Hauts-de-France
Heuts-d'Franche (Picard) | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 49°55′14″N 2°42′11″E / 49.9206°N 2.7030°E | |
Country | France |
Prefecture | Lille |
Departments | 5
|
Government | |
• President of the Regional Council | Xavier Bertrand (LR) |
Area | |
• Total | 31,813 km2 (12,283 sq mi) |
• Rank | 9th |
Population (2021)[1] | |
• Total | 5,995,292 |
• Density | 190/km2 (490/sq mi) |
GDP | |
• Total | €185.472 billion (2022) |
• Per capita | €30,900 (2022) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
ISO 3166 code | FR-HDF |
NUTS Region | FRE |
Website | www |
Hauts-de-France (French pronunciation: [o də fʁɑ̃s] ; lit. 'Heights of France', Upper France,[3] Picard: Heuts d'Franche) is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. The new region came into existence on 1 January 2016, after regional elections in December 2015.[4] The Conseil d'État approved Hauts-de-France as the name of the region on 28 September 2016, effective the following 30 September.[5][6]
With 6,009,976 inhabitants as of 1 January 2015 and a population density of 189 inhabitants per km2, it is the third most populous region in France and the second-most densely populated in metropolitan France after its southern neighbour Île-de-France. It is bordered by Belgium to the north and by the United Kingdom to the northwest through the Channel Tunnel, a railway tunnel crossing the English Channel. The region is a blend mixture of French and (southern-) Dutch cultures.