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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Nord-Pas de Calais Mining BasinUNESCO World Heritage SiteNord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin is an area of great architectural and landscape diversity.LocationNord-Pas-de-Calais, FranceIncludes108 componentsCriteriaCultural: (ii), (iv), (vi)Reference1360Inscription2012 (36th Session)Area3,943 ha (9,740 acres)Buffer zone18,804 ha (46,470 acres)Coordinates50°27′45″N 3°32′46″E / 50.46250°N 3.54611°ELocation of Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin in FranceThe Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin is a mining basin in Northern France that stretches across the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments. The region is famous for its long history of coal extraction and its testimony to a significant period in the history of industrialisation in Europe, and as a result it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012.[1] This area has been shaped by three centuries of coal 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]Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin location on French coal basins map.Description and history[edit]The Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin is the western part of a coal-rich sedimentary basin that continues across the Belgian border. In France, the basin covers 1,200 square kilometers, including the cities of Béthune, Lens, Douai, and Valenciennes.[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] However, with the increasing scarcity of timber and the collapse of the First French Empire in 1815, 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 the Second French Empire in the 1850s, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining basin became the most important mining basin in
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