Dunkerque

Dunkerque, also known as Dunkirk, town, northern France, in Nord Department, on the Strait of Dover, near Calais. It is a manufacturing center, major seaport, and fishing base, connected by railroad and canal with the principal industrial and agricultural centers of Belgium and France.

Dunkerque grew around a church built in the 7th century by Saint Éloi in the midst of sand dunes; the name of the town is Flemish for “Church on the Dunes.” Historically Dunkerque shared the fortunes of Flanders, coming successively under Burgundian, Austrian, and Spanish rule. It was taken by the English in 1658 and sold to France in 1662 by Charles II of England. By the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 the French were compelled to destroy the fortifications of Dunkerque, but they were restored in 1783.

In World War I (1914-1918) the port was the object of constant attacks by the Germans, principally by air, because of its importance as an antisubmarine base. In World War II, during May-June 1940, Dunkerque was the site of one of the great military feats of history when more than 335,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated by naval vessels and small civilian craft that were under constant German attack. Population (2005 estimate) 69,500.