Pas-de-Calais
The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...
region of France
France is Administrative divisions of France, divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are Overseas departments and regions of France, ove ...
Béthune
Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a town in northern France, Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department.
Geography
Béthune is located in the Provinces of Fran ...
and west of
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
by the banks of the Lawe River.
History
In 1940 the hamlet of Le Paradis, on the south side of the commune, was the site of the
Le Paradis massacre
The Le Paradis massacre was a World War II war crime committed by members of the 14th Company, 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf, SS Division Totenkopf, under the command of ''Hauptsturmführer'' Fritz Knöchlein. It took place on 27 May 1940, d ...
Battle of France
The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
.
Population
Twin town
The town is twinned with
Swanland
Swanland is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. The village is about to the west of Kingston upon Hull city centre and north of the Humber Estuary in the foothills of the Yorkshir ...
in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
See also
*
Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department
The following is a list of the 887 communes of the Pas-de-Calais department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):