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Hauts-de-France is a region of France created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. The new region came into existence on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections in December 2015. France's Conseil d'État approved Hauts-de-France as the name of the region on 28 September 2016, effective 30 September 2016.The region covers an area of more than 31813km2, and has a population of 5,973,098.ToponymyThe region's interim name Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie was a hyphenated placename, created by hyphenating the merged regions' names—Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie—in alphabetical order.On 14 March 2016, well ahead of the 1 July deadline, the Regional council decided on Hauts-de-France as the region's permanent name,. The provisional name of the region was retired on 30 September 2016, when the new name of the region, Hauts-de-France, took effect.GeographyThe region borders Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia) to the northeast, the English Channel to the northwest, as well as the French regions of Grand Est to the southeast, Île-de-France to the south, and Normandy to the southwest. It is connected to the United Kingdom (England) via the Channel Tunnel.