In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government under the national level, between the administrative regions and the communes. There are ninety-six departments in metropolitan France, with an additional five overseas departments, which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 333 arrondissements and 2,054 cantons. These last two levels of government have no political autonomy, instead serving as the administrative basis for the local organisation of police, fire departments as well as, in certain cases, elections.
Waterloo is a municipality in Wallonia, located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, which in 2011 had a population of 29,706 and an area of 21.03 km2 (8.12 sq mi). Waterloo lies a short distance south of Brussels, and immediately north-east of the larger town of Braine-l'Alleud. It is the site of the Battle of Waterloo, where the resurgent Napoleon was defeated for the final time in 1815. Waterloo lies immediately south of the official language border between Flanders and Wallonia.
The Dyle is a river in central Belgium, left tributary of the Rupel. It is 86 kilometres (53 mi) long. It flows through the Belgian provinces of Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Its source is in Houtain-le-Val, near Nivelles in Walloon Brabant.
Léman was a department of the French First Republic and French First Empire. Its name came from the French name of Lake Geneva, Lac Léman. It was formed in 1798, when the Republic of Geneva was annexed by the French Republic. Léman also included districts that were previously part of the departments of Mont-Blanc and Ain. Its territory corresponded with the present Swiss canton of Geneva and parts of the present French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie.
Lys was a department of the French First Republic and French First Empire in present-day Belgium. It was named after the river Lys (Leie). It was created on 1 October 1795, when the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège were officially annexed by the French Republic. Prior to this annexation, its territory was part of the County of Flanders. Its Chef-lieu was Bruges.
Escaut was a department of the French First Republic and French First Empire in present-day Belgium and Netherlands. It was named after the river Scheldt, which is called the Escaut in French. It was created on 1 October 1795, when the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège were officially annexed by the French Republic. Before annexation by France, its territory was part of the County of Flanders and the Dutch Republic (Staats-Vlaanderen).
Deux-Nèthes was a department of the First French Republic and of the First French Empire in present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. It was named after two branches of the river Nete. The southern part of its territory corresponds more or less with the present-day Belgian province of Antwerp. It was created on 1 October 1795, when the Austrian Netherlands were officially annexed by the French Republic. Its territory was the northern part of the former duchy of Brabant. After the annexation of the Kingdom of Holland in 1810, the department was expanded with the western half of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant, itself historically part of the Duchy of Brabant.
Meuse-Inférieure was a department of the French First Republic and French First Empire in present-day Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. It was named after the river Meuse. Its territory corresponded largely with the present-day provinces of Belgian and Dutch Limburg. It was created on 1 October 1795, when the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège were officially annexed by the French Republic. Before this annexation, its territory was part of the County of Loon, the Austrian Upper Guelders, the Staats-Oppergelre, the County of Horne, the Abbacy of Thorn, Maastricht and part of the Lands of Overmaas. The lands of the original medieval Duchy of Limburg were associated with the Overmaas lands, lying to their south. The two regions had long been governed together and referred to collectively with both names, but the original Duchy lands were not part of this new entity.
Rhin-et-Moselle was a department of the First French Republic and First French Empire in present-day Germany. It was named after the rivers Rhine and Moselle. It was formed in 1797, when the left bank of the Rhine was annexed by France. Until the French occupation, its territory was divided between the Archbishopric of Cologne, the Archbishopric of Trier, and the Electorate of the Palatinate. Its territory is now part of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. Its capital was Koblenz.
Sambre-et-Meuse was a department of the French First Republic and French First Empire in present-day Belgium. It was named after the rivers Sambre and Meuse. It was created on 1 October 1795, when the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège were officially annexed by the French Republic. Prior to this annexation, the territory included in the department had lain in the County of Namur, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Duchies of Brabant and Luxembourg.
Simplon was a department of the First French Empire. It was named after the Simplon Pass. It was formed in 1810, when the Rhodanic Republic was annexed by France. Its territory corresponded with that of the present-day Swiss canton of Valais.
Ourthe was a department of the French First Republic and French First Empire in present-day Belgium and Germany. It was named after the river Ourthe (Oûte). Its territory corresponded more or less with that of the present-day Belgian province of Liège and a small adjacent region in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It was created on 1 October 1795, when the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège were officially annexed by the French Republic. Before this annexation, the territory included in the department had lain partly in the Bishopric of Liège, the Abbacy of Stavelot-Malmedy, the Duchies of Limburg and Luxembourg, and the County of Namur.
Jemmape was a department of the First French Republic and of the First French Empire in present-day Belgium. It was named after the Battle of Jemappes, fought between the French and the Austrians in 1792 near the village of Jemappes, near Mons. Jemappes was spelled Jemmape, Jemmapes or Jemmappes at the time. Its territory corresponded more or less with that of the Belgian province of Hainaut. It was firstly created on 2 March 1793, and then recreated on 1 October 1795, when the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège were officially annexed by the French Republic. Before annexation, its territory lay in the County of Hainaut, Tournai and the Tournaisis, the County of Namur (Charleroi) and the Bishopric of Liège (Thuin).
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 Old University of Leuven is the name historians give to the university, or studium generale, founded in Leuven, Brabant, in 1425. The university was closed in 1797, a week after the cession to the French Republic of the Austrian Netherlands and the principality of Liège by the Treaty of Campo Formio.
Hekelgem is a village in the province Flemish Brabant, Belgium. In 1977 it merged with Essene and Teralfene to form the municipality of Affligem, of which it remains a section. The merged municipality is named after the historic Affligem Abbey in Hekelgem.
Charles Joseph Mathieu Lambrechts was an Austrian Netherlands-born lawyer, rector magnificus of the University of Louvain, who became Minister of Justice of the French Republic, during the Directoire. Later he was a deputy from 1819 to 1824.
The natural borders of France were a nationalist model of French state-building developed during the French Revolution that called for the expansion of France's borders to prominent natural boundaries. These boundaries correspond to the Rhine, the Alps, the Mediterranean Sea, the Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean.
The Prefect of Ain is the highest state representative in the department of Ain on the East border of France. Its seat is in Bourg-en-Bresse.
The pagus of Brabant was a geographical region in the early Middle Ages, located in what is now Belgium. It was the first region known to have been called Brabant, and it included the modern capital of Belgium, Brussels. It was divided between the neighbouring counties of Flanders, Hainaut and Louvain (Leuven) in the eleventh century. It was the eastern part, which went to the Counts of Louvain, which kept the name in use, becoming the primary name of their much larger lordship. This led to other regions later being named Brabant - in particular, the French and Dutch-speaking areas east of the Dyle, including Leuven and Wavre, which are still known as "Brabant"; and secondly the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
