| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin is an area of great architectural and landscape diversity. | |
 Interactive map of Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin | |
| Location | Nord-Pas-de-Calais,France |
| Includes | 108 components |
| Criteria | Cultural: (ii), (iv), (vi) |
| Reference | 1360 |
| Inscription | 2012 (36thSession) |
| Area | 3,943 ha (9,740 acres) |
| Buffer zone | 18,804 ha (46,470 acres) |
| Coordinates | 50°27′45″N3°32′46″E / 50.46250°N 3.54611°E /50.46250; 3.54611 |
  Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin Location of Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin in France | |
TheNord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin is a mining basin in NorthernFrance that stretches across theNord andPas-de-Calais departments. The region is famous for its long history ofcoal extraction and its testimony to a significant period in the history of industrialisation in Europe, and as a result it was inscribed on theUNESCOWorld Heritage List in 2012.[1] This area has been shaped by three centuries ofcoal extraction from the late 17th century through the 20th century, and demonstrates the evolution of coal mining techniques and worker conditions during that time.[1]
The Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin is the western part of acoal-richsedimentary basin that continues across the Belgian border. In France, the basin covers 1,200 square kilometers, including the cities ofBéthune,Lens,Douai, andValenciennes.[2] Because of its long history of mining as the predominant industry, the region's architecture and landscape are unique.[1]
Although coal was first discovered in the basin in 1660 and the first pit was dug around 1692[citation needed], there was little coal extraction in the north of France until the mid 18th century.[2] In 1815, theFirst French Empire collapsed. Thepopulation grew, there was a widespreadHolznot and theIndustrial Revolution began. In the1830s,rail transport in France began. The coal pits near Valenciennes were expanded and mining companies began to form in the region.[2] In the 1840s, the western part of the basin was discovered.
Starting with theSecond French Empire in the 1850s, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining basin became the most important mining basin in France. By1880, the basin output nearly 8 million tonnes, and in the early 1900s accounted for a third of all coal mining in France.[2] The famous novelGerminal, written byÉmile Zola in 1885, describes the harsh conditions and working life of the miners during the expansion of coal extraction in the region. In March 1906, theCourrières mine disaster caused the death of 1,099 men.[2]
DuringWorld War I, theWestern Front bisected the region, and the eastern part of the mining basin was flooded.[2] By 1930, however, the basin had a peak output of 35 million tonnes, employing about 75,000 workers and accounting for 60% of France's national coal production.[2]
FromJune 1940 toSeptember 1944,Northern France was occupied byNazi Germany.
AfterWorld War II, production began to decline, as many of the mines had started to deplete, conditions became more arduous andoil was cheap. Strikes in 1968 and 1971 hastened the decline, and all of the mines in the area were essentially closed by the late1980s.[2]
The World Heritage Site comprises 108 components of the once-prolific mines in the area, preserving sites of mining operation including 17 mining pits, 21headgears (used to support the lift systems over the mine), 51slag heaps, coal transport infrastructure (including mining cars and railway stations), workers’ estates, andmining villages. Within the mining villages protected by the site there are schools, religious buildings, health and community facilities, company premises, owners and managers’ houses, and town halls.
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