Canton of Bully-les-Mines

Nord-Pas-de-Calais (French pronunciation: [nɔʁ pɑ d(ə) kalɛ] ; Picard: Nord-Pas-Calés; West Flemish: Nôord-Nauw van Kales) was a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais bordered the English Channel (west), the North Sea (northwest), Belgium (north and east), and Picardy (south). Until the 17th century, the history of the North was largely shared with the history of Belgium (the Celtic Belgians during Antiquity were a multitude of Celtic peoples from the north of Gaul), that of a land that "for almost a thousand years served as a battlefield for all of Europe." The majority of the region was once part of the historical Southern Netherlands, but gradually became part of France between 1477 and 1678, particularly during the reign of King Louis XIV. The historical French provinces that preceded Nord-Pas-de-Calais are Artois, French Flanders, French Hainaut, and (partially) Picardy (part of Hainaut and Flanders is in the Kingdom of Belgium). These provincial designations are still frequently used by the inhabitants. The former administrative region was created in 1956 under the name "Nord" and maintained that name until 1972, when "Pas-de-Calais" was added. This remained unchanged until its dissolution in 2016. With a population density of 330.8 people per km2 on just over 12,414 km2, it was a densely populated region inhabited by 4.1 million people, 7% of France's total population, making it the fourth most populous region in the country, 83% of whom live in urban communities. Its administrative centre and largest city is Lille. The second largest city is Calais, which serves as a major continental economic/transportation hub with Dover of Great Britain 42 kilometres (26 mi) away; this makes Nord-Pas-de-Calais the closest continental European connection to the island of Great Britain. Other major towns include Valenciennes, Lens, Douai, Béthune, Dunkirk, Maubeuge, Boulogne, Arras, Cambrai, and Saint-Omer. The region is featured in numerous films, including Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis.

Mazingarbe (French pronunciation: [mazɛ̃ɡaʁb]; Picard: Mazingarpe) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Lens.

Bully-les-Mines (French pronunciation: [byli le min]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in northern France. It forms part of the Lens-Liévin agglomeration community, which encompasses 36 French communes and 250,000 inhabitants. For many years it was a major coal mining center.

Grenay (French pronunciation: [ɡʁənɛ]; Picard: Guernay) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. It is part of the arrondissement of Lens, the canton of Wingles and the Communaupole de Lens-Liévin. Its population was 6,799 in 2019. The current mayor is Christelle Buissette, elected in 2023.

Aix-Noulette (French pronunciation: [ɛks nulɛt]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Lens.

Noyelles-lès-Vermelles (French pronunciation: [nwajɛl lɛ vɛʁmɛl], literally Noyelles near Vermelles) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Sains-en-Gohelle is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Vermelles British Cemetery is a First World War British war cemetery at Vermelles, a village 10 kilometres north-west of Lens, Pas-de-Calais. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and contains the memorials to 2145 casualties.

Vermelles (French pronunciation: [vɛʁmɛl]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Sailly-Labourse (French pronunciation: [saji labuʁs]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France about 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Béthune and 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Lille.

The canton of Liévin-Nord is a former canton situated in the department of the Pas-de-Calais and in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of northern France. It was disbanded following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. It had a total of 21,045 inhabitants (2012).

The Third Battle of Artois (25 September – 4 November 1915, also the Loos–Artois Offensive) was fought by the French Tenth Army against the German 6th Army on the Western Front of the First World War. The battle included the Battle of Loos by the British First Army. The offensive, meant to complement the Second Battle of Champagne, was the last attempt that year by Joseph Joffre, the French commander-in-chief, to exploit an Allied numerical advantage over Germany. Simultaneous attacks were planned in Champagne-Ardenne to capture the railway at Attigny and in Artois to take the railway line through Douai, to force a German withdrawal from the Noyon salient.