Arras (; ; ) is the capital (chef-lieu/préfecture) of the Pas-de-Calais department, which is half of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France’s fourth most populous region. It is located in Northern France on the Scarpe river. The Arras plain lies on a large chalk plateau bordered on the north by the Marqueffles fault, on the southwest by the Artois and Ternois hills, and on the south by the slopes of Beaufort-Blavincourt. On the east it is connected to the Scarpe valley.