Talk:Municipalities of Belgium

message: Is there a difference between municipalities and cities in this context?  If so, the difference should be explained.  If not, it should be moved to List of cities in Belgium, which is the standard.  Tokerboy
:It is different. A municipality is a subdivision of a province, while a city, I think, is a large built-up area. - Patrick 00:49 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC)
::I'm not sure I understand, but ok...  I'll leave it here under the assumption that a completely different list (including Brussels and whatnot) will eventually be placed at List of cities in Belgium. (not saying you should do it, Patrick, just that it wouldn't be a non sequitur to have both articles in existence) Tokerboy
:::To be more precise, a municipality is the smallest administrative unit in Belgium. It is generally made up of a city and a few towns, or solely of a number of towns. A large built-up area is mostly, but not necessarily, a city. For example: the municipality of Brussels is made up of the city of Brussels and the towns of Haren, Laken and Neder-over-Heembeek. D.D. 09:15 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC)
::::1. A city, at least in the Lower Countries, is a town that once obtained city rights, it is a rather historical concept but it would still be considered offensive if a city would be called a town. Some cities are very small (e.g. Damme) and today of little importance (besides attracting tourists to gastronomical restaurants), some towns are quite large agglomerations which theoretically can be very important - though a sense of tradition might have influenced decisions about official institutions to remain or novel institutions to become connected to a city - or even to give modern city rights to the large town, such as Genk in... 2000. A municipality is indeed an administrative unit, it does not need to contain any city, or even - as far as one may consider a town as larger than a village - any town.  
::::2. The example of the municipality of Brussels versus the city of Brussels may be rather unfortunately chosen: The City of Brussels is now regularly used as identical to the municipality (an expansion of a once municipal city to include some minor towns should not cause the City Hall to loose its title) ; moreover, the Belgian Constitution mentions the city of Brussels as its capital, one understands this as referring to the whole Brussels Capital Region - 19 municipalies - based on the small character c in city, a capitalized C would than have indicated the name of the single municipality... (see also City of Brussels) User:213.224.87.185 2006-05-23
Legally speaking there is no distinction in Belgium between a commune, a town, a municipallity, a city or whatever you may want to call it. As stated before: 'City' is an honorary title.
There is one criterium though: If 'a place' can prove, with historic documents, that it is at least a thousand (1000) years old then it is granted the 'title' of city.
Much debate, however, has gone into the question wheter or not it has to be continually habited during that 1000 year period.
Many places fell into desolation during the dark ages or the late middle-ages (Plague).
Example: Tongeren (Tongrorum in Latin sources) was an important centre during Roman times, but did it exist a.d. 1000?81.246.156.148
Another example: In 1964 Ostend was granted the title of 'City' (It is the ministry of the interior, like the 'Home-office' in G.B., who grants those titles). Historical documents showed that in a.d. 964 the place had been sacked (A late exploit of the Vikings). But then: No written documents about Ostend anymore - for more than a century long; so? 81.246.156.148 00:36, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: [Untitled]

message: On one of the other belgium articles, (Breendonk), an editor wants to mention that the mergers of 19778-83 were not without significant opposition; however there does not seem to be a cite available other than this editor's WP:OR and own experience.  Can anyone who is working on this article provide any input to this question, perhaps adddress it on the appropriate section in this article?Bridesmill 02:09, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Please be sure to make the difference between the general feeling in Belgium about the mergers, and anyting specific for Breendonk. I know (OR) that many of the mergers were disputed, but that doesn't mean that that was the case in all villages, and even less that it was a general feeling (it could e.g. have been a vocal minority protesting and thus getting media attention). (For the record: I'm involved in the Breendonk dispute, as the main editor that wants to remove the mention) Fram 19:52, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Merger issues

message: There is a discussion about an eventual standardization of all the lists of municipalities. Please join here and express your opinions.--Húsönd 19:46, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Standardization of the lists of municipalities

message: 004  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 105.112.117.176 (talk) 08:47, 3 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Geography