East Flanders

**East Flanders**  (, , ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium.

Its capital, and also the largest city of the province, is Ghent (, ).

## Name

_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_ (_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.

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 of Flanders.

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

## Geography

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  with a population of about 1,544,000 in 2022.

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,  high, in the municipality of Kluisbergen, Oudenaarde district.

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

## Administrative divisions

The province of Hainaut is divided into six _arrondissements_ (Aalst, Dendermonde, Eeklo, Ghent, Oudenaarde and Sint-Niklaas) and a total of 60 municipalities since 2019.

|Aalst|Dendermonde|Eeklo||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|width="170" style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff;"|* Aalst (1) * Denderleeuw (10) * Erpe-Mere (14) * Geraardsbergen (18) * Haaltert (19) * Herzele (21) * Lede (29) * Ninove (40) * Sint-Lievens-Houtem (46) * Zottegem (58)|width="170" style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff"|* Berlare (4) * Buggenhout (7) * Dendermonde (11) * Hamme (20) * Laarne (27) * Lebbeke (28) * Waasmunster (51) * Wetteren (53) * Wichelen (54) * Zele (56)|width="170" style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff;"|* Assenede (3) * Eeklo (13) * Kaprijke (23) * Maldegem (35) * Sint-Laureins (45) * Zelzate (57)|||
|width="170" style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff;"|* Aalter (2) * Deinze (9) * De Pinte (8) * Destelbergen (12) * Evergem (15) * Gavere (16) * Ghent (Gent) (17) * Lievegem (31) * Lochristi (32) * Melle (36) * Merelbeke (37) * Moerbeke (38) * Nazareth (39) * Oosterzele (41) * Sint-Martens-Latem (47) * Wachtebeke (52) * Zulte (59)|width="170" style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff"|* Brakel (6) * Horebeke (22) * Kluisbergen (24) * Kruisem (26) * Lierde (30) * Maarkedal (34) * Oudenaarde (42) * Ronse (43) * Wortegem-Petegem (55) * Zwalm (60)|width="170" style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff;"|* Beveren (5) * Kruibeke (25) * Lokeren (33) * Sint-Gillis-Waas (44) * Sint-Niklaas (48) * Stekene (49) * Temse (50)|width="170" style="vertical-align:top;background:#ffffff;"||

## Population by arrondissement

Population x 1,000 (on 1 January since 1980).

|Arrondissement|1970|1980|1990|2000|2010|2020||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|Aalst|265|263|258|262|274|294|
|align="left"|Dendermonde|175|180|182|186|193|202|
|align="left"|Eeklo|86|80|79|79|82|86|
|align="left"|Ghent|472|486|486|495|527|564|
|align="left"|Oudenaarde|113|113|112|114|120|125|
|align="left"|Sint-Niklaas|199|209|215|224|237|255|

## Other websites

- Official Website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: East Flanders
- **settlement type**: Provinces of Belgium, Province of Belgium
- **image flag**: Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg
- **image shield**: Wapen van Oost-Vlaanderen.svg
- **shield size**: 90px
- **image map**: Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen in Belgium.svg
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: Region
- **seat type**: Capital

- **seat**: Ghent
- **leader title**: Governor
- **leader name**: Carina Van Cauter (Open Vld)
- **area total km2**: 3007
- **population total**: 1,543,865
- **population as of**: 1 January 2022
- **population density km2**: 513
- **blank name sec2**: Human Development Index, HDI (2019)
- **blank info sec2**: 0.932
 · List of Belgian provinces by Human Development Index, 6th of 11