French Hainaut (French: Hainaut français in French pronounced as /ɛno fʁɑ̃sɛ/) is one of two areas in France that form the département du Nord, making up its eastern part. It corresponds roughly with the Arrondissement of Avesnes-sur-Helpe (east), the Arrondissement of Cambrai (south-west) and the Arrondissement of Valenciennes (north-west).
Until the 17th century, it was an integral part of the County of Hainaut, ruled by the House of Valois-Burgundy and later by the House of Habsburg. In a series of wars between France and Spain, this southern part of Hainaut was conquered by France, together with the adjacent Cambrésis, or Bishopric of Cambrai, to its south-west, and southern Flanders, which borders the English Channel, to its west. Together, these formed the French province of Flanders which, following the French Revolution, became the new Nord département.[1]