East Flanders

East Flanders Official name is Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen (Dutch). (, , ) 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 CountyIn this case "county" () means "land under a count (the British earl)." 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.

+ Municipalities by arrondissements, with their numbers in the map Aalst  Dendermonde  Eeklo 170px
 Aalst (1)
 Denderleeuw (10)
 Erpe-Mere (14)
 Geraardsbergen (18)
 Haaltert (19)
 Herzele (21)
 Lede (29)
 Ninove (40)
 Sint-Lievens-Houtem (46)
 Zottegem (58) 170px
 Berlare (4)
 Buggenhout (7)
 Dendermonde (11)
 Hamme (20)
 Laarne (27)
 Lebbeke (28)
 Waasmunster (51)
 Wetteren (53)
 Wichelen (54)
 Zele (56) 170px
 Assenede (3)
 Eeklo (13)
 Kaprijke (23)
 Maldegem (35)
 Sint-Laureins (45)
 Zelzate (57) Ghent  Oudenaarde  Sint-Niklaas 170px
 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) 170px
 Brakel (6)
 Horebeke (22)
 Kluisbergen (24)
 Kruisem (26)
 Lierde (30)
 Maarkedal (34)
 Oudenaarde (42)
 Ronse (43)
 Wortegem-Petegem (55)
 Zwalm (60) 170px
 Beveren (5)
 Kruibeke (25)
 Lokeren (33)
 Sint-Gillis-Waas (44)
 Sint-Niklaas (48)
 Stekene (49)
 Temse (50) 

Population by arrondissement
Population x 1,000 (on 1 January since 1980).Institut national de statistique - Direction générale Statistique et information économique

Arrondissement197019801990200020102020Aalst 265 263 258 262 274 294Dendermonde 175 180 182 186 193 202Eeklo 86 80 79 79 82 86Ghent 472 486 486 495 527 564Oudenaarde 113 113 112 114 120 125Sint-Niklaas 199 209 215 224 237 255Province of East Flanders 1,310 1,330 1,331 1,362 1,432 1,525

Notes

References

Other websites

 Official Website