Dunkirk
For the major evacuation of British troops in World War II, please refer to the article: Operation DynamoFor other uses of Dunkirk or Dunkerque, see Dunkirk (disambiguation).Dunkirk (
French:
Dunkerque,
pronounced or ;
Dutch:
Duinkerke or
Duinkerken) is a harbor city and a
commune in the northernmost part of
France, in the
département of
Nord, 10 km from the
Belgian border. Population of the city (commune) at the
1999 census was 70,850 inhabitants (71,300 inhabitants as of February
2004 estimates). Population of the whole metropolitan area (
aire urbaine) was 265,974 inhabitants at the 1999 census.
|
Location of Dunkirk in the arrondissement of Dunkirk |
Its name is derived from the
West Flemish dialect of
Dutch "duin" (
dune) and "kerke" (church). Till the middle of the 20th century the city was situated in the
Dutch language area; today the local Dutch dialect still can be found, but has been largely replaced by French.
The commune has grown substantially by absorbing several neighboring communes:
*
1970: Merge with Malo-les-Bains (which had been created by being detached from Dunkerque in
1881)
*
1972: Fusion with
Petite-Synthe and Rosendaël (the latter had been created by being detached from
Téteghem in
1856)
*
1980: Fusion-association with Mardyck (which became a
commune associée, with a population of 372 in
1999)
*
1980: A large part of Petite-Synthe is detached from Dunkerque and included into
Grande-Synthe*
2003: Project of fusion with
Saint-Pol-sur-Mer (commune created by its territory being detached from Petite-Synthe in
1877). On
December 19,
2003, the municipal councils of Dunkerque and Saint-Pol-sur-Mer decided in favor of a fusion-association, which would create a new entity with a population of 94,187. The
préfet requested a popular
referendum, although this procedure was not mandatory (it became mandatory on January 1, 2005). The referendum took place on December 5, 2004, actually covering 3 communes: Dunkerque, Saint-Pol-sur-Mer and
Fort-Mardyck. Although the
yes won with 54 % of the votes, it did not gather 25% of the potential electorate, as requested by the law. The
préfet rejected the fusion proposal as a consequence.
Dunkirk was first mentioned in
1067 as
Dunkerk (
Dutch: "Church of the Dunes"). The area was much disputed between
Spain,
England, the
Netherlands and France. In the
Eighty Years' War the port was the base of the infamous
Dunkirker Raiders until the city was conquered by
Louis XIII of France in
1646. Private shipping magnates (
reders in Dutch) operated whole
privateer fleets to intercept Dutch merchants. It became definitively French when
Charles II of England sold it to France for £40,000 on
17 October 1662. During the reign of
Louis XIV, a large number of
commerce raiders had again their base at Dunkirk;
Jean Bart was the most famous, known for attacking Dutch ships.
Dunkirk 1940
In
World War II, heavy fighting took place around Dunkirk during the German invasion in
1940, but a lull in the action unexpectedly allowed a large number of French and British soldiers to escape to England. 338,226 men were evacuated amidst constant bombing (the
miracle of Dunkirk, as
Winston Churchill called it). The British evacuation of Dunkirk through the English Channel was codenamed
Operation Dynamo. During the war, Dunkirk was largely destroyed by bombing.
Dunkirk 1944
The city was again contested in 1944, and the
Second Canadian Division attempted to liberate the city in September, as Allied forces surged northeast after their victory in the
Battle of Normandy. German forces refused to relinquish their control of the city, which had been converted into a fortress, and the garrison there was "masked" by Allied troops. The fortress eventually surrendered in May 1945.
Postwar Dunkirk
On
14 December 2002, the
Norwegian auto carrier Tricolor collided with the
Bahamian-registered
Kariba and sank off Dunkirk harbor, causing a hazard to navigation in the
English Channel.
Dunkirk is the third largest harbour in France, after
Le Havre and
Marseille. It is also an industrial city, heavily dependent on the
steel,
food processing,
oil refining,
ship building and
chemical industries.
* The
Musée Portuaire hosts exhibits images about the history and presence of the port.
* The
Musée des Beaux-Arts has a large collection of Flemish, Italian and French paintings and sculptures.
Transportation
Dunkirk has a
ferry connection with
Dover in
England.
Sport
* The
Quatre Jours de Dunkerque (or
Four Days of Dunkirk) is an important elite professional
road bicycle racing event.
Twin towns
Dunkirk is twinned with:
*
Krefeld,
North Rhine-Westphalia,
Germany since June 15, 1974
*
Middlesbrough,
United Kingdom since April 12, 1976
Dunkirk has cooperation agreements with:
*
Dartford district, United Kingdom since March 1988
*
Thanet district, United Kingdom since June 18, 1993
*
City council website (in French)
*
Tourist office website
