland Europe of the Eurostar line.

Local bus services are provided by STCE.

Free car parking facilities are available in front of the Calais ferry terminal and the maximum stay is of three days.

Sport

Calais is represented in association football by the Calais RUFC, and are members of the Championnat National. Calais RUFC have a reputation as being great giant killers in French cup competitions and went as far as the final in the 99/00 season, losing out finally to Nantes.

Main sights

City hall.

Virtually the entire town was destroyed by heavy bombardments during World War II, so little in Calais pre-dates the war. The Tour de Guet, situated in Calais Nord on the Places d'Armes, is one of the few surviving pre-war buildings. Hôtel Meurice de Calais was established in 1771.

The German wartime military headquarters, situated south of the train station in a small park, is today open to the public as a war museum.

The town centre is dominated by its distinctive town hall (Hôtel de Ville), built in the Flemish Renaissance style (and visible well out to sea). Directly in front of the town hall is a cast of the statue The Burghers of Calais (French Les Bourgeois de Calais), by Auguste Rodin. The town centre has seen significant regeneration over the past decade.

Another sight is the Alhambra cinema, an arthouse cinema located on the same square as the town hall .

Immediately to the west is the Côte d'Opale, a cliff-lined section of coast that parallels the white cliffs on the British coast and is part of the same geological formation.

On clear days, the buildings of Calais can quite readily be seen with the naked eye from the British shore, 33 km (21 mi) away.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Twin towns – Sister cities

Calais is twinned with:

Bardejov, Slovakia, since 6 September 2002 Brăila, Romania, since 8 May 2002 Duisburg, Germany, since 25 June 1964 Dover, England, United Kingdom, since June 1973

Fanga, Mali Riga, Latvia, since 19 November 1976 Wismar, Germany, since December 1971

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

• INSEE commune file

External links

• Official website (French)
• Agglomération (French)
• Info about the port and city (French)
• Info about the port and city (English)
• Port of Calais
• Calais fortifications
• 3D View of Castle of Calais from Henry VIII period Google Earth