Denain

Sister cities

• Mettet

History

A mere village in the beginning of the 19th century, its population rapidly increased from 1850 until 1962, when it had 29,467 inhabitants. Since then its population declined by about 30%. ("See in Denain bold Villars/Fighting the eagle of the Caesars"). Denain was an important centre in the industrial revolution, first for coal-mining from 1720, and steelworks from around 1839. The closure of the large Usinor steelworks at Denain was announced in 1978, and the works finally closed in 1988. Émile Zola is thought to have conducted research into the working of the mine and mining communities by visiting Denain before writing Germinal. A primary school, a park and a road in Denain bear the name of the novelist. Former mayor Patrick Roy was also a deputy and became famous for the support for heavy metal music he expressed at the National Assembly on various occasions.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,656
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,511
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,350
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,326
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,312
• Common Pipistrelle

  Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber, 1774) · Mammalia
  1,144
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  968
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  921

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2008-12-20
  1 km WSW of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
• M 3.3 — 2008-09-13
  3 km SSE of Florennes, Belgium
• M 2.8 — 2008-09-12
  1 km NNW of Court-Saint-Étienne, Belgium
• M 2.7 — 2008-08-09
  1 km SW of Ottignies, Belgium
• M 2.6 — 2008-08-09
  0 km NW of Ottignies, Belgium
• M 2.5 — 2008-08-08
  1 km SSW of Ottignies, Belgium