Editing Calais (section)

==Economy==
[[File:Calaiscentreville.jpg|thumb|upright|Town centre]]
The city's proximity to England has made it a major port for centuries. It is the principal ferry crossing point between England and France, with the vast majority of Channel crossings being made between [[Dover]] and Calais. Companies operating from Calais include [[SeaFrance]] (currently in liquidation<ref>{{Cite news |last=Willsher |first=Kim |date=9 January 2012 |title=SeaFrance ferry firm sunk by legal ruling on French bailout |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jan/09/seafrance-ferries-sunk-bailout-ruling |access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref>), [[DFDS Seaways]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=DFDS Seaways |url=http://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk/ |access-date=16 December 2012 |publisher=[[DFDS Seaways]] |archive-date=15 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215022346/http://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[P&O Ferries]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=P&O Ferries |url=http://www.poferries.com/ |access-date=5 February 2012 |publisher=[[P&O Ferries]] |archive-date=19 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919184305/http://www.poferries.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The French end of the [[Channel Tunnel]] is situated in the vicinity of Calais, in [[Coquelles]] some {{convert|4|mi|km}} to the west of the town. Calais possesses direct rail links to Paris, {{convert|148|mi|km}} to the south. More than 10&nbsp;million people visit Calais annually.<ref name="Whitfield2005" />

From medieval times, English companies thrived in Calais. Calais was a particularly important centre in the production and trade of wool and cloth, which outweighed the costs of maintaining the town as part of England. In 1830 some 113 manufacturers were based in Calais and the St Pierre suburbs, the majority of which were English.<ref name="Ruler69" /> There are still two major lace factories in Calais with around 700 looms and 3000 employees.<ref name="Ruler69">Ruler (2011), p.69</ref> The town exports in the early 20th century were lace, chemicals, paper, wines, especially champagne, spirits, hay, straw, wool, potatoes, woven goods, fruit, glass-ware, lace and metal-ware.<ref name="EB">[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] 11th ed. 1911</ref> Principal imports in the early 20th century included cotton and silk goods, coal, iron and steel, petroleum, timber, raw wool, cotton yarn and cork.<ref name="EB" /> During the five years 1901–1905 the average annual value of exports was £8,388,000 (£6,363,000 in the years 1896–1900), of imports £4,145,000 (£3,759,000 in 1896–1900).<ref name="EB" />

As a fishing port, Calais has several notable fishing markets including Les Délices de la Mer and Huîtrière Calaisenne on the Boulevard La Fayette, the latter of which is noted for its [[oyster]]s, [[lobster]] and [[crab]]s from Brittany. The Emile Fournier et Fils market on the Rue Mouron sells mainly smoked fish including [[salmon]], [[trout]], [[herring]] and [[halibut]].<ref>Ruler (2011), p.66</ref>