East Flanders

East Flanders
East Flanders; Dutch: Oost-Vlaanderen
	— Province of Belgium —
; Flag	; Coat of arms
	Coordinates: 51°00′N 03°45′E / 51, 3.75Coordinates: 51°00′N 03°45′E / 51, 3.75
Country	Belgium
Region	Flemish Region
Capital	Ghent
	Government
• Governor	Jan Briers
	Area
• Total	2,991 km2 (1,155 sq mi)
	Population (1 January 2012)
• Total	1,454,716
• Density	490/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Website	oost-vlaanderen.be

Main	Births etc

East Flanders (Dutch: Oost-Vlaanderen [ˌoːst ˈflaːndərə(n)] ( listen),^[2] French: (Province de) Flandre-Orientale, German: Ostflandern) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) on Zeelandic Flanders (the Netherlands) and (in Belgium) on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant (both in Flanders), of Hainaut (Wallonia) and of West Flanders (Flanders). It has an area of 2,991 km² which is divided into six administrative districts (arrondissementen in Dutch) containing 65 municipalities. The provincial population is 1,408,484 and the capital is Ghent.

History[]

During the short-lived Napoleonic Empire, most of the area of the modern province was part of the Department of Escaut, named after the River Scheldt. Following the defeat of Napoleon, the entity was renamed after its geographical location in the eastern part of historic Flanders; although the province is actually situated in the western portion of Flanders, in the contemporary sense of the word.

The provincial flag has a black lion with red tongue and claws, on a background of horizontal white and green stripes. This is a recent adaptation; formerly, East Flanders used the Flemish flag, a black lion on a yellow background, as in the current coat of arms. The old flag is still publicly used, e.g. for road signs.

Geography[]

The province has several geographic and/or tourist regions:

Denderstreek
Meetjesland
Waasland
Flemish Ardennes

Important rivers are the Scheldt and the Leie which merge in Ghent. The Dender merges into the Scheldt in the city of Dendermonde.

Subdivisions[]

East Flanders is divided into 6 administrative arrondissements (districts), subdivided into a total of 65 municipalities. In addition, there are 3 judicial and 3 electoral arrondissements.

District	Ghent District:	Oudenaarde District:	Eeklo District:	Aalst District:	Dendermonde District:	Sint-Niklaas District:
Location
HASC NUTS INS Population Area	BE.OV.GT BE234 44 512,407 944 km²	BE.OV.OD BE235 45 117,125 419 km²	BE.OV.EK BE233 43 80,574 334 km²	BE.OV.AL BE231 41 267,274 469 km²	BE.OV.DM BE232 42 189,638 343 km²	BE.OV.SN BE236 46 231,262 475 km²
Municipalities	Aalter Deinze De Pinte Destelbergen Evergem Gavere Ghent Knesselare Lochristi Lovendegem Melle Merelbeke Moerbeke Nazareth Nevele Oosterzele Sint-Martens- Latem Waarschoot Wachtebeke Zomergem Zulte	Brakel Horebeke Kluisbergen Kruishoutem Lierde Maarkedal Oudenaarde Ronse Wortegem- Petegem Zingem Zwalm	Assenede Eeklo Kaprijke Maldegem Sint-Laureins Zelzate	Aalst Denderleeuw Erpe-Mere Geraardsbergen Haaltert Herzele Lede Ninove Sint-Lievens- Houtem Zottegem	Berlare Buggenhout Dendermonde Hamme Laarne Lebbeke Waasmunster Wetteren Wichelen Zele	Beveren Kruibeke Lokeren Sint-Gillis- Waas Sint-Niklaas Stekene Temse

Demographics[]

The province had a population of 1,445,831 as of 1 January 2011. It had 734,000 inhabitants in 1380 and about a million in 1900.

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.

Government[]

Gravensteengent22042008 — The *Gravensteen* in Ghent, the provincial capital

The provincial council (provincieraad) consists of 72 members which were last elected in the 2012 elections. Previously it consisted of 84 members. The council currently consists of the following political parties:

N-VA (Flemish nationalists): 21 members
CD&V (Christian democrats): 15 members
Open VLD (liberals): 15 members
sp.a (social democrats): 9 members
Vlaams Belang (far-right nationalists): 6 members
Groen (greens): 6 members

Six people chosen by and from the council form the daily government, called the deputation (deputatie). The deputation of East Flanders is a coalition of the political parties CD&V, Open Vld and sp.a. The biggest party in the council, N-VA, is not included.

The daily government is led by the governor, who is appointed by the Flemish Government. André Denys (VLD) has been the governor of East Flanders from 26 November 2004 until 21 January 2013.^[3] Jan Briers, who is not member of a political party but was nominated by N-VA, succeeded him on 1 February 2013.

The province has a yearly budget of approximately 300 million euro.

Governors[]

1830: Pierre De Ryckere
1830–1834: Werner de Lamberts-Cortenbach
1834–1836: Charles Vilain XIIII
1837–1843: Louis de Schiervel
1843–1848: Leander Desmaisières
1848–1871: Edouard De Jaegher (lib.)
1871–1879: Emile de T'Serclaes De Wommersom
1879–1885: Léon Verhaeghe de Naeyer (lib.)
1885–1919: Raymond de Kerchove d'Exaerde
1919–1921: Maurice Lippens (lib.)
1921–1929: André de Kerchove de Denterghem (lib.)
1929–1935: Karel Weyler (lib.)
1935–1938: Jules Ingenbleek (lib.)
1938–1939: Louis Frederiq (lib)
1939–1954: Maurice Van den Boogaerde
1954–1963: Albert Mariën (lib.)
1963–1984: Roger de Kinder (BSP)
1984–2004: Herman Balthazar (SP.A)
2004-2013: André Denys (VLD)
2013-present: Jan Briers (none; nominated by N-VA)

Timeline:

References[]

^ Population per municipality on 1 January 2012 (XLS; 214 KB)
^ Every word in isolation: [ˌoːst ˈvlaːndərə(n)].
^ "The governor, province East Flanders". http://www.oost-vlaanderen.be/public/over_provincie/beleid_bestuur/gouverneur/index.cfm. Retrieved 2006-03-14.

External links[]

(Dutch) Official Website

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at East Flanders. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

[r-pop-1] Population per municipality on 1 January 2012 (XLS; 214 KB)

[2] Every word in isolation: [ˌoːst ˈvlaːndərə(n)].

[3] "The governor, province East Flanders". http://www.oost-vlaanderen.be/public/over_provincie/beleid_bestuur/gouverneur/index.cfm. Retrieved 2006-03-14.

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