, native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = 90px , image_map = Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen in Belgium.svg , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Region , subdivision_name1 = , seat_type = Capital
, seat =

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, leader_title = Governor , leader_name = Carina Van Cauter , area_total_km2 = 3007 , area_footnotes = , population_footnotes = , population_total = 1515064 , population_as_of = 1 January 2019 , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec2 =

HDI The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, wh ...

(2019) , blank_info_sec2 = 0.932
· 6th of 11 , website = , official_name = East Flanders (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Oost-Vlaanderen'' , french: (Province de) Flandre-Orientale , german: Ostflandern ) is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It borders (clockwise from the North) the

province of

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

and the Flemish province of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut and

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

. It has an area of , divided into six administrative districts containing 60 municipalities, and a population of 1,515,064 as of January 2019. The capital is

, home to the

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when th ...

and the

Port of Ghent The Port of Ghent is the third busiest seaport in Belgium, located in Ghent, East Flanders in the Flemish Region. The first port of Ghent was situated at the river Scheldt and later on at the Leie. Since the Middle Ages Ghent has sought for a con ...

History

During the short-lived

Napoleonic Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eur ...

, 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 Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, the entity was renamed after its geographical location in the eastern part of the historic

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Yp ...

(now in the western portion of the current Flemish Region). 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 or tourist regions: *

Denderstreek The Denderstreek or Denderland is a region in Belgium. It is named after the river Dender. Though the river stretches over three provinces, Hainaut, East Flanders and Flemish Brabant, the region called after the river is situated in East Flande ...

* Meetjesland *

Waasland The Waasland is a Belgian region. It is part of the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and Antwerp. The other borders of the Land van Waas are with the Scheldt and Durme rivers. The (informal) capital and major city of the region is Sint-Niklaas ...

Flemish Ardennes The Flemish Ardennes ( Dutch: ''Vlaamse Ardennen'') is an informal name given to a hilly region in the south of the province of East Flanders, Belgium. Highest summit is the Hotondberg (145 m). Main characteristics of the region are rural hilly la ...

Important rivers are the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

and the Leie which merge in

. The

Dender The Dender (Dutch language, Dutch, ) or Dendre (French language, French, ) is a 65-kilometre (40 mi) long river in Belgium, the right tributary of the river Scheldt. The confluence of the two rivers is in the Belgian town of Dendermonde. The Weste ...

merges into the

in the city of Dendermonde.

Subdivisions

East Flanders is divided into 6 administrative arrondissements (districts), subdivided into a total of 60 municipalities. In addition, there are 3 judicial and 3 electoral arrondissements.

Demographics

The province has a population of almost 1.5 million. It had 734,000 inhabitants in 1830, when it was the most populated province of Belgium, and about a million in 1900. Population growth halted around the 1980s, but has increased again in the 21st century. Population figures in recent years is as follows: The capital and biggest city is

, also the second largest city in the Flemish Region. Other smaller cities are Aalst, Sint-Niklaas and Dendermonde in the east of the province. The eastern part of the province, part of the

Flemish Diamond The Flemish Diamond ( nl, Vlaamse Ruit) is the Flemish reference to a network of four metropolitan areas in Belgium, three of which are in the central provinces of Flanders, together with the Brussels Capital Region.Note: The Flemish government ...

, is more densely populated than the western part.

Economy

The

Gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is oft ...

(GDP) of the province was 56.4 billion € in 2018. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 33,000 € or 109% of the EU27 average in the same year.

Government

The provincial council (''provincieraad'') consists of 72 members which were last elected in the

2012 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2012. International * 2012 United Nations Security Council election Africa Egypt * 2012 Egyptian presidential election Mali * 2012 Malian presidential election * 2012 Malian parliamentary electio ...

. 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. 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) * 2013-2018: Jan Briers (''none; nominated by N-VA'') * 2018–present: Carina Van Cauter ( VLD) Timeline: ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:100 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1830 till:2013 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1830 Colors = id:liberal value:rgb(0,0,1) legend:liberal id:catholic value:rgb(1,0.6,0) legend:catholic id:socialist value:rgb(1,0,0) legend:socialist id:none value:rgb(0.5,0.5,0.5) legend:none Legend = columns:4 left:150 top:25 columnwidth:100 TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:" BarData = barset:PM PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:PM from:1830 till:1830 color:catholic text:" De Ryckere" fontsize:10 from:1830 till:1834 color:catholic text:" de Lamberts-Cortenbach" fontsize:10 from:1834 till:1836 color:catholic text:" Vilain" fontsize:10 from:1837 till:1843 color:catholic text:" de Schierve" fontsize:10 from:1843 till:1848 color:catholic text:" Desmaisières" fontsize:10 from:1848 till:1871 color:liberal text:" De Jaegher" fontsize:10 from:1871 till:1879 color:catholic text:" de T'Serclaes De Wommersom" fontsize:10 from:1879 till:1885 color:liberal text:" Verhaeghe de Naeyer" fontsize:10 from:1885 till:1919 color:catholic text:" de Kerchove d'Exaerde" fontsize:10 from:1919 till:1921 color:liberal text:" Lippens" fontsize:10 from:1921 till:1929 color:catholic text:" de Kerchove De Denterghem" fontsize:10 from:1929 till:1935 color:liberal text:" Karel Weyler" fontsize:10 from:1935 till:1938 color:liberal text:" Ingenbleek" fontsize:10 from:1938 till:1939 color:liberal text:" Frederiq" fontsize:10 from:1939 till:1954 color:catholic text:" Van den Boogaerden" fontsize:10 from:1954 till:1963 color:liberal text:" Mariën" fontsize:10 from:1963 till:1984 color:socialist text:" de Kinder" fontsize:10 from:1984 till:2004 color:socialist text:" Balthazar" fontsize:10 from:2004 till:2013 color:liberal text:" Denys" fontsize:10 from:2013 till:2013 color:none text:" Briers" fontsize:10

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Provinces of Flanders