Torhout (; ; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

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' ...

located in the Belgian province of

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

. The municipality comprises the city of Torhout proper, the villages of Wijnendale and Sint-Henricus, and the hamlet of De Driekoningen. On 29 February 2024 Torhout had a total population of 24,891. The total area is 45.23 km² which gives a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 445 inhabitants per km².

People associated with Torhout

Rimbert Saint Rimbert (or Rembert) (''c.'' 830 - 11 June 888 in Bremen) was archbishop of Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, Hamburg-Bremen, in the northern part of the East Francia, Kingdom of East Frankia from 865 until his death in 888. He most famously wr ...

, saint * Josse van Huerter, first settler, and captain-major of the island of Faial in the Portuguese

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. *

Karel Van Wijnendaele Karel Van Wijnendaele, pseudonym of Carolus Ludovicius Steyaert (Torhout, 16 November 1882 - Deinze, 20 December 1961), was a Flemish sports journalism, sports journalist. He was the founder and first organizer of the Tour of Flanders (men's race), ...

(Founder of

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

(Tour of Flanders)) * Benny Vansteelant (Multiple World Champion

Duathlon Duathlon is an sports, athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to triathlons. The World Triathlon governs the sport internationally. Distance and format Duathlon ...

) and Joerie Vansteelant * Luk Descheemaeker, winner at the 2nd Holocaust cartoon contest in Tehran, 2016. * Hilde Crevits, Vice Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish minister of Economy, Innovation, Work, Social economy and Agriculture; and former mayor of Torhout (2016-2018) *

Brahim Attaeb Brahim Attaeb better known by his stage name and mononym Brahim (born in Torhout, Belgium on 24 February 1984), is a Belgian R&B singer. Early life Attaeb was born in Torhout Torhout (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipaliti ...

, R&B singer and presenter

Festivities

Torhout-Werchter was until 1999 one of the largest annual

pop festivals Pop festivals are live music events that center around multiple genres of popular music and feature related artists. Types of music present can include rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of ...

in Europe. Efforts were made to have a

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

festival in Torhout after Torhout Werchter became Rock Werchter, held in Werchter only.

Sports

The main club of the city is

Torhout 1992 KM Koninklijke Maatschappij Torhout is a Belgian football club currently playing in the Belgian Division 2. The club is based in Torhout, West Flanders and plays their home meets in stadium "De Velodroom". KM Torhout was founded by a merger of ...

Sights

Kasteel d'Aertrycke (DSCF9933).jpg, Aertrycke castle Torhout, de Sint Pietersbandenkerk oeg87619 foto5 2015-09-26 15.45.jpg, Church: Sint Pietersbandenkerk File:Berg op Zoom. watertoren oeg 87306 foto5 2015-09-26 16.10.jpg, Watertower in Berg op Zoom

References

External links

* * - Information available in Dutch and limited information available in French, English and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Municipalities of West Flanders {{WestFlanders-geo-stub