Pas-de-Calais
—  Department  —
Coat of arms
Location of Pas-de-Calais in France
Coordinates: 50°57′N 1°51′E / 50.95°N 1.85°E / 50.95; 1.85Coordinates: 50°57′N 1°51′E / 50.95°N 1.85°E / 50.95; 1.85
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Prefecture	Arras
Subprefectures	Béthune Boulogne-sur-Mer Calais Lens Montreuil Saint-Omer
Government
• President of the General Council	Dominique Dupilet
Area1
• Total	6,671 km2 (2,576 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	1,453,387
• Rank	7th
• Density	220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	62
Arrondissements	7
Cantons	77
Communes	894
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Pas-de-Calais (French pronunciation: [pɑ d(ə) kalɛ]) is a department in northern France. Its name is the French equivalent of the Strait of Dover, which it borders.

History[link]

Inhabited since prehistoric times, the Pas-de-Calais region was populated in turn by the Celtic Belgae, the Romans, the Germanic Franks and the Alemanni. During the fourth and fifth centuries, the Roman practice of coopting Germanic tribes to provide military and defense services along the route from Boulogne to Cologne created a Germanic-Romance linguistic border in the region that persisted until the eighth century.

Saxon colonization into the region from the fifth to the eighth centuries likely extended the linguistic border somewhat south and west so that by the ninth century most inhabitants north of the line between Béthune and Berck spoke a dialect of Middle Dutch, while the inhabitants to the south spoke Picard, a variety of Romance dialects.

This linguistic border is still evident today in the toponyms and patronyms of the region. Beginning in the ninth century, the linguistic border began a steady move to north and the east, and by the end of the 15th century Romance dialects had completely displaced those of Dutch.

Pas-de-Calais is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Calaisis, formerly English, Boulonnais, Ponthieu and Artois, this last formerly part of the Spanish Netherlands.

Some of the costliest battles of World War I were fought in the region. The Vimy Memorial commemorates the Battle of Vimy Ridge and is Canada's most important memorial to its fallen soldiers.

Pas-de-Calais was also the target of Operation Fortitude during World War II, which was an Allied plan to deceive the Germans that the invasion of Europe at D-Day was to occur here, rather than in Normandy.^[1]

Geography[link]

Cities > 10,000 inhabitants

Pas-de-Calais is in the current region of Nord-Pas de Calais and is surrounded by the departments of Nord and Somme, the English Channel, and the North Sea.

Its principal towns are, on the coast, Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, and in Artois, Lens, Liévin, Arras, and Saint-Omer.

The principal rivers are the following:

• Authie
• Canche
• Ternoise
• Liane
• Sensée
• Scarpe
• Deûle
• Lys
• Aa

Economy[link]

The economy of the department was long dependent on mining, primarily the coal mines. However, since World War II, the economy has become more diversified.

Demographics[link]

The inhabitants of the department are called Pas-de-Calaisiens.

Pas-de-Calais is one of the most heavily populated departments of France, and yet it has no large cities. Calais has only about 80,000 inhabitants, followed closely by Arras, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Lens and Liévin. The remaining population is primarily concentrated along the border with the department of Nord in the mining district, where a string of small towns constitutes an urban area with a population of about 1.2 million. The center and south of the department are more rural, but still quite heavily populated, with many villages and small towns.

Although the department saw some of the heaviest fighting of World War I, its population rebounded quickly after both world wars. However, many of the mining towns have seen dramatic decreases in population, some up to half of their population.

Culture[link]

Although Pas-de-Calais is one of the most populous departments of France, it did not contain a university until 1992.

See also[link]

• Cantons of the Pas-de-Calais department
• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department
• Arrondissements of the Pas-de-Calais department

References[link]

External links[link]

• (French) A whole wiki about the Pas-de-Calais
• (French) Prefecture website
• (French) General Council website
• (English) Official Tourist website
• (English) Short regional tourism guide
• (English) Pas-de-Calais Tourism Guide
• (English) Coats of arms of the municipalities in Pas-de-Calais

Neighbouring English counties and French departments

	North Sea Kent, United Kingdom	Nord	Nord
	English Channel		Nord
		Pas-de-Calais    East
	Somme	Somme	Somme

Christophe Lemaitre

Christophe Lemaitre in 2010 European Champs
Personal information
Nationality	France
Born	(1990-06-11) 11 June 1990 (age 22) Annecy, France
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Weight	74 kg (160 lb)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres
Club	Athlétique Sport Aixois
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m: 9.92 s (Albi 2011) 200 m: 19.80 s (Daegu 2011)
Medal record Men's athletics Competitor for  France World Championships Bronze 2011 Daegu 200 m Silver 2011 Daegu 4×100 m relay European Championships Gold 2010 Barcelona 100 m Gold 2010 Barcelona 200 m Gold 2010 Barcelona 4×100 m relay European Indoor Championships Bronze 2011 Paris 60 m World Junior Championships Gold 2008 Bydgoszcz 200 m European Junior Championships Gold 2009 Novi Sad 100 m Competitor for Europe Continental Cup Gold 2010 Split 100 m

Christophe Lemaitre^[1] (French pronunciation: [kʁistɔf ləmɛtʁ]; born 11 June 1990 in Annecy, France) is a French sprinter, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. He is the French 100 m and 200 m record holder with a time of 9.92 seconds and 19.80 seconds as well as being the first caucasian to break the 10-second barrier in an officially timed event.^[2]

At the age of 20, he won the 100 m, 200 m and the 4×100 m relay titles at the 2010 European Championships, the first sprinter ever to do this treble, making him the fastest man in Europe.^[3][4]

Career[link]

Growing up[link]

Lemaitre grew up in the town of Culoz, where he practiced handball, rugby and football, before his speed was discovered. In 2005 at the age of 15, during national sprinting events, Lemaitre ended up with the fastest 50 metres in the country.^[5] A month after his 16th birthday in 2006, and less than a year after joining an athletics club at Aix-les-Bains, Lemaitre ran 100m in 10.96 seconds. His personal best improved to 10.53 seconds in 2007.

2008–2009[link]

Lemaitre after winning his medals in Barcelona

In 2008, he ran a new 100m personal best of 10.26 seconds. At the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics, Lemaitre won the 200 m title with a time of 20.83 seconds.^[6]

At the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships, Lemaitre won gold in the 100 m and set a new European junior record with a time of 10.04 seconds.^[7] He won the men's European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Award for his achievements in 2009.^[8]

2010[link]

At the start of the 2010 outdoor season, he opened with a run of 10.09 seconds in Aix-les-Bains before winning in 10.24 into a headwind of −2.2 m/s in Vénissieux. He ran at the French Club National Championships in Franconville in May 2010 and recorded a new 100 m personal best of 10.03 seconds, although he said he was disappointed to have missed Ronald Pognon's French record of 9.99 seconds.^[9] He aimed once more at the record at the 2010 European Team Championships and, although he again missed his target, he finished as runner-up against Dwain Chambers with a personal best of 10.02 seconds.^[10]

100 m final at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.

On July 9, 2010, Lemaitre became the third fastest person of non-West African by descent and the first Caucasian to run 100 metres in under 10 seconds with a 9.98. Afterwards he said, "This was my goal to break it of course. One has to run under 10 seconds in order to be part of the world's best. I will be recognised as the first white man to run it, but today is mainly historical for myself!...It's not about color, it's about hard work."^[11][12][13] One day later, Lemaitre equalled the national record in the 200 m with a time of 20.16 seconds.^[14]

At the 2010 European Athletics Championships, he won gold in the 100 m with a time of 10.11 s.^[15] The next day after comfortably progressing through the heats and semi-finals of the 200 m, Lemaitre became the double European champion by storming to victory in the 200 m final in a time of 20.37 s, beating Great Britain's Christian Malcolm by 0.01 (Malcolm clocked a season's best 20.38 s).^[16] Lemaitre then combined with Jimmy Vicaut, Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux, and Martial Mbandjock in the 4 x 100 m relay to finish first ahead of Italy and Germany in a time of 38.11 s.^[17] At the IAAF world challenge meet in Rieti, Italy on the 29th of August Lemaitre competed in the 100 m, equalling his personal best in his heat with a 9.98, and improving upon it in the final with a run of 9.97 seconds with a reaction of 0.199.^[18]

2011[link]

Lemaitre at the 2011 World championships Athletics in Daegu.

During the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships Christophe Lemaitre was fastest during the early heats of the 60m sprint event. He also had the fastest time in the semi-final, but he finished in third place taking a bronze during the final.^[19][20]

On June 7, at the first Meet of the Pro Athlé Tour in Montreuil, he broke his own national record with a time of 9.96.^[21] On June 18, he went on to again lower his National record, clocking a time of 9.95 at the European Team Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.^[22] On June 30, he matched his national record with a time of 9.95 in Lausanne. On July 29, he again lowered the French national record in Albi with a time of 9.92 s with a wind aid of 2.0 m/s. In this race he became the second fastest sprinter of non-west African descent (after Frankie Fredericks), by surpassing the Patrick Johnson personal best time of 9.93.

On 30 July, he broke another French record at the 200 meters, but it did not count as the wind was 2.3 m/s, which is 0.3 m/s over the limit. During the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, Lemaitre reached the finals of the 100m sprint event, finishing fourth.^[23] On September 3, he won the bronze medal of the 200m final, beating his personal record with a time of 19.80 with a wind aid of 0.8 m/s, as well as pulverizing the previous French national record he shared with Gilles Quénéhervé, 20.16s, by 0.36 seconds.^[24] In the race he became the second fastest European 200m sprinter in history after Pietro Mennea. On September 4, Lemaitre alongside Jimmy Vicaut, Teddy Tinmar and Yannick Lesourd, ran a season best of 38.20s, finishing second behind a world record-breaking Jamaica and thus taking the silver medal.^[25]

Recognition[link]

Christophe Lemaitre was the winner of the 2010 men's European Athlete of the Year Award.^[26] He has also been named the 2010 French Sportsman of the Year by sports daily L'Equipe.^[27] After he broke the ten seconds mark, Paris sports newspaper L'Équipe put him on the front page, even though the Tour de France was taking place. During his European champions treble winning year, Christophe Lemaitre ran faster than the former world record-holder Asafa Powell and the former double world champion Tyson Gay did at his age. He took second place in the 2011 European athlete of the year awards.^[28]

Personal bests[link]

Event	Time	Wind	Venue	Date	Ref
60 m	6.55		Aubière	13 February 2010
100 m	9.92 NR	+2.0 m/s	Albi	29 July 2011	[29]
200 m	19.80 NR	+0.8 m/s	Daegu	3 September 2011

Key: NR = National record

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christophe Lemaitre

• IAAF profile for Christophe Lemaitre
• French Athletics Federation profile of Christophe Lemaitre (French)