West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemish province of East Flanders to the east, the Walloon province of Hainaut in the south and the French department of Nord to the west. Its capital is Bruges (''Brugge''). Other important cities are

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

in the south and

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

(''Oostende'') on the coast,

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

and Ypres (''Ieper''). The province has an area of which is divided into eight administrative districts (''arrondissementen'') containing 64 municipalities. As of January 2024, West Flanders has a population of over 1.22 million. The

coast of Belgium, an important

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

destination, lies in West Flanders. A

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

line runs the length of the coast, from De Panne on the French border to Knokke-Heist on the Dutch border. West Flanders has two seaports, the Port of Zeebrugge and the Port of Ostend.

Geography

West Flanders consists of the North Sea coast, followed by a very flat

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

landscape. Only in the south are some small hills, with the Kemmelberg () being the highest point in the province. The Leie and IJzer are the main rivers. West Flanders is the only Belgian province that borders both France and The Netherlands; it is the only province not landlocked.

Economy

The

Gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP) of the province was 46.9 billion € in 2018. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 34,700 € or 115% of the EU27 average in the same year. In the north of the province, most industry is concentrated in and around the cities of Bruges and

. Both cities also have important seaports: the port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and the port of Ostend. The south is known for its textile industry, with companies such as Beaulieu and Libeco-Lagae. The region around

is called the "

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

of Belgium" for its entrepreneurship.

Tourism

Tourism is also an important industry in West Flanders. Major touristic attractions include the Belgian coast, the historic center of Bruges, the Yser Tower in Diksmuide and Flanders Fields, the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

battlefields around Ypres.

Language

A Dutch dialect called West Flemish is spoken here.

Sport

The city of Bruges has two clubs playing at the highest level of football in Belgium (

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

), namely Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge. Other cities with teams playing at the highest level are

( KV Kortrijk),

( KV Oostende) and Waregem ( Zulte Waregem). The teams Knack Randstad Roeselare and Prefaxis Menen play in the highest volleyball league. Knack Randstad Roeselare also plays in the CEV Champions League, the European Championsleague. BC Oostende is a basketball team which plays in the major basketball league of Belgium.

List of governors

Subdivisions

Arrondissements

The Province of West Flanders is divided into 8 administrative arrondissements. Image:Arrondissement Brugge Belgium Map.png, Bruges Image:Arrondissement Diksmuide Belgium Map.png, Diksmuide Image:ArrKortrijkLocation.png,

Image:Arrondissement Oostende Belgium Map.png,

Image:Arrondissement Roeselare Belgium Map.png,

Image:Arrondissement Tielt Belgium Map.png, Tielt Image:Arrondissement Veurne Belgium Map.png, Veurne Image:Arrondissement Ieper Belgium Map.png, Ypres

Judicial arrondissements

The Province of West Flanders is divided into 4 judicial

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

s. Image:Image-Judicial Arrondissement Brugge Belgium Map.png, Bruges Image:Image-Judicial Arrondissement Kortrijk Belgium Map.png, Kortrijk Image:Image-Judicial Arrondissement Veurne Belgium Map.png, Veurne Image:Image-Judicial Arrondissement Ieper Belgium Map.png, Ypres

Municipalities

West Flanders contains 62 municipalities. Municipalities that have city status have ''(city)'' after their names.

Notes

References

External links

Official website of the Province of West Flanders
{{Authority control NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Provinces of Flanders