With the Benelux countries just a stone's throw away, the Sambre-Avesnois is particularly well situated:

• Less than 250 km from some of northern Europe's main capital cities, London, Brussels, Paris and Luxembourg, the major international seaports of Antwerp and Rotterdam and the north-European markets.
• Less than 100 km from the international airports of Lille, Brussels and Charleroi
• Less than 100 km from the university towns of Lille, Brussels and Mons
• Inside a transborder region between the Lille metropolis (population 2.7 million) and the Walloon towns of Mons and Charleroi (population 700,000)
• Near to the main trade routes from north to south (Benelux to Southern Europe) and from east to west (Central Europe to the western seaboard)