ETAPLES, a town of northern France, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, on the right bank of the estuary of the Canche, 3 m. from the Straits of Dover, 17 m. S. of Boulogne by rail. Pop. (1931) 6,673. ttaples was a small fishing and commercial port, important during the middle ages. Boat-building is carried on. Le Touquet, in the midst of pine woods, and the neighbour ing Paris-Plage, 31 m. W. of 1?taples at the mouth of the estuary, are much frequented watering places. Antiquarian discoveries have led to the conjecture that Staples occupies the site of the Gallo-Roman port of Quentovicus. In 1492 a treaty was signed here between Henry VII., of England, and Charles VIII., of France. The town was used by the British in the World War.