Flemish Brabant

**Flemish Brabant**  (, , ) is the youngest and smallest province of the Flemish Region, one of the three regions of Belgium. It covers the Dutch-speaking northern part of the former province of Brabant. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region, which forms an enclave within the territory of the province.

Its capital, and also the largest city of the province, is the university city of Leuven (, often used in English).

## History

_Flemish_ in _Flemish Brabant_ means that it is in the Flemish part of the former province of Brabant of Belgium. _Brabant_ was an old region, the Duchy of Brabant. The word _Brabant_ appears for the first time in the seventh century when the abbey of Nivelles was founded in the _pagus Bracbatensis_ (_pagus_ is a Latin word meaning a very small town, with only few houses).

Flemish Brabant was created in 1995 by the splitting of the former province of Brabant into three parts: two new provinces, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant; and the Brussels-Capital Region, which no longer belongs to any province. The split was made to accommodate the eventual division of Belgium in three regions (Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region).

## Geography

The province borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders.

The province has an area of ; it is about  long (east-west direction) and about  wide (north-south direction).

It has a population of about 1,173,000 in 2022.

The province is divided into two districts (_arrondissements_ in French and  _arrondissementen_ in Dutch) with 65 municipalities.

The main rivers of the province are the Dyle, the Demer and the Zenne.

## Administrative divisions

The province of Flemish Brabant is divided into two districts: Halle-Vilvoorde has Brussels in its middle and, therefore, is mainly a residential area, but it also has large industrial zones; the other district is Leuven, centered on the city of Leuven.

|Halle-Vilvoorde|Leuven|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff;"|* Affligem (2) * Asse (3) * Beersel (4) * Bever (8) * Dilbeek ()13 * Drogenbos (14) * Galmaarden (15) * Gooik (18) * Grimbergen (19) * Halle (21) * Herne (23) * Hoeilaart (25) * Kampenhout (28) * Kapelle-op-den-Bos (29) * Kraainem (33) * Lennik (35) * Liedekerke (37) * Linkebeek (38) * Londerzeel (40) * Machelen (42) * Meise (43) * Merchtem (44) * Opwijk (45) * Overijse (47) * Pepingen (48) * Roosdaal (49) * Sint-Genesius-Rode (52) * Sint-Pieters-Leeuw (53) * Steenokkerzeel (54) * Ternat (55) * Vilvoorde (60) * Wemmel (61) * Wezembeek-Oppem (62) * Zaventem (63) * Zemst (64)|style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff"|* Aarschot (1) * Begijnendijk (5) * Bekkevoort (6) * Bertem (7) * Bierbeek (9) * Boortmeerbeek (10) * Boutersem (11) * Diest (12) * Geetbets (16) * Glabbeek (17) * Haacht (20) * Herent (22) * Hoegaarden (24) * Holsbeek (26) * Huldenberg (27) * Keerbergen (30) * Kortenaken (31) * Kortenberg (32) * Landen (34) * Leuven (36) * Linter (39) * Lubbeek (41) * Oud-Heverlee (46) * Rotselaar (50) * Scherpenheuvel-Zichem (51) * Tervuren (56) * Tielt-Winge (57) * Tienen (58) * Tremelo (59) * Zoutleeuw  (65)|

## Population by arrondissement

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

|Arrondissement|1970 ¹|1980 ¹|1990 ¹|2000|2010|2020||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|Halle-Vilvoorde|418|514|534|558|593|644|
|align="left"|Leuven|389|412|430|456|483|512|

The province of Flemish Brabant did not exist before 1995.

## Other websites

- Official web site of the Flemish Brabant province

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Flemish Brabant
- **settlement type**: Provinces of Belgium, Province of Belgium
- **image flag**: Flag of Flemish Brabant.svg
- **image shield**: Wapen van Vlaams-Brabant.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Provincie Vlaams-Brabant in Belgium.svg
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: Region
- **seat type**: Capital

- **seat**: Leuven
- **leader title**: Governor
- **leader name**: Jan Spooren (N-VA)
- **area total km2**: 2118
- **population total**: 1,173,440
- **population as of**: 1 January 2022
- **population density km2**: 554
- **blank name sec2**: Human Development Index, HDI (2019)
- **blank info sec2**: 0.946
 · List of Belgian provinces by Human Development Index, 3rd of 11