🧭 The northernmost cities in France

The northernmost city in France is Dunkerque, at a latitude of 51.0183° N, followed by its immediate neighbours Coudekerque-Branche and Grande-Synthe on the same stretch of North Sea coast.

What are the 10 northernmost cities in France?
In order: Dunkerque, Coudekerque-Branche, Grande-Synthe, Gravelines, Calais, Marck, Halluin, Saint-Omer, Neuville-en-Ferrain and Comines.
What is the top 5 of northernmost cities in France?
Dunkerque (51.0183° N), Coudekerque-Branche (51.0183° N), Grande-Synthe (51.0157° N), Gravelines (51.0029° N) and Calais (50.9523° N).
Which city is 2nd in the ranking of northernmost cities in France?
Coudekerque-Branche, at 51.0183° N, just behind Dunkerque (51.0183° N).
Is Dunkerque really the northernmost city in France?
Yes, at 51.0183° N, ahead of Coudekerque-Branche (51.0183° N) and Grande-Synthe (51.0157° N).
In which département is Dunkerque?
Dunkerque is in département 59, in the Hauts-de-France region.
Which city is 10th in the ranking of northernmost cities in France?
Comines, at 50.7496° N.
How many French cities does this ranking compare?
1,131, with the top 100 listed in full in the table below.
What are the northernmost cities in France in 2026?
This ranking uses the most recent official figures published as of 2026: Dunkerque leads with 51.0183° N.
Is there a complete ranking of northernmost cities in France?
Yes, the table below: the top 100 of 1,131, each with its département and its region, and the exact method and scope stated underneath it.
Which city is at the top of the map of France?
Dunkerque, at 51.0183° N, on the Channel coast near the Belgian border, with Coudekerque-Branche and Grande-Synthe beside it.
Is this the same as the "Nord" département?
No. This ranks cities by latitude, so it is about position on the map, not administrative names. The northernmost cities do sit in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais départements, which is why the two questions get confused.
What is the latitude of Dunkerque?
51.0183° N. Four decimals are given because neighbouring communes here are within a few hundred metres of each other.

The table below ranks the top 100 of the 1,131 cities in the dataset, each with its département, its region and the figure it is ranked on (latitude), so you can see not just the order but how far apart the places are. The numbers are official public data: INSEE legal populations and the IGN commune registry, with the exact method and the exact scope stated under the table rather than left to be guessed at.

The same data answers neighbouring questions too: see The southernmost cities in France and The French cities with the most rugby players, or all rankings for the full list. All of it comes from Hexagone, a free daily game that gives you five French cities and one of these statistics and asks you for the order.

Top 100 of 1,131 cities
#CityRegionLatitudePopulation
159DunkerqueHauts-de-France51.0183° N86,263
259Coudekerque-BrancheHauts-de-France51.0183° N20,787
359Grande-SyntheHauts-de-France51.0157° N20,239
459GravelinesHauts-de-France51.0029° N11,430
562CalaisHauts-de-France50.9523° N67,571
662MarckHauts-de-France50.9514° N10,467
759HalluinHauts-de-France50.7759° N20,715
862Saint-OmerHauts-de-France50.7673° N14,382
959Neuville-en-FerrainHauts-de-France50.7559° N10,002
1059CominesHauts-de-France50.7496° N12,731
1159RoncqHauts-de-France50.7453° N14,075
1262LonguenesseHauts-de-France50.7348° N10,548
1359BailleulHauts-de-France50.7325° N14,732
1462Boulogne-sur-MerHauts-de-France50.7303° N40,539
1559HazebrouckHauts-de-France50.7254° N21,912
1662Saint-Martin-BoulogneHauts-de-France50.7229° N10,888
1759TourcoingHauts-de-France50.7210° N98,772
1859WattrelosHauts-de-France50.7125° N40,847
1959MouvauxHauts-de-France50.7044° N13,369
2059WambrechiesHauts-de-France50.6983° N11,012
2162OutreauHauts-de-France50.6975° N13,138
2259ArmentièresHauts-de-France50.6925° N26,998
2359RoubaixHauts-de-France50.6887° N98,286
2459Marcq-en-BarœulHauts-de-France50.6793° N40,184
2559CroixHauts-de-France50.6754° N20,566
2659Marquette-lez-LilleHauts-de-France50.6746° N12,622
2759Lys-lez-LannoyHauts-de-France50.6729° N14,050
2859WasquehalHauts-de-France50.6726° N20,726
2959Saint-André-lez-LilleHauts-de-France50.6599° N13,233
3059La MadeleineHauts-de-France50.6541° N21,790
3159LambersartHauts-de-France50.6538° N27,090
3259HemHauts-de-France50.6531° N18,582
3359Mons-en-BarœulHauts-de-France50.6436° N21,105
3459Villeneuve-d'AscqHauts-de-France50.6362° N62,868
3559LilleHauts-de-France50.6311° N238,246
3659LoosHauts-de-France50.6078° N22,567
3759RonchinHauts-de-France50.6034° N19,787
3859HaubourdinHauts-de-France50.6002° N15,074
3959Faches-ThumesnilHauts-de-France50.5956° N18,619
4059WattigniesHauts-de-France50.5862° N15,525
4162LillersHauts-de-France50.5622° N10,193
4259SeclinHauts-de-France50.5453° N13,261
4362BéthuneHauts-de-France50.5299° N25,224
4459AnnœullinHauts-de-France50.5275° N10,847
4562ÉtaplesHauts-de-France50.5247° N10,710
4662Le Touquet-Paris-PlageHauts-de-France50.5120° N4,224
4762AuchelHauts-de-France50.5108° N10,051
4862CarvinHauts-de-France50.4903° N17,909
4962Bruay-la-BuissièreHauts-de-France50.4891° N21,424
5062Nœux-les-MinesHauts-de-France50.4757° N11,590
5159Vieux-CondéHauts-de-France50.4732° N10,617
5262Montreuil-sur-MerHauts-de-France50.4654° N1,912
5362OigniesHauts-de-France50.4636° N10,323
5462CourrièresHauts-de-France50.4538° N10,176
5562HarnesHauts-de-France50.4522° N12,247
5662Bully-les-MinesHauts-de-France50.4466° N12,146
5762LensHauts-de-France50.4395° N32,920
5859Saint-Amand-les-EauxHauts-de-France50.4382° N15,974
5962LiévinHauts-de-France50.4231° N30,063
6062Hénin-BeaumontHauts-de-France50.4189° N25,688
6162BerckHauts-de-France50.4147° N12,951
6259RaismesHauts-de-France50.4117° N12,199
6362AvionHauts-de-France50.4040° N17,435
6462MéricourtHauts-de-France50.3994° N11,619
6559Bruay-sur-l'EscautHauts-de-France50.3967° N11,644
6659Saint-SaulveHauts-de-France50.3797° N10,947
6759DouaiHauts-de-France50.3785° N40,250
6859AnzinHauts-de-France50.3760° N13,183
6959Sin-le-NobleHauts-de-France50.3672° N16,076
7059ValenciennesHauts-de-France50.3620° N43,468
7159SomainHauts-de-France50.3595° N11,766
7259Marly (59)Hauts-de-France50.3464° N11,995
7359DenainHauts-de-France50.3290° N20,665
7459Douchy-les-MinesHauts-de-France50.3005° N10,109
7559JeumontHauts-de-France50.2900° N10,160
7662ArrasHauts-de-France50.2893° N42,875
7759MaubeugeHauts-de-France50.2834° N28,767
7859HautmontHauts-de-France50.2480° N14,152
7980Saint-Valery-sur-SommeHauts-de-France50.1743° N2,306
8059CambraiHauts-de-France50.1722° N31,134
8159CaudryHauts-de-France50.1191° N13,833
8280AbbevilleHauts-de-France50.1101° N22,395
8359FourmiesHauts-de-France50.0064° N11,449
8476DieppeNormandie49.9199° N28,496
8580AmiensHauts-de-France49.8987° N136,449
8602Saint-QuentinHauts-de-France49.8475° N52,813
8708Charleville-MézièresGrand Est49.7802° N45,560
8876FécampNormandie49.7479° N17,313
8976ÉtretatNormandie49.7048° N1,102
9008SedanGrand Est49.6993° N16,667
9102TergnierHauts-de-France49.6562° N13,045
9250La HagueNormandie49.6546° N11,484
9350Cherbourg-en-CotentinNormandie49.6277° N78,258
9402ChaunyHauts-de-France49.6185° N11,596
9576YvetotNormandie49.6183° N11,438
9660NoyonHauts-de-France49.5780° N12,971
9776BolbecNormandie49.5755° N11,590
9802LaonHauts-de-France49.5711° N24,220
9976BarentinNormandie49.5431° N12,022
10076MontivilliersNormandie49.5426° N15,478

Scope: France, metropolitan and overseas, Corsica and the DROM included. This dataset holds every commune of 10,000 inhabitants or more, plus smaller communes famous enough to be household names, 1,131 in all. It is not the full list of 35,000 French communes, so a village can sit outside a ranking whose extreme it would otherwise hold.

Method and sources: populations are the INSEE legal populations, boundaries and coordinates come from the IGN commune registry, both served by geo.api.gouv.fr. Density is the population divided by the commune's area; distances are measured as the crow flies from the commune's centre. Data read on August 11, 2026.

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FAQ

Which is the northernmost city in France?

The northernmost city in France is Dunkerque, at a latitude of 51.0183° N, followed by its immediate neighbours Coudekerque-Branche and Grande-Synthe on the same stretch of North Sea coast.

What are the top 10?

In order: Dunkerque (51.0183° N), Coudekerque-Branche (51.0183° N), Grande-Synthe (51.0157° N), Gravelines (51.0029° N), Calais (50.9523° N), Marck (50.9514° N), Halluin (50.7759° N), Saint-Omer (50.7673° N), Neuville-en-Ferrain (50.7559° N), Comines (50.7496° N).

And the northernmost commune, not city?

This ranks cities, so its leader is the northernmost city rather than the northernmost commune of any size: the very top of France is a stretch of dune villages on the Belgian border, smaller than this dataset's floor. Note too that the northernmost city is not in the département called Nord. The coast there belongs to it, but the two questions are different ones.

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