Arrondissements of Belgium are subdivisions below the provinces of Belgium. There are administrative, judicial and electoral arrondissements. These may or may not relate to identical geographical areas.
Belgium, a federalized state, geographically consists of three regions, of which only Flanders and Wallonia are subdivided into five provinces each; Brussels is neither a province nor is it part of one.
The 43 administrative arrondissements are an administrative level between the municipalities and the provinces. Brussels-Capital forms a single arrondissement for all 19 municipalities in the region by that name.
Dutch name | French name | HASC | NUTS | NIS/INS | In province | Population (as of 1/1/2018) | Municipalities |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aalst | Alost | BE.OV.AL | BE231 | 41 | East Flanders | 289,175 | 10 |
Aarlen | Arlon | BE.LX.AR | BE341 | 81 | Luxembourg | 62,202 | 5 |
Antwerpen | Anvers | BE.AN.AW | BE211 | 11 | Antwerp | 1,045,593 | 30 |
Aat | Ath | BE.HT.AT | BE321 | 51 | Hainaut | 86,782 | 8 |
Bastenaken | Bastogne | BE.LX.BS | BE342 | 82 | Luxembourg | 48,183 | 8 |
Brugge | Bruges | BE.WV.BG | BE251 | 31 | West Flanders | 281,780 | 10 |
Brussel-Hoofdstad | Bruxelles-Capitale | BE.BU.BR | BE100 | 21 | N/A | 1,198,726 | 19 |
- | Charleroi | BE.HT.CR | BE322 | 52 | Hainaut | 430,701 | 14 |
Dendermonde | Termonde | BE.OV.DM | BE232 | 42 | East Flanders | 200,307 | 10 |
Diksmuide | Dixmude | BE.WV.DK | BE252 | 32 | West Flanders | 51,428 | 5 |
- | Dinant | BE.NA.DN | BE351 | 91 | Namur | 110,610 | 15 |
Eeklo | - | BE.OV.EK | BE233 | 43 | East Flanders | 84,591 | 6 |
Gent | Gand | BE.OV.GT | BE234 | 44 | East Flanders | 556,916 | 17 |
Halle-Vilvoorde | Hal-Vilvorde | BE.VB.HV | BE241 | 23 | Flemish Brabant | 632,134 | 35 |
Hasselt | - | BE.LI.HS | BE221 | 71 | Limburg | 427,010 | 17 |
Hoei | Huy | BE.LG.HY | BE331 | 61 | Liège | 113,097 | 17 |
Ieper | Ypres | BE.WV.IP | BE253 | 33 | West Flanders | 106,251 | 8 |
Kortrijk | Courtrai | BE.WV.KR | BE254 | 34 | West Flanders | 289,114 | 12 |
Leuven | Louvain | BE.VB.LV | BE242 | 24 | Flemish Brabant | 506,355 | 30 |
Luik | Liège | BE.LG.LG | BE332 | 62 | Liège | 623,953 | 24 |
Maaseik | - | BE.LI.MS | BE222 | 72 | Limburg | 240,511 | 12 |
- | Marche-en-Famenne | BE.LX.MR | BE343 | 83 | Luxembourg | 56,143 | 9 |
Mechelen | Malines | BE.AN.MH | BE212 | 12 | Antwerp | 342,945 | 12 |
Bergen | Mons | BE.HT.MN | BE323 | 53 | Hainaut | 258,608 | 13 |
Moeskroen | Mouscron | BE.HT.MC | BE324 | 54 | Hainaut | 76,297 | 2 |
Namen | Namur | BE.NA.NM | BE352 | 92 | Namur | 316,058 | 16 |
- | Neufchâteau | BE.LX.NC | BE344 | 84 | Luxembourg | 63,041 | 12 |
Nijvel | Nivelles | BE.BW.NV | BE310 | 25 | Walloon Brabant | 401,106 | 27 |
Oostende | Ostende | BE.WV.OS | BE255 | 35 | West Flanders | 156,468 | 7 |
Oudenaarde | Audenarde | BE.OV.OD | BE235 | 45 | East Flanders | 123,868 | 10 |
- | Philippeville | BE.NA.PV | BE353 | 93 | Namur | 66,405 | 7 |
Roeselare | Roulers | BE.WV.RS | BE256 | 36 | West Flanders | 151,873 | 8 |
Sint-Niklaas | Saint-Nicolas | BE.OV.SN | BE236 | 46 | East Flanders | 250,196 | 7 |
Zinnik | Soignies | BE.HT.SG | BE325 | 55 | Hainaut | 190,334 | 8 |
- | Thuin | BE.HT.TN | BE326 | 56 | Hainaut | 151,912 | 14 |
Tielt | - | BE.WV.TL | BE257 | 37 | West Flanders | 92,615 | 9 |
Tongeren | Tongres | BE.LI.TG | BE223 | 73 | Limburg | 203,359 | 13 |
Doornik | Tournai | BE.HT.TR | BE327 | 57 | Hainaut | 147,011 | 10 |
Turnhout | - | BE.AN.TH | BE213 | 13 | Antwerp | 458,948 | 27 |
- | Verviers | BE.LG.VV | BE335 BE336 | 63 | Liège | 287,374 | 29 |
Veurne | Furnes | BE.WV.VR | BE258 | 38 | West Flanders | 61,530 | 5 |
- | Virton | BE.LX.VT | BE345 | 85 | Luxembourg | 53,658 | 10 |
Borgworm | Waremme | BE.LG.WR | BE334 | 64 | Liège | 80,902 | 14 |
As an exception, the arrondissement of Verviers has two NUTS codes: BE335 for the French-speaking part and BE336 for the German-speaking part. The latter is identical to the area of the German-speaking community.
Belgium has 12 judicial arrondissements: [1] [2]
Until March 31, 2014 Belgium had 27 judicial arrondissements. [3] These are now sections of today's 12 judicial arrondissements. In addition, the arrondissement Brussels was divided into the sections Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde.
Judicial arrondissement | Sections |
---|---|
Antwerp | Antwerp, Mechelen, Turnhout |
Brussels | Brussels, Halle-Vilvoorde |
Eupen | Eupen |
East Flanders | Dendermonde, Ghent, Oudenaarde |
Hainaut | Charleroi, Mons, Tournai |
Leuven | Leuven |
Limburg | Hasselt, Tongeren |
Liège | Huy, Liège, Verviers |
Luxembourg | Arlon, Marche-en-Famenne, Neufchâteau |
Namur | Dinant, Namur |
Walloon Brabant | Nivelles |
West Flanders | Bruges, Kortrijk, Veurne, Ypres |
Until the end of 1999 the electoral districts for the election of the parliaments were electoral arrondissements; since the start of 2000 these are the ten provinces . The arrondissement of Brussels-Capital (geographically coinciding with the Brussels-Capital Region) is not part of any province and consequently forms its own electoral district.
As the only part of Belgium, the Parliament of Wallonia still uses electoral arrondissements. Each electoral arrondissement consists of at least one (administrative) arrondissement. There were previously 13 such electoral districts, but they have since been reduced to 11. Each of these electoral districts take their names from the arrondissements they consist of, usually decreasing in order of population.
Electoral arrondissement | Province part of |
---|---|
Arlon-Marche-en-Famenne-Bastogne-Neufchâteau-Virton | Luxembourg |
Mons | Hainaut |
Charleroi-Thuin | Hainaut |
Dinant-Philippeville | Namur |
Tournai-Ath-Mouscron | Hainaut |
Huy-Waremme | Liège |
Liège | Liège |
Namur | Namur |
Nivelles | Walloon Brabant |
Soignies | Hainaut |
Verviers | Liège |
Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish, which can also refer to the collective of Dutch dialects spoken in that area. The official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels, although the Brussels-Capital Region that includes it has an independent regional government. The powers of the government of Flanders consist, among others, of economic affairs in the Flemish Region and the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels, such as Flemish culture and education.
An arrondissement is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven. It has an area of 2,118 km2 (818 sq mi) which is divided into two administrative districts containing 65 municipalities. As of January 2019, Flemish Brabant has a population of 1,146,175.
Walloon Brabant is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut. Walloon Brabant's capital and largest city is Wavre.
Liège is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium.
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities and three regions that are based on four language areas. For each of these subdivision types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country; in other words, the types overlap.
The Kingdom of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, Brussels, does not belong to any province and nor is it subdivided into provinces. Instead, it has amalgamated both regional and provincial functions into a single "Capital Region" administration.
Vilvoorde is a Belgian municipality in the Halle-Vilvoorde district (arrondissement) of the province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningslo and Houtem and the small town of Peutie.
Articles related to Belgium include:
The area within Belgium known as Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde encompasses the bilingual—French and Dutch—Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vilvoorde, which in turn coincides with the arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde. Halle-Vilvoorde contains several municipalities with language facilities, i.e. municipalities where French-speaking people form a considerable part of the population and therefore have special language rights. This area forms the judicial arrondissement of Brussels, which is the location of a tribunal of first instance, enterprise tribunal and a labour tribunal. It was reformed in July 2012, as part of the sixth Belgian state reform.
The Province of Brabant was a province in Belgium from 1830 to 1995. It was created in 1815 as South Brabant, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1995, it was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.
The Halle-Vilvoorde Arrondissement is one of the two administrative arrondissements in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It almost completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region and lies to the west of the other arrondissement in the province, the Leuven Arrondissement. Unlike the Arrondissement of Leuven, it is not a judicial arrondissement; however since the sixth Belgian state reform in 2012–14, it has its own public prosecutor's service.
The Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital is the only administrative arrondissement in the Brussels Capital Region in Belgium. Because it is the only administrative arrondissement in the Brussels Region, its territory coincides with that of the latter.
The Union of Francophones is a political party in Belgium that participates as electoral lists in regional, provincial, and municipal elections in the Flemish Province of Flemish Brabant. As its name suggests, its primary target is the French-speaking community of Flemish Brabant and particularly those who live in the officially Dutch-speaking area Halle-Vilvoorde including the now predominantly French-speaking municipalities with language facilities in the Brussels Periphery. Its main goal is to provide both constitutional exemptions for and privileges to Francophones living in Dutch-speaking Flanders, for example by annexing the municipalities with language facilities to the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.
The arrondissement of Brussels was one of the three arrondissements forming the province of Brabant, Belgium, or before Belgium's independence forming the French Dyle department.
State reform, in the context of Belgium, is the ongoing process of seeking and finding constitutional and legal solutions to the problems and tensions in the different segments of the Belgian population, mostly between the Dutch-speakers of Flanders and the French-speakers of Wallonia. In general, Belgium has evolved from a unitary state to a federal state with communities, regions, and language areas.
The N3 road in Belgium is a national road connecting the capital city Brussels to Aachen in Germany via Leuven, Tienen, Sint-Truiden and Liège. Its course is quite similar to that of European route E40 between Brussels and Aachen, which it intersects 3 times. The road runs through the 3 Belgian regions and the 3 communities.
The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2012 took place on 14 October. As with the previous 2006 elections, these are no longer organised by the Belgian federal state but instead by the respective regions:
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate was no longer directly elected following the 2011–2012 state reform. These were the first elections held under King Philippe's reign.
The NIS code is a numeric code for regional areas of Belgium.