Hem, Nord

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Coordinates: 50°39′21″N 3°11′19″E / 50.6558333333, 3.18861111111

Administration
Commune of Hem
Location

Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Department	Nord
Arrondissement	Lille
Canton	Lannoy
Intercommunality	Lille Métropole
Mayor	Francis Vercamer (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	45 m (avg.)
Land area^¹	9.65 km²
Population^² (1999)	19,675
- Density	2,038/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	59299/ 59510
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Hem is a commune of the Nord département, in France. It is located near the city of Roubaix.

Hem is one of the oldest communes in the North of France. Originally known as ‘Ham’, it became ‘Hem’ during the 14th century. The name means ‘the dwelling-place’ and suggests a large number of households of the size of a hamlet.

A territory of around 9.65 km², Hem at the beginning of the 19th century numbered just 4 876 inhabitants. It was at first essentially an agricultural centre with the fine plains of Hauts-Champs, Longchamp, Beaumont and Le Civron, but would reach the height of its industrial prosperity in 1900 although there would still be 41 farmers.

It was after the Second World War that the population of Hem began to grow rapidly. In the space of twenty years, Hem's population quadrupled. The town's former centre found itself increasingly pushed towards the town limits; the new housing was largely concentrated around the north of the town and would accommodate almost 50 per cent of the population. This housing would count for 72 per cent of the total housing of Hem but only 15 per cent of the total area of the town.

Unfortunately, the employment offered by the various firms and retail outlets of the town would not keep pace with the town's growth. In 1975, only 2 200 jobs were on offer to a potential workforce of 7 890 people (almost half of whom were manual workers). From the mid-1970s, with deindustrialisation, the town's population began experiencing slow but regular decline.

Since the 1990s, the municipal authority of Hem has prioritized the town’s economic prosperity; as a result, around 15 new firms have set up in the town.