Sangatte

Sangatte is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department on the northern coast of France on the English Channel. The name of Flemish origin, meaning hole or gap in the sand (modern Dutch spelling Zandgat).

Sangatte
Commune
A general view of Sangatte
Coat of arms
Location of Sangatte
Sangatte
Sangatte
Coordinates: 50°56′51″N 1°45′27″E
CountryFrance
RegionHauts-de-France
DepartmentPas-de-Calais
ArrondissementCalais
CantonCalais-1
IntercommunalityCA Grand Calais Terres et Mers
Government
 • Mayor (2014-2020) Guy Allemand
Area
1
14.28 km2 (5.51 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
4,820
 • Density340/km2 (870/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
62774 /62231
Elevation0–151 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.

Engineering

Sangatte is the location for the Channel Tunnel's French cooling station, its British counterpart being at Samphire Hoe. In addition, it is the French end-point for the HVDC Cross-Channel, the connection between the UK and French electricity grids.

History

Pioneering cross-Channel flight

'Blériot-Plage' is named to commemorate Louis Blériot who, on the July 25, 1909, was the first person to fly across the English Channel. He flew from the beach at Sangatte to the White Cliffs of Dover, to claim the prize offered by the Daily Mail. The crossing took 37 minutes in his aeroplane, Blériot XI, built in collaboration with Raymond Saulnier. It was powered by a 3-cylinder 25 horsepower (19 kW) engine.

At the western end of the beach, a statue of the French aviator Hubert Latham overlooks the sea. Latham was another pioneering cross-channel pilot whose earlier attempt on July 19 had failed.[2]

Refugee camp

Sangatte was the location of a refugee camp set up by the French 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.[3] Under pressure from the UK government, Nicolas Sarkozy (then Minister of the Interior), ordered its closure in 2002.[4] There were riots in 2001 and 2002, the year the camp closed.[5]

Population
Population history
19621968197519821990199920062012
33093340333231993326404645914719
Census count starting in 1962: Population without duplicates

Twin towns

In the BBC Two show Top Gear, the three presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May crossed the Channel in an amphibious Nissan Navara and instead of finishing at Calais after leaving Dover, they ended up 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) along the coast in Sangatte.

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Flight Magazine 30 March 1951 p.365: Portrait of a Pioneer by Colin Boyle
  3. Rahman-Jones, Imran (24 October 2016). "The history of the Calais 'Jungle' camp and how it's changed since 1999". BBC Newsbeat. Archived from the original on 9 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  4. Le Monde, 7 mai 2007: http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-823448,36-906438@51-823374@45-100,0.html
  5. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/03/calais-mayor-threatens-block-port-uk-fails-help-migrants

(In French language)

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