Sangatte Zandgat | |
|---|---|
 A general view of Sangatte | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Sangatte  | |
  Sangatte  Sangatte | |
| Coordinates:50°56′51″N1°45′27″E / 50.9475°N 1.7575°E /50.9475; 1.7575 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Hauts-de-France |
| Department | Pas-de-Calais |
| Arrondissement | Calais |
| Canton | Calais-1 |
| Intercommunality | CA Grand Calais Terres et Mers |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Guy Allemand[1] |
Area 1 | 14.28 km2 (5.51 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 4,755 |
| • Density | 330/km2 (860/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 62774 /62231 |
| Elevation | 0–151 m (0–495 ft) (avg. 4 m or 13 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Sangatte (French pronunciation:[sɑ̃ɡat];West Flemish:Zandgat) is acommune in thePas-de-Calaisdepartment on the northern coast ofFrance on theEnglish Channel.[3] The name is of Flemish origin, meaning hole or gap in the sand.
Sangatte is the location for theChannel Tunnel's French cooling station, its British counterpart being atSamphire Hoe. In addition, it is the French end-point for theHVDC Cross-Channel, the connection between the UK and French electricity grids.
Sangatte was the landing point of the world's first operational underwatertelegraph cable, laid across the Channel by theSubmarine Telegraph Company in 1851 betweenSouth Foreland and Sangatte.
'Blériot-Plage' is named to commemorateLouis Blériot who, on 25 July 1909, was the first person to fly across theEnglish Channel. He flew from the beach at Sangatte to theWhite Cliffs of Dover, to claim the prize offered by theDaily Mail. The crossing took 37 minutes in his aeroplane,Blériot XI, built in collaboration withRaymond Saulnier. It was powered bya 3-cylinder 25 horsepower (19 kW) engine.
At the western end of the beach, a statue of the French aviatorHubert Latham overlooks the sea. Latham was another pioneering cross-channel pilot whose earlier attempt on 19 July had failed.[4]
Sangatte is also the landing location ofSupermarine Spitfire Mark 1a N3200 ofNo. 19 Squadron RAF, which was forced to land at the beach after receiving damage to its radiator from shots fired by aMesserschmitt Bf 109 ofJG 2[5] duringOperation Dynamo on 26 May 1940, having shot down aJunkers Ju 87 shortly beforehand to protect the evacuating soldiers atDunkirk. The plane was recovered from the sand at Sangatte in 1986, and restoration work commenced in 2000, which continued until 2014 when works completed, the aircraft having been repaired to a fully airworthy state.[6]
Sangatte was the location of arefugee camp set up by theFrench Red Cross in 1999 as a result of an influx of migrants attempting to travel to the United Kingdom. They were mainly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo.[7] Under pressure from the UK government,Nicolas Sarkozy (then Minister of the Interior), ordered its closure in 2002.[8] There were riots in 2001 and 2002, the year the camp closed.[9]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 3,340 | — |
| 1975 | 3,332 | −0.03% |
| 1982 | 3,199 | −0.58% |
| 1990 | 3,326 | +0.49% |
| 1999 | 4,046 | +2.20% |
| 2007 | 4,549 | +1.48% |
| 2012 | 4,719 | +0.74% |
| 2017 | 4,820 | +0.42% |
| Source: INSEE[10] | ||
| Period | Identity | Label | Qualifications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empty data needs to be completed | ||||
| v. 1959 | Jules Boulart | |||
| March 1971 | March 1983 | René Coucy | DVG | Doctor of medicine |
| March 1983 | March 2001 | René Lapôtre | RPR | General Councillor for Calais-Nord-Ouest(1992 → 1998) |
| March 2001 | September 2006 | André Segard | PS | Former Inspector of National Education General Councillor for Calais-Nord-Ouest(2004 → 2006)Passed away in service |
| September 2006 | On Going (September 19th 2024) | Guy Allemand | SE | Former company manager and purchasing center manager Vice-president of CA Grand Calais Terres et MersReelected for 2014-2020 term,,Relected for 2020-2026 term,, |
Sandgate, Kent, England, UK.In theBBC Two showTop Gear, the three presentersJeremy Clarkson,Richard Hammond andJames May crossed theChannel in an amphibious Nissan Navara and instead of finishing atCalais after leavingDover, they ended up 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) along the coast in Sangatte.[citation needed]
(In French language)
