Kruisem () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Belgian province of

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 ...

that was established on 1 January 2019 from the merging of the municipalities of

Kruishoutem Kruishoutem (; , also used in English) is a village and was a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprised the towns of Kruishoutem proper, Nokere and Wannegem-Lede. In January 2018, the municipality ...

and Zingem. The merged municipality has an area of 71.59 km² and a population of 15,876 people as of 2022. The municipality consists of the ''

deelgemeente A (, literally ''sub-municipality''), or section (), is a subdivision of a municipality in Belgium and, until March 2014, in the Netherlands as well. Belgium Each municipality in Belgium that existed as a separate entity on 1 January 1961 bu ...

s''

Huise Huise is a village and ''deelgemeente'' (sub-municipality) on a hill within the municipality of Kruisem, part of the province of East Flanders in Belgium. History It was mentioned in an 877 charter (granting permission to build a church for the ...

, , Ouwegem, and Zingem.

Creation

The

Flemish Government The Flemish Government ( ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President of Flanders, Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Par ...

provides incentives for municipalities to voluntarily merge. The municipal councils of Kruishoutem and Zingem approved a merge in 2017, which was ratified by Flemish

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

of 4 May 2018 alongside several other merges, all to be effective per 1 January 2019. As of 1 January 2018, the municipality of Kruishoutem had a population of 8,086 and Zingem a population of 7,552.

Government

The first elections for the new municipality were held during the regular local elections of 14 October 2018, electing a municipal council for the legislative period of 2019–2024. CD&V obtained a majority of seats in the municipal council (14 out of 25). Joop Verzele becomes mayor of Kruisem.

References

Municipalities of East Flanders 2019 establishments in Belgium {{EastFlanders-geo-stub