Dunkirk is said to have originated in a chapel founded by St Eloi jn the 7th century, round which a small village speedily sprung up. In the 10th century Baldwin III., count of Flanders, raised it to the rank of a town. In 1388 it was burned by the English, and in the 16th century Charles V. built a tower for its defence, of which no traces now remain. In 1558 the English, who had for some time held the town, were expelled from it by the French, who in the ensuing year surrendered it to the Spaniards. In 1646 it once more passed into the hands of the French, who, after a few years’ occupation of it, again restored it to Spain. In 1658 it was retaken by the French and made over to the English. After the Restoration, Charles II., being in money difficulties, sold it to the French king Louis XIV., who fortified it. In 1793 it was attacked by the English under the duke of York, who, however, were compelled to retire from its walls with severe loss. The population in 1872 was 34,342.

DUNKIRK, a lake-port town of the United States, in Chautauqua county, New York, situated on a small bay in Lake Erie, 40 miles south-west of Buffalo. It is an important station on the Lake railroad, and forms the western terminus of the Erie line; and by means of the Carrolton railroad it has connection with the Pennsylvania coal-fields. The town occupies an elevated and agreeable position on the lake, and its harbour is free of ice earlier in the spring than the neighbouring port of Buffalo. The industries of the place comprise oil-refining, and the manufacture of glue, flour, and iron-work. Population (1870), 5231.