Flanders

Flanders

*Vlaanderen* (
Community and region of Belgium
Flanders Vlaanderen ( Community and region of Belgium
	Present-day Flanders (dark red) shown within Belgium and Europe. Open Vld
• Minister-President	Jan Jambon (N-VA)
• Legislature	Flemish Parliament
• Speaker	Liesbeth Homans (N-VA)
Area
• Total	13,624 km2 (5,260 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2021)
• Total	6,653,062
• Density	488/km2 (1,260/sq mi)
• Official language	Dutch
Demonyms	Flemish (adjective), Fleming (person); Vlaams (adjective), Vlaming (person)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	BE-VLG
Website	Vlaanderen.be
	The area and population figures are given for the Flemish Region, not the Community.

Flanders (

Brussels-Capital Region that includes it has an independent regional government. The powers of the government of Flanders consist, among others, of economic affairs in the Flemish Region and the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels, such as Flemish culture and education.^[4]

Geographically, Flanders is mainly flat, and has a small section of coast on the

enclave within the Flemish Region.^[b] Flanders also has exclaves of its own: Voeren in the east is between Wallonia and the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in the north consists of 22 exclaves surrounded by the Netherlands. Not including Brussels, there are five present-day Flemish provinces: Antwerp, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Limburg and West Flanders

. The official language is Dutch. Other recognised languages are French and German.

The area of today's Flanders has figured prominently in European history since the Middle Ages. The original County of Flanders stretched around AD 900 from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary and expanded from there. This county also still corresponds roughly with the modern-day Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders, along with neighbouring parts of France and the Netherlands.^[c] In this period, cities such as Ghent and Bruges of the historic County of Flanders, and later Antwerp of the Duchy of Brabant made it one of the richest and most urbanised parts of Europe, trading, and weaving the wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in the arts and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy.

Belgium was one of the centres of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution, but Flanders was at first overtaken by French-speaking Wallonia. In the second half of the 20th century, and due to massive national investments in port infrastructure, Flanders' economy modernised rapidly, and today Flanders and Brussels are much wealthier than Wallonia, being among the wealthiest regions in Europe and the world.^[7] In accordance with late 20th century Belgian state reforms, Flanders was made into two political entities: the Flemish Region (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest) and the Flemish Community (Dutch: Vlaamse Gemeenschap). These entities were merged, although geographically the Flemish Community, which has a broader cultural mandate, covers Brussels, whereas the Flemish Region does not.

Terminology

Modern Belgium

The term "Flanders" has several main modern meanings:

The "Flemish community" or "Flemish nation", i.e. the social, cultural and linguistic, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the
Brussels-Capital Region
.
In the context of the political subdivisions of Belgium there are the
Region by itself
), whereas the latter does comprise the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Brussels.
The political institutions that govern both subdivisions: the operative body or "Flemish Government", and the legislative organ or "Flemish Parliament".
Within Belgian discussions, the two westernmost provinces of the Flemish Region, West Flanders and East Flanders, forming the central portion of the historic County of Flanders are also still collectively referred to as Flanders.

Historical

The name originally applied to the

ancien régime territory called the County of Flanders, that existed from the 8th century (Latin Flandria) until its absorption by the French First Republic

. Until the 1600s, this county also extended over parts of what are now France and the Netherlands.

In France, one of the historically Flemish regions is now in the

Lille Flandres

.

The historically Flemish region which became part of the Dutch Republic, now part of the Dutch province of Zeeland, sometimes called Zeelandic Flanders.

Especially in international discussions, the significance of the County of Flanders and its counts eroded over time, but the designation was used for a bigger territory. "Flanders" (and Latin "Belgium") were the first two common names used for the Burgundian Netherlands.^[8] With the breakaway of the northern Netherlands in the Early modern period, the term Flanders continued to be associated with the whole southern part of the Low Countries ― the Southern, Spanish or Austrian Netherlands, which were the successors of the Burgundian state, and predecessors of modern Belgium.

Dutch-speaking part of Belgium

The term "Flemish" came to be a term for the language Dutch, and during the 19th and 20th centuries, it became increasingly common to refer exclusively to the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium as "Flanders". Belgium divided itself into official French- and Dutch-speaking parts starting in the early '60s. Today Flanders extends over the northern part of Belgium, including not only the Dutch-speaking Belgian parts of the medieval Duchy of Brabant, which was united with Flanders since the Middle Ages, but also Belgian Limburg, which corresponds closely to the medieval County of Loon, and was never under Burgundian control.

The ambiguity between this wider cultural area and that of the county or province still remains in discussions about the region. In most present-day contexts however, the term Flanders is taken to refer to either the political, social, cultural, and linguistic community (and the corresponding official institution, the Flemish Community), or the geographical area, one of the three institutional regions in Belgium, namely the Flemish Region.

In the

Netherlandish are commonly used to designate all the artistic production in this area before about 1580, after which it refers specifically to the southern Netherlands. For example, the term "Flemish Primitives", now outdated in English but used in French, Dutch and other languages, is a synonym for "Early Netherlandish painting", and it is not uncommon to see Mosan art categorized as Flemish art. In music the Franco-Flemish School

is also known as the Dutch School.

Within this Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, French has never ceased to be spoken by some citizens and Jewish groups have been speaking Yiddish in Antwerp for centuries. Regardless of nationality or linguistic background, according to Belgian Law education in schools located in the Flemish Region must be mainly in the Dutch language. In Brussels, teaching is also done in French.

History

Early history

When

Roman empire

.

In the future county of Flanders, the main

Toxandrians who appear to have lived in the Kempen region, in the northern parts of both the Nervian and Tungrian districts, probably stretching into the modern Netherlands. The Roman administrative districts (civitates) of the Menapii, Nervii and Tungri therefore corresponded roughly with the medieval counties of Flanders, Brabant and Loon, and the modern Flemish provinces of East and West Flanders (Menapii), Brabant and Antwerp (the northern Nervii), and Belgian Limburg (part of the Tungri). Brabant appears to have been separated from the Tungri by a relatively unpopulated forest area, the Silva Carbonaria

, forming a natural boundary between northeast and southwest Belgium.

Linguistically, the tribes in this area were under Celtic influence in the south, and Germanic influence in the east, but there is disagreement about what languages were spoken locally (apart from Vulgar Latin), and there may even have been an intermediate "Nordwestblock" language related to both. By the first century AD, Germanic languages appear to have become prevalent in the area of the Tungri.

As Roman influence waned, Frankish populations settled in the Tungiran area east of the Silva Carbonaria, and eventually pushed through it under Chlodio. They had kings in each Roman district (civitas). In the meantime, the Franks contributed to the Roman military. The first Merovingian king Childeric I was king of the Franks within the military of Gaul. He became leader of the administration of Belgica Secunda, which included the civitas of the Menapii (the future county of Flanders). From there, his son Clovis I managed to conquer both the Roman populations of northern France and the Frankish populations beyond the forest areas.

Historical Flanders

A Flemish lady and gentleman in the year 1400, illustrated in the manuscript "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel". Painted by Lucas d'Heere in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Preserved in the Ghent University Library.^[9]

The County of Flanders was a

Baldwin V of Hainaut

in 1191.

During the late

Franc of Bruges formed the Four Members, a form of parliament that exercised considerable power in Flanders.^[10]

Increasingly powerful from the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban

uprising was defeated and Flanders indirectly remained part of the French Crown. Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, due to widespread European population decline following the Black Death of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to Worstead and North Walsham

in Norfolk in the 12th century and established the woolen industry.

The County of Flanders started to take control of the neighbouring

County of Brabant during the life of Louis II, Count of Flanders (1330-1384), who fought his sister-in-law Joanna, Duchess of Brabant

for control of it.

The entire area, straddling the ancient boundary of France and the Holy Roman Empire, later passed to

Habsburg dynasty, and in 1556 to the kings of Spain. Western and southern districts of Flanders were confirmed under French rule under successive treaties of 1659 (Artois), 1668 and 1678

.

The County of Loon, approximately the modern Flemish province of Limburg, remained independent of France, forming a part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège until the French Revolution, but surrounded by the Burgundians, and under their influence.

Low Countries

Beeldenstorm

In 1500, Charles V was born in Ghent. He inherited the Seventeen Provinces (1506), Spain (1516) with its colonies and in 1519 was elected Holy Roman Emperor.^[11] Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, which established the Low Countries as the Seventeen Provinces (or Spanish Netherlands in its broad sense) as an entity separate from the Holy Roman Empire and from France. In 1556 Charles V abdicated due to ill health (he suffered from crippling gout).^[12] Spain and the Seventeen Provinces went to his son, Philip II of Spain.

Over the first half of the 16th century Antwerp grew to become the second-largest European city north of the Alps by 1560. Antwerp was the richest city in Europe at this time.^[13] According to Luc-Normand Tellier "It is estimated that the port of Antwerp was earning the Spanish crown seven times more revenues than the Americas."^[14]

The Sack of Antwerp

in 1576, in which about 7,000 people died

Meanwhile, Protestantism had reached the Low Countries. Among the wealthy traders of Antwerp, the

Mennonite, and finally a Calvinistic

movement. These movements existed independently of each other.

suppressed Calvinism in Flanders, Brabant and Holland (what is now approximately Belgian Limburg was part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and was Catholic de facto). In 1566, the wave of iconoclasm known as the Beeldenstorm was a prelude to religious war between Catholics and Protestants, especially the Anabaptists. The Beeldenstorm started in what is now French Flanders, with open-air sermons (Dutch

: hagepreken) that spread through the Low Countries, first to Antwerp and Ghent, and from there further east and north.

The Eighty Years' War and its consequences

Subsequently, Philip II of Spain sent

Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Spanish troops quickly started fighting the rebels, and the Spanish armies conquered the important trading cities of Bruges and Ghent. Antwerp, which was then the most important port in the world, also had to be conquered. But before the revolt was defeated, a war between Spain and England broke out, forcing Spanish troops to halt their advance. On 17 August 1585, Antwerp fell. This ended the Eighty Years' War for the (from now on) Southern Netherlands. The United Provinces (the Northern Netherlands) fought on until 1648 – the Peace of Westphalia

.

Sebastian Vrancx

, 1622

During the war with England, the rebels from the north, strengthened by refugees from the south, started a campaign to reclaim areas lost to Philip II's Spanish troops. They conquered a considerable part of Brabant (the later North Brabant of the Netherlands), and the south bank of the Scheldt estuary (Zeelandic Flanders), before being stopped by Spanish troops. The front at the end of this war stabilized and became the border between present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. The Dutch (as they later became known) had managed to reclaim enough of Spanish-controlled Flanders to close off the river Scheldt, effectively cutting Antwerp off from its trade routes.

The fall of Antwerp to the Spanish and the closing of the Scheldt caused considerable emigration.^[d] Many Calvinist merchants of Antwerp and other Flemish cities left Flanders and migrated north. Many of them settled in Amsterdam, which was a smaller port, important only in the Baltic trade. The Flemish exiles helped to rapidly transform Amsterdam into one of the world's most important ports. This is why the exodus is sometimes described as "creating a new Antwerp".

Flanders and Brabant, went into a period of relative decline from the time of the

Thirty Years War.^[15] In the Northern Netherlands, the mass emigration from Flanders and Brabant became an important driving force behind the Dutch Golden Age

.

Southern Netherlands (1581–1795)

1609 map of the county of Flanders

Although arts remained relatively impressive for another century with Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Anthony van Dyck, Flanders lost its former economic and intellectual power under Spanish, Austrian, and French rule. Heavy taxation and rigid imperial political control compounded the effects of industrial stagnation and Spanish-Dutch and Franco-Austrian conflict. The Southern Netherlands suffered severely under the War of the Spanish Succession. But under the reign of Empress Maria-Theresia, these lands again flourished economically. Influenced by the Enlightenment, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II was the first sovereign who had been in the Southern Netherlands since King Philip II of Spain left them in 1559.

French Revolution and Napoleonic France (1795–1815)

In 1794, the

Dyle. Obligatory (French) army service for all men aged 16–25 years was a main reason for the uprising against the French in 1798, known as the Boerenkrijg (Peasants' War), with the heaviest fighting in the Campine

area.

United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830)

After the defeat of

East Cantons and Luxembourg – to the United Netherlands (Dutch: Verenigde Nederlanden) under Prince William I of Orange Nassau, making him William I of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. William I started rapid industrialisation of the southern parts of the Kingdom. But the political system failed to forge a true union between the north and south. Most of the southern bourgeoisie

was Roman Catholic and French-speaking, while the north was mainly Protestant and Dutch-speaking.

In 1815, the Dutch Senate was reinstated (Dutch: Eerste Kamer der Staaten Generaal). The nobility, mainly coming from the south, became more and more estranged from their northern colleagues. Resentment grew between the Roman Catholics from the south and the Protestants from the north, and also between the powerful liberal bourgeoisie from the south and their more moderate colleagues from the north. On 25 August 1830 (after the showing of the opera '

Constitutional Monarchy, under the House of Saxe-Coburg. Flanders now became part of the Kingdom of Belgium, which was recognized by the major European Powers on 20 January 1831. The cessation was recognized by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands

on 19 April 1839.

Kingdom of Belgium

In 1830, the

Westerscheldt river delta, was left with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which was allowed to levy a toll on all traffic to Antwerp harbour until 1863.^[15]^[16]

Rise of the Flemish Movement

In 1873, Dutch became an official language in public secondary schools. In 1898, Dutch and French were declared equal languages in laws and Royal orders. In 1930, the first Flemish university was opened.^[17]

The first official translation of the Belgian constitution in Dutch was not published until 1967.

World War I and its consequences

Koksijde, a memorial to soldiers killed in World War I

Flanders (and Belgium as a whole) saw some of the greatest loss of life on the

First World War, in particular from the three battles of Ypres

.

The war strengthened Flemish identity and consciousness. The occupying German authorities took several Flemish-friendly measures. The resulting suffering of the war is remembered by Flemish organizations during the yearly

Yser Tower

.

Right-wing nationalism in the interbellum and World War II

During the interbellum and World War II, several right-wing fascist and/or national-socialistic parties emerged in Belgium. Since these parties were promised more rights for the Flemings by the German government during World War II, many of them collaborated with the Nazi regime. After the war, collaborators (or people who were Zwart, "Black" during the war) were prosecuted and punished, among them many Flemish Nationalists whose main political goal had been the emancipation of Flanders. As a result, until today Flemish Nationalism is often associated with right-wing and sometimes fascist ideologies.

Flemish autonomy

After World War II, the differences between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgians became clear in a number of conflicts, such as the

communities, regions and language areas. This resulted also in the establishment of a Flemish Parliament and Government

. During the 1970s, all major political parties split into a Dutch and French-speaking party.

Several Flemish parties still advocate for more Flemish autonomy, some even for Flemish independence (see

Partition of Belgium), whereas the French-speakers would like to keep the current state as it is. Recent governments (such as Verhofstadt I Government

) have transferred certain federal competences to the regional governments.

On 13 December 2006, a spoof news broadcast by the Belgian Francophone public broadcasting station RTBF announced that Flanders had decided to declare independence from Belgium.

The

2012 provincial and municipal elections

continued the trend of N-VA becoming the biggest party in Flanders.

However, sociological studies show no parallel between the rise of nationalist parties and popular support for their agenda. Instead, a recent study revealed a majority in favour of returning regional competences to the federal level.^[18]

Government and politics

Kris Peeters, former Minister-President of Flanders, promoting Flanders in Action

Both the

Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten

(Open VLD).

The area of the Flemish Community is represented on the maps above, including the area of the

education, and the use of the language. Extensions to personal matters less directly associated with language comprise sports, health policy (curative and preventive medicine), and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc.)^[19]

The area of the Flemish Region is represented on the maps above. It has a population of more than 6 million (excluding the Dutch-speaking community in the Brussels Region, grey on the map for it is not a part of the Flemish Region). Roughly, the Flemish Region is responsible for territorial issues in a broad sense, including economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit, and foreign trade. It supervises the provinces, municipalities, and intercommunal utility companies.[20]

The number of Dutch-speaking Flemish people in the Capital Region is estimated to be between 11% and 15% (official figures do not exist as there is no language census and no official subnationality). According to a survey conducted by the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) in Louvain-la-Neuve and published in June 2006, 51% of respondents from Brussels claimed to be bilingual, even if they do not have Dutch as their first language.^[21]^[22] They are governed by the Brussels Region for economics affairs and by the Flemish Community for educational and cultural issues.

The Flemish Parliament

As mentioned above, Flemish institutions such as the Flemish Parliament and Government, represent the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. The region and the community thus de facto share the same parliament and the same government. All these institutions are based in Brussels. Nevertheless, both types of subdivisions (the Community and the Region) still exist legally and the distinction between both is important for the people living in Brussels. Members of the Flemish Parliament who were elected in the Brussels Region cannot vote on affairs belonging to the competences of the Flemish Region.

The official language for all Flemish institutions is Dutch. French enjoys a limited official recognition in a dozen municipalities along the borders with French-speaking Wallonia, and a large recognition in the bilingual Brussels Region. French is widely known in Flanders, with 59% claiming to know French according to a survey conducted by UCLouvain in Louvain-la-Neuve and published in June 2006.^[23]^[24]

Politics

Historically, the political parties reflected the

Socialist Party – Differently

(sp.a).

However, during the last half century, many new political parties were founded in Flanders. One of the first was the nationalist

List Dedecker, founded by Jean-Marie Dedecker, and the socialist Workers' Party

.

Particularly the

2010 federal elections

.

Flemish independence

Border crossing sign near Menen

.

For some inhabitants, Flanders is more than just a geographical area or the federal institutions (Flemish Community and Region). Supporters of the Flemish Movement even call it a nation and pursue Flemish independence, but most people (approximately 75%) living in Flanders say they are proud to be Belgian and opposed to the dissolution of Belgium. 20% is even very proud, while some 25% are not proud and 8% is very not proud. Mostly students claim to be proud of their nationality, with 90% of them saying so. Of the people older than 55, 31% claim to be proud of being a Belgian. Particular opposition to secession comes from women, people employed in services, the highest social classes and people from big families. Strongest of all opposing the notion are housekeepers—both housewives and house husbands.^[25]

In 2012, the Flemish government drafted a "Charter for Flanders" (Handvest voor Vlaanderen)^[26] of which the first article says "Vlaanderen is een deelstaat van de federale Staat België en maakt deel uit van de Europese Unie." ("Flanders is a component state of the federal State of Belgium and is part of the European Union"). Although interpreted by many Flemish nationalists as a statement, this phrase is merely a quotation from the Belgian constitution and has no further legal value whatsoever.

Geography

The Sonian Forest

Flanders shares its borders with Wallonia in the south, Brussels being an enclave within the Flemish Region. The rest of the border is shared with the

exclave of Flanders between Wallonia and the Netherlands, while Baarle-Hertog in Flanders forms a complicated series of enclaves and exclaves with Baarle-Nassau in the Netherlands. Germany, although bordering Wallonia and close to Voeren in Limburg, does not share a border with Flanders. The German-speaking Community of Belgium, also close to Voeren, does not border Flanders either. (The commune of Plombières

, majority French speaking, lies between them.)

Flanders is a highly urbanised area, lying completely within the Blue Banana. Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges and Leuven are the largest cities of the Flemish Region. Antwerp has a population of more than 500,000 citizens and is the largest city, Ghent has a population of 250,000 citizens, followed by Bruges with 120,000 citizens and Leuven counts almost 100,000 citizens.^[27]

Brussels is a part of Flanders as far as community matters are concerned, but does not belong to the Flemish Region.

Flanders has two main geographical regions: the coastal

exclave around Voeren between the Dutch border and Wallonia's Liège Province attains a maximum altitude of 288 m (945 ft) above sea level.^[28]^[29]

Administrative divisions

The present-day Flemish Region covers 13,625 km² (5,261 sq mi) and is divided into five provinces, 22 arrondissements and 308 cities or municipalities.

Province		Capital city	Administrative arrondissements	Municipalities	Population (1 January 2021)^[2]	Area^[30]	Density
1	Antwerp (Antwerpen)	Antwerp (Antwerpen)	Antwerp, Mechelen, Turnhout	69	1,875,524	2,876 km² (1,110 sq mi)	652/km² (1,690/sq mi)
2	Limburg (Limburg)	Hasselt	Hasselt, Maaseik, Tongeren	44	880,397	2,427 km² (937 sq mi)	363/km² (940/sq mi)
3	East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen)	Ghent (Gent)	Aalst, Dendermonde, Eeklo, Ghent, Oudenaarde, Sint-Niklaas	65	1,531,745	3,007 km² (1,161 sq mi)	509/km² (1,320/sq mi)
4	Flemish Brabant (Vlaams-Brabant)	Leuven	Leuven	60	1,162,084	2,118 km² (818 sq mi)	549/km² (1,420/sq mi)
5	West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen)	Bruges (Brugge)	Bruges, Diksmuide, Ypres, Kortrijk, Ostend, Roeselare, Tielt, Veurne	64	1,203,312	3,197 km² (1,234 sq mi)	376/km² (970/sq mi)

The province of Flemish Brabant is the most recently created, being formed in 1995 after the splitting of the province of Brabant on a linguistic basis.

Most municipalities are made up of several former municipalities, now called deelgemeenten. The largest municipality (both in terms of population and area) is Antwerp, having more than half a million inhabitants. Its nine deelgemeenten have a special status and are called districts, which have an elected council and a college. While any municipality with more than 100,000 inhabitants can establish districts, only Antwerp did this so far. The smallest municipality (also both in terms of population and area) is Herstappe (Limburg).^{[citation needed]}

Brussels-Capital Region with the City of Brussels

(one of 19 municipalities) in red

The Flemish Community covers both the Flemish Region and, together with the French Community, the Brussels-Capital Region. Brussels, an enclave within the province of Flemish Brabant, is not divided into any province nor is it part of any. It coincides with the Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and includes 19 municipalities.

The Flemish Government has its own local institutions in the Brussels-Capital Region, being the Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (VGC), and its municipal antennae (Gemeenschapscentra, community centres for the Flemish community in Brussels). These institutions are independent from the educational, cultural and social institutions that depend directly on the Flemish Government. They exert, among others, all those cultural competences that outside Brussels fall under the provinces.

Climate

The climate is maritime

temperate, with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification

: Cfb; the average temperature is 3 °C (37 °F) in January, and 21 °C (70 °F) in July; the average precipitation is 65 millimetres (2.6 inches) in January, and 78 millimetres (3.1 inches) in July).

Economy

The Port of Antwerp is the second largest in Europe.

The A12

with a railway in the centre.

Total gross regional product (GRP) of the Flanders in 2021 was €296 billion (excluding Brussels).[31] Per capita GDP at purchasing power parity was 20% above the EU average.^[32] Flemish productivity per capita is about 13% higher than that in Wallonia, and wages are about 7% higher than in Wallonia.^[33]

Flanders was one of the first continental European areas to undergo the

chemical and petroleum industries. Flanders also attracted a large majority of foreign investments in Belgium. The 1973 and 1979 oil crises sent the economy into a recession. The steel industry remained in relatively good shape. In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of Belgium continued to shift further to Flanders and is now concentrated in the populous Flemish Diamond area.^[34]

Nowadays, the Flemish economy is mainly service-oriented.

Belgium is a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, which evolved into the present-day European Union. In 1999, the euro, the single European currency, was introduced in Flanders. It replaced the Belgian franc in 2002.

The Flemish economy is strongly export-oriented, in particular of high value-added goods.^[35] The main imports are food products, machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing and accessories, and textiles. The main exports are automobiles, food and food products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and non-ferrous metals. Since 1922, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market within a customs and currency union—the Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union. Its main trading partners are Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, and Spain.^[36]

Antwerp is the number one diamond market in the world, diamond exports account for roughly 1/10 of Belgian exports. The Antwerp-based BASF plant is the largest BASF-base outside Germany, and accounts on its own for about 2% of Belgian exports. Other industrial and service activities in Antwerp include car manufacturing, telecommunications, photographic products.

Flanders is home to several science and technology institutes, such as IMEC, VITO, Flanders DC and Flanders Make.

Infrastructure

Flanders has developed an extensive transportation infrastructure of ports, canals, railways and highways. The

Bruges-Zeebrugge, Ghent and Ostend, of which Zeebrugge and Ostend are located at the Belgian coast [nl

].

Whereas railways are managed by the federal National Railway Company of Belgium, other public transport (De Lijn) and roads are managed by the Flemish region.

The main airport is

Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport

, both in West Flanders.

Demographics

The highest population density is found in the area circumscribed by the Brussels-Antwerp-Ghent-Leuven agglomerations that surround Mechelen and is known as the Flemish Diamond, in other important urban centres as Bruges, Roeselare and Kortrijk to the west, and notable centres Turnhout and Hasselt to the east. On 1 January 2015, the Flemish Region had a population of 6,444,127 and about 15% of the 1,175,173 people in the Brussels Region are also considered Flemish.^[f]^[38]^{[citation needed]}

Religion

Houthalen

. A typical church, similar to those in many villages in Flanders

[1]

[2]

[4]

[b]

[c]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[d]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[f]

[38]

Authority control
International	FAST VIAF
National	France BnF data Germany Czech Republic 2

Terminology

Modern Belgium

Historical

Dutch-speaking part of Belgium

History

Early history

Historical Flanders

Low Countries

Beeldenstorm

The Eighty Years' War and its consequences

Southern Netherlands (1581–1795)

French Revolution and Napoleonic France (1795–1815)

United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830)

Kingdom of Belgium

Rise of the Flemish Movement

World War I and its consequences

Right-wing nationalism in the interbellum and World War II

Flemish autonomy

Government and politics

Politics

Flemish independence

Geography

Administrative divisions

Climate

Economy

Infrastructure

Demographics

Religion

Education

Healthcare

Culture

Language and literature

Languages

Media

Sports

Music

See also

Explanatory notes

References

Further reading

External links