Bapaume

The Town Hall

Coat of arms

Bapaume

Location within Hauts-de-France region

Bapaume

Coordinates: 50°06′16″N 2°51′07″E / 50.1044°N 2.8519°ECoordinates: 50°06′16″N 2°51′07″E / 50.1044°N 2.8519°E

Country

Sud Artois

Government

• Mayor (2014–2020)

Jean-Jacques Cottel

Area¹

5.76 km² (2.22 sq mi)

Population (2010)²

4,115

• Density

710/km² (1,900/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

62080 /62450

Elevation

108–137 m (354–449 ft)
(avg. 122 m or 400 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Bapaume French pronunciation: [] is a French commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bapalmois or Bapalmoises.

Bapaume is a farming and light industrial town located some 23 km south by south-east of Arras and 50 km north-east of Amiens. Access to the commune is by the D917 road from Ervillers in the north which passes through the commune in a zig-zag then continues south-east to Beaulencourt. The D930 goes east by north-east to Frémicourt. The D929 branches off the D917 at the edge of the commune and goes south-west to Warlencourt-Eaucourt. The A1 autoroute passes south down the eastern edge of the commune but there is no exit in or near the commune.

Bapaume has been called the Seuil de Bapaume (Bapaume threshold) due to its position as a crossing point between Artois and the Flanders plain on one side, and the Somme valley and the Paris Basin on the other. From the mid-11th century there was a Bapaume toll which was revised in 1202 and again in 1442.

Many roads pass through Bapaume, both old roads between the two regions then the autoroute (1965) and the TGV (1993). In the 19th century, however, the city council opposed the passage through its territory of the Paris-Lille railway.

This position was regretted by 1859 when the municipality called for the construction of a railway linking Achiet-le-Grand (on the Paris-Lille route) to Bapaume with animal traction (possibly they were afraid of steam). The railway linking the two communes was not commissioned until 1871, with steam traction. The TGV came to the town in 1993.

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Wikipedia