<P> Dunkirk (/ dʌnˈkɜːrk / or / ˈdʌnkɜːrk /; French: Dunkerque, pronounced (dœ̃kɛʁk); Dutch: Duinkerke (n), pronounced (ˈdœyŋkɛr (ə) kə (n)) (listen)) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France . It lies 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the Belgian border . The population of the city (commune) at the 2016 census was 91,412 inhabitants . </P> <P> The name of Dunkirk derives from West Flemish dun (e)' dune' or' dun' and kerke' church', which together means' church in the dunes' . Until the middle of the 20th century, the city was situated in the French Flemish area; today the local Flemish variety of the Dutch language can still be heard, but has largely been supplanted by French . </P> <P> Today Dunkirk is the world's northernmost Francophone city (not counting minor Canadian settlements such as Fermont Quebec, which does have French as a majority language, but is not classified as a city). </P> <P> A fishing village arose late in the tenth century, in the originally flooded coastal area of the English Channel south of the Western Scheldt, when the area was held by the Counts of Flanders, vassals of the French Crown . About 960AD, Count Baldwin III had a town wall erected in order to protect the settlement against Viking raids . The surrounding wetlands were drained and cultivated by the monks of nearby Bergues Abbey . The name Dunkirka was first mentioned in a tithe privilege of 27 May 1067, issued by Count Baldwin V of Flanders . Count Philip I (1157--1191) brought further large tracts of marshland under cultivation, laid out the first plans to build a Canal from Dunkirk to Bergues and vested the Dunkirkers with market rights . </P>

Where is dunkirk on the map of france