Provinces of Belgium
Provinces of Belgium Provincies van België (Dutch) Provinces de Belgique (French) Provinzen Belgiens (German) | ||
---|---|---|
Category | Decentralised unit in a federal state | |
Location | Kingdom of Belgium | |
Number | 10 provinces | |
Populations | 284,638 (Luxembourg) – 1,857,986 (Antwerp)[1] | |
Areas | 1,097 km2 (424 sq mi) (Walloon Brabant) – 4,459 km2 (1,722 sq mi) (Luxembourg)[2] | |
Government | ||
Subdivisions |
The Kingdom of
Most of the provinces take their name from earlier
The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of the Belgian Constitution. The provinces and Brussels are subdivided into 43 administrative arrondissements, and further into 581 municipalities.
List
Flag | Arms | Province | Dutch name | French name | German name | Capital | Governor | Area[4] | Population (1 January 2019)[5] |
Density | Postal codes[6] | HASC[6]
|
FIPS[6] | ISO 3166-2:BE[6] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flanders | |||||||||||||||
Antwerp | Antwerpen | Anvers | Antwerpen | Antwerp | Cathy Berx | Since 2008 | 2,876 km2 (1,110 sq mi) | 1,857,986 | 647/km2 (1,680/sq mi) | 2000–2999 | BE.AN | BE01 | VAN | ||
East Flanders | Oost-Vlaanderen | Flandre orientale | Ostflandern | Ghent | Jan Briers | Since 2013 | 3,007 km2 (1,161 sq mi) | 1,515,064 | 504/km2 (1,310/sq mi) | 9000–9999 | BE.OV | BE08 | VOV | ||
Flemish Brabant | Vlaams-Brabant | Brabant flamand | Flämisch-Brabant | Leuven | Jan Spooren | Since 2020 | 2,118 km2 (818 sq mi) | 1,146,175 | 542/km2 (1,400/sq mi) | 1500–1999, 3000–3499 | BE.VB | BE12 | VBR | ||
Limburg | Limburg | Limbourg | Limburg | Hasselt | Herman Reynders | Since 2009 | 2,427 km2 (937 sq mi) | 874,048 | 361/km2 (930/sq mi) | 3500–3999 | BE.LI | BE05 | VLI | ||
West Flanders | West-Vlaanderen | Flandre occidentale | Westflandern | Bruges | Carl Decaluwé | Since 2012 | 3,197 km2 (1,234 sq mi) | 1,195,796 | 375/km2 (970/sq mi) | 8000–8999 | BE.WV | BE09 | VWV | ||
Wallonia | |||||||||||||||
Hainaut | Henegouwen | Hainaut | Hennegau | Mons | Tommy Leclercq | Since 2013 | 3,813 km2 (1,472 sq mi) | 1,344,241 | 353/km2 (910/sq mi) | 7000–7999 (West), 6000–6999 (East, shared with Luxembourg) |
BE.HT | BE03 | WHT | ||
Liège | Luik | Liège | Lüttich | Liège | Hervé Jamar | Since 2015 | 3,857 km2 (1,489 sq mi) | 1,106,992 | 288/km2 (750/sq mi) | 4000–4999 | BE.LG | BE04 | WLG | ||
Luxembourg | Luxemburg | Luxembourg | Luxemburg | Arlon | Olivier Schmitz | Since 2016 | 4,459 km2 (1,722 sq mi) | 284,638 | 64/km2 (170/sq mi) | 6000–6999 (shared with Eastern Hainaut) |
BE.LX | BE06 | WLX | ||
Namur | Namen | Namur | Namür | Namur | Denis Mathen | Since 2007 | 3,675 km2 (1,419 sq mi) | 494,325 | 135/km2 (350/sq mi) | 5000–5999 | BE.NA | BE07 | WNA | ||
Walloon Brabant | Waals-Brabant | Brabant wallon | Wallonisch-Brabant | Wavre | Gilles Mahieu | Since 2015 | 1,097 km2 (424 sq mi) | 403,599 | 368/km2 (950/sq mi) | 1300–1499 | BE.BW | BE10 | WBR | ||
Brussels | |||||||||||||||
Brussels Capital Region | Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest | Région de Bruxelles-Capitale | Region Brüssel-Hauptstadt | Brussels City | Rudi Vervoort | Since 2013 | 162.4 km2 (62.7 sq mi) | 1,208,542 | 7,442/km2 (19,270/sq mi) | 1000–1299 | BE.BR | BE02 | BBR | ||
Total | België | Belgique | Belgien | Brussels City | 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) | 11,431,406 | 373/km2 (970/sq mi) |
History
The medieval Low Countries, including present-day Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, as well as parts of modern Germany and France, comprised a number of rival and independent feudal states of varying sizes. These each had their own identities and governments, though in the early modern period almost all the Belgian states became part of larger entities (the Seventeen Provinces (1549–1581) and the Southern Netherlands (after 1581)). Prominent early states in the area of modern Belgium included the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Flanders, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Duchy of Luxembourg; smaller ones included the County of Hainaut, the Duchy of Limburg and the County of Namur, though there were other small states as well.
When these territories were annexed by France in 1795, they were reorganised into départments; the borders were redrawn and the historical names were replaced by names of geographical features (generally the main river of the area).
At the end of French rule and the creation of the
In 1839, as part of the Treaty of London, half of the province of Limburg became part of the Netherlands, which consequently has its own province of Limburg.
In 1920, following the
During the second half of the 20th century, Belgium transitioned from a unitary state to a federal state with
Schematic overview
The following table presents a simplified overview of the evolution of the French departments into the present-day Belgian provinces.
Part of: French First Republic – First French Empire |
Part of: United Kingdom of the Netherlands |
Kingdom of Belgium | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1795–1815 | 1815–1830 | 1830–1839 | 1839–1995 | 1995–present |
Meuse-Inférieure | Limburg |
Limburg |
Limburg (NL) | |
Limburg | ||||
Lys | West Flanders | West Flanders | ||
Escaut | East Flanders | East Flanders | ||
Deux-Nèthes | Antwerp | Antwerp | ||
Dyle | South Brabant | Brabant | Flemish Brabant | |
Brussels-Capital Region
| ||||
Walloon Brabant | ||||
Jemmape | Hainaut | Hainaut | ||
Sambre-et-Meuse | Namur | Namur | ||
Ourthe | Liège | Liège | ||
Forêts | Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (in personal union) |
Luxembourg | Luxembourg | |
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (LU) |
Provincial governments
The provincial government consists of three main branches: the Provincial Council, which is the legislative body, the Deputation or Provincial College, which is the executive body, and the Governor, who is appointed by the regional government (i.e. the Flemish or Walloon Government).
The Provincial Councils (
The executive branch was previously called the Permanent Deputation. In the
In
Following the Fifth
Absence of any province in the Brussels Capital Region
The Brussels Capital Region does not belong to any province, nor does it contain any. The extraprovincial status of Brussels has existed since 1995, when the former province of Brabant, which had Brussels as its capital, was divided into the Dutch-speaking province of Flemish Brabant and the French-speaking province of Walloon Brabant.
Within this mainly French speaking region, nearly all former provincial competencies are assumed by its regional institutions and by the
The Governor is appointed by the cabinet of the Brussels Capital Region on the unanimous advice of the Federal Council of Ministers. The regional government also appoints the Vice-Governor, who must have a considerable knowledge of both French and Dutch and who must ensure that the legislation regarding the use of the two languages is observed in Brussels.[8]
Proposed additional province
Because the German-speaking Community is located entirely within Liège Province, it has been proposed on multiple occasions to create an eleventh province, the province of Eupen-Sankt Vith, which would comprise the nine municipalities of the German-speaking Community. Most of the functions carried out by provincial organs would then be exercised by the organs of the German-speaking Community.[9][10]
The community is however small in area (854 km2 or 330 sq mi) and has only about 76,000 inhabitants, which would make it the smallest and by far the least populated province.
See also
- Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
- List of Belgian provinces by GDP
- List of Belgian provinces by Human Development Index
- State reform in Belgium
References
- ^ "Structuur van de bevolking | Statbel".
- ^ "Be.STAT".
- ^ "Structuur van de bevolking | Statbel".
- ^ "Be.STAT".
- ^ "Structuur van de bevolking | Statbel".
- ^ a b c d "Province of Belgium". statoids.com.
- ^ Proposal for an ordinance, stating the Governor's powers for the "arrondissement Brussels", the latter should be seen as the part of the arrondissement Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde that is not part of the Flemish Brabant province.
- ^ "Factsheet on the Provinces" (PDF). The Belgian Chamber of Representatives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
- Belgian Chamber of Representatives. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- Belgian Senate. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
External links
- The provinces, Belgium.be
- Vereniging van de Vlaamse Provincies (Association of the Flemish Provinces)
- Association des Provinces wallonnes (Association of the Walloon Provinces)