The Denderstreek or Denderland is a region in Belgium. It is named after the river

Dender The Dender () or Dendre () is a 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 Western or Little Dender is long and begins in Barry near Leuze-en-Hain ...

. Though the river stretches over three provinces, Hainaut,

East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...

and

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

, the region called after the river is situated in East Flanders. Most of the Denderstreek is part of the Scheldeland (Scheldtland), the rest is part of the

Flemish Ardennes The Flemish Ardennes (Dutch language, 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 (151 m). Main characteristics of the region ar ...

Etymology

The Dutch word ''streek'' means "region". Thus, Denderstreek means "Dender Region".

Towns and communities

The Denderstreek includes the following towns and communities: * Aalst contains: Aalst, Baardegem, Erembodegem, Gijzegem, Herdersem, Hofstade, Meldert,

Moorsel Moorsel is a village in the Denderstreek in the province East Flanders in Belgium, a ''deelgemeente'' of the city of Aalst. The village belongs to a league of neighbouring villages, which call themselves the ''Faluintjesgemeenten''. Moorsel is t ...

, Nieuwerkerken and Terjoden * Buggenhout contains: Briel, Buggenhout, Opdorp and Opstal *

Denderleeuw Denderleeuw () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Denderleeuw proper, and . In 2021, Denderleeuw had a total populati ...

contains: Denderleeuw, Iddergem and Welle *

Dendermonde Dendermonde (; , ) is a city in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders in Belgium. The Municipalities of Belgium, municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, M ...

contains: Appels, Baasrode, Dendermonde, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde and Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde * Erpe-Mere contains: Aaigem, Bambrugge,

Burst Burst may refer to: *Burst mode (disambiguation), a mode of operation where events occur in rapid succession **Burst transmission, a term in telecommunications **Burst switching, a feature of some packet-switched networks **Bursting, a signaling mo ...

, Den Dotter, Egem, Erondegem, Erpe, Mere, Ottergem and Vlekkem *

Geraardsbergen Geraardsbergen (; ) is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen proper and the follo ...

contains: Geraardsbergen, Goeferdinge, Grimminge, Idegem, Moerbeke, Nederboelare, Nieuwenhove, Onkerzele, Ophasselt, Overboelare, Schendelbeke, Smeerebbe-Vloerzegem (Smeerebbe and Vloerzegem), Viane, Waarbeke, Zandbergen and Zarlardinge * Haaltert contains: Den Dotter, Denderhoutem, Haaltert, Heldergem, Kerksken and Terjoden *

Herzele Herzele () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek The Denderstreek or Denderland is a region in Belgium. It is named after the river Dender. Though the river stretches over three provinces, Hain ...

contains: Borsbeke, Herzele, Hillegem, Ressegem, Sint-Antelinks, Sint-Lievens-Esse, Steenhuize-Wijnhuize and Woubrechtegem *

Lebbeke Lebbeke () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of , Lebbeke proper and . In 2021, Lebbeke had a total population of 19,560. The tot ...

contains: Denderbelle, Lebbeke and Wieze * Lede contains: Impe, Lede, Oordegem, Papegem, Smetlede and Wanzele *

Ninove Ninove () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flanders, Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city o ...

contains: Appelterre-Eichem, Aspelare, Denderwindeke, Lieferinge, Meerbeke, Lebeke, Nederhasselt, Neigem, Ninove, Okegem, Outer, Pollare and Voorde * Sint-Lievens-Houtem contains: Bavegem, Letterhoutem, Sint-Lievens-Houtem, Vlierzele and Zonnegem * Wichelen contains: Schellebelle, Serskamp and Wichelen *

Zottegem Zottegem (, Sotteghem and Sottegem in older English and French language sources) is a city and municipality located in Belgium and more particularly in Flanders, in the province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Zottegem pr ...

contains: Elene, Erwetegem, Godveerdegem, Grotenberge, Leeuwergem, Oombergen, Sint-Goriks-Oudenhove, Sint-Maria-Oudenhove, Strijpen, Velzeke-Ruddershove and Zottegem Note that Den Dotter is part of Erpe-Mere, and Haaltert and Terjoden are part of Aalst and Haaltert.

Tourism

* There are several bicycle routes in the Denderstreek, including the Molenbeekroute (Millbrook route), Denderende steden (Dendering towns), the Reuzenroute (giants route) and the Ros Beiaardroute (steed bayard route). * There are also motorcycle and car routes like Denderroute zuid (Dender route south).

Watercourses

* The

, the main river in the Dender basin. * The Molenbeek-Ter Erpenbeek in Zottegem, Herzele, Haaltert, Erpe-Mere and Aalst (left bank) as a tributary of the Dender. * The Molenbeek (millbrook) in Zottegem, Herzele, Erpe-Mere, Sint-Lievens-Houtem, Lede and Wichelen, being one of the Drie Molenbeken (three millbrooks), part of the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

the Drie Molenbeken as a tributary of the Bovenschelde. {{coord missing, Belgium Geography of East Flanders Regions of Flanders Areas of Belgium