town, Pas-de-Calais département, Nord-Pas-de-Calais région, northern France, lying between Lens and Douai. Chartered in 1229, it was made a county in 1579 by Philip II of Spain and was annexed by France in 1678. The town, in a former coal-mining district, has seen the recent development of food processing, textile manufacture, and electrical and mechanical engineering industries. Pop. (1999) 25,178; (2005 est.) 26,300.