East Flanders

	East Flanders (Dutch: Oost-Vlaanderen; French: Flandre-Orientale)
	Province of Belgium
	Historical centre of Ghent
Flag	Coat of arms
Country	Belgium
Region	Flemish Region
Capital	Ghent
- coordinates	51°3′N 03°44′E / 51.050°N 3.733°E
Highest point	Hotondberg
- location	Kluisbergen, Oudenaarde, East Flanders
- elevation	150 m (492 ft)
Area	2,991 km² (1,155 sq mi)
Population	1,486,722 (1 January 2016)
Density	497 /km² (1,287 /sq mi)
Subdivisions	6 Arrondissements; 65 Municipalities
Governor	Jan Briers
Timezone	CET (UTC+1)
- summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal codes	9000–9999
ISO 3166-2	BE-VOV
	Location of the East Flanders province
	Website: Official site

Coordinates: 51°3′N 03°44′E / 51.050°N 3.733°E

East Flanders (Dutch: Oost-Vlaanderen, French: (Province de) Flandre-Orientale, German: Ostflandern) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium.

Its capital, and also the largest city of the province, is Ghent (Dutch: Gent, French: Gand).

NameEdit

East in East Flanders means that it is in eastern part of Flanders, a region that forms part of the present Belgium. The word Flanders refers to the historic county of Flanders and appears for the first time in the year 358 under the name pagus Flandrensis^[2] (pagus is a Latin word meaning a very small town, with only few houses).

The pagus Flandrensis region was a coastal area with large tidal channels and green marshes where sheep farmers lived.^[2]

The modern province of East Flanders was the old Escaut department, created in 1795 during the First French Empire in the eastern part of the County^{[N 1]} of Flanders.

In 1815, during the creation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the department became the province of East Flanders.

GeographyEdit

East Flanders borders (clockwise from the North) on the Netherlands and in Belgium on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant (both in Flanders), of Hainaut (Wallonia) and of West Flanders (Flanders).

The province has an area of 2,991 km² (1,155 sq mi) with a population of 1,486,722^[1] and a density of 497.1 inhabitants per km².

The capital and biggest city is Ghent, also the second largest city in the Flemish Region. Other smaller cities are Aalst, Sint-Niklaas and Dendermonde in the east of the province.

Its highest point is Hotondberg, 150 m (492 ft) high, in the municipality of Kluisbergen, Oudenaarde district.

The main river in the province is the Scheldt (Dutch: Schelde, French: Escaut); it merges with the Leie in Ghent. The Dender flows into the Scheldt in the city of Dendermonde.

Administrative divisionsEdit

The province of Hainaut is divided into six arrondissements (Aalst, Dendermonde, Eeklo, Ghent, Oudenaarde and Sint-Niklaas) and a total of 65 municipalities.

Map of the municipalities of Hainaut
(names are in the following table)

**Municipalities by *arrondissements*, with their numbers in the map**
Aalst	Dendermonde	Eeklo
Aalst (1) Denderleeuw (10) Erpe-Mere (14) Geraardsbergen (18) Haaltert (19) Herzele (21) Lede (30) Ninove (42) Sint-Lievens-Houtem (48) Zottegem (63)	Berlare (4) Buggenhout (7) Dendermonde (11) Hamme (20) Laarne (28) Lebbeke (29) Waasmunster (54) Wetteren (56) Wichelen (57) Zele (59)	Assenede (3) Eeklo (13) Kaprijke (23) Maldegem (36) Sint-Laureins (47) Zelzate (60)
Ghent	Oudenaarde	Sint-Niklaas
Aalter (2) Deinze (9) De Pinte (8) Destelbergen (12) Evergem (15) Gavere (16) Ghent (17) Knesselare (25) Lochristi (32) Lovendegem (34) Melle (37) Merelbeke (38) Moerbeke (39) Nazareth (40) Nevele (41) Oosterzele (43) Sint-Martens-Latem (49) Waarschoot (53) Wachtebeke (55) Zomergem (62) Zulte (64)	Brakel (6) Horebeke (22) Kluisbergen (24) Kruishoutem (27) Lierde (31) Maarkedal (35) Oudenaarde (44) Ronse (45) Wortegem-Petegem (58) Zingem (61) Zwalm (65)	Beveren (5) Kruibeke (26) Lokeren (33) Sint-Gillis-Waas (46) Sint-Niklaas (50) Stekene (51) Temse (52)

Population by arrondissementEdit

Population on 1 January of each year.^[3]

Arrondissement	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012^[1]
Aalst	267,274	269,489	271,466	273,544	276,550	278,667
Dendermonde	189,638	190,338	191,527	192,521	194,015	195,358
Eeklo	80,547	80,864	81,422	81,921	82,458	82,791
Ghent	512,407	516,609	521,796	527,248	533,178	535,904
Oudenaarde	117,125	118,101	119,140	119,995	120,533	121,199
Sint-Niklaas	231,262	233,083	235,064	237,097	239,097	240,797
Province of East Flanders	1,398,253	1,408,484	1,420,415	1,432,326	1,445,831	1,454,716

NotesEdit

↑ In this case "county" (French: Comté) means "land under a count (the British earl)."

ReferencesEdit

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Population per municipality as of 1 January 2016 (XLS; 397 KB)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Vanwaar kom de naam Vlaanderen en wat was de naam daarvoor?". Ik heb een vraag (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 August 2013.
↑ Institut National de Statistique - Direction générale Statistique et Information économique

Other websitesEdit

Wikivoyage has a travel guide about: East Flanders

(Dutch) Official Website

[3] In this case "county" (French: Comté) means "land under a count (the British earl)."

[r-pop-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Population per municipality as of 1 January 2016 (XLS; 397 KB)

[ikheb-2] 2.0 ^2.1 "Vanwaar kom de naam Vlaanderen en wat was de naam daarvoor?". Ik heb een vraag (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 August 2013.

[4] Institut National de Statistique - Direction générale Statistique et Information économique

[1]

[2]

[N 1]

[3]