Geography of Dunkirk
Dunkirk (French:Dun-kerque), France, a seaport on the Strait of Dover near the Belgian border. It is the northernmost French port. The city is in a flat, low region drained by canals and protected by dikes. Most industry is in the suburbs. There are shipyards, petroleum refineries, steel mills, metalworking and woodworking plants, jute and cotton mills, boat and fishing-equipment factories, and fish and vegetable canneries. Nearby is a beach resort.
The city is said to have originated in the seventh century when a village sprang up around a chapel founded by Saint Eloi. Fortified in the 10th century, Dunkirk was a key port in the struggles that involved France, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, England, and the Netherlands. In 1658 Oliver Cromwell obliged France to cede Dunkirk to England, but Charles II sold it to the French in 1662. Under the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), the fortifications of Dunkirk were torn down and its port was filled up. These facilities were restored in 1783.
Dunkirk withstood heavy German bombardment in World War I. It was the site of one of the most dramatic events of World War II. More than 300,000 Allied troops (mostly British) were trapped on the beach at Dunkirk when the Germans took all other French channel ports. The troops were under heavy bombardment and one of the major air battles of the war raged overhead. More than 900 vessels of all types removed 338,226 troops in nine days (May 26-June 4, 1940).
Population: 71,071.