Hainaut (province)

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Hainaut
Province of Belgium
Flag of Hainaut.svg
Flag
Wapen van Henegouwen (provincie).svg
Coat of arms
Province de Hainaut in Belgium.svg
Coordinates: 50°30′N3°55′E / 50.5°N 3.92°E / 50.5; 3.92 Coordinates: 50°30′N3°55′E / 50.5°N 3.92°E / 50.5; 3.92
CountryFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
RegionFlag of Wallonia.svg  Wallonia
Capital Mons
Government
  Governor Tommy Leclercq
Area
  Total 3,800 km2 (1,500 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2017) [1]
  Total 1,339,562
  Density 350/km2 (910/sq mi)
Website www.hainaut.be

Hainaut (French : Hainaut, French pronunciation:  [ɛno] ; Dutch : Heinaut, IPA:  [ˈɦeːnəɣʌuə(n)]  ( Loudspeaker.svg   listen ); Walloon : Hinnot; Picard : Hénau) is a province of Wallonia and Belgium.

French language Romance language

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) has largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French.

Dutch language West Germanic language

Dutch(Nederlands ) is a West Germanic language spoken by around 23 million people as a first language and 5 million people as a second language, constituting the majority of people in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives English and German.

Walloon language language

Walloon is a Romance language that is spoken in much of Wallonia in Belgium, in some villages of Northern France and in the northeast part of Wisconsin until the mid 20th century and in some parts of Canada. It belongs to the langue d'oïl language family, whose most prominent member is the French language. The historical background of its formation was the territorial extension since 980 of the Principality of Liège to the south and west.

Contents

To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clockwise from the North) on the Flemish provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant and the Walloon provinces of Walloon Brabant and Namur.

France Republic with mainland in Europe and numerous oversea territories

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Nord (French department) Department of France

Nord is a department in the far north of France. It was created from the western halves of the historical counties of Flanders and Hainaut, and the Bishopric of Cambrai. The modern coat of arms was inherited from the County of Flanders.

Flemish Region Region of Belgium

The Flemish Region is one of the three regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders. It occupies the northern part of Belgium and covers an area of 13,522 km2. It is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe with around 480 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Its capital is Mons (Dutch Bergen) and the most populous city is Charleroi, the province's urban, economic and cultural hub, the financial capital of Hainaut and the fifth largest city in the country by population.

Mons Municipality in French Community, Belgium

Mons is a Walloon city and municipality, and the capital of the Belgian province of Hainaut. The Mons municipality includes the former communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles, Saint-Denis, Saint-Symphorien, Spiennes and Villers-Saint-Ghislain. Together with the Czech city of Plzeň, Mons was the European Capital of Culture in 2015.

Charleroi Municipality in French Community, Belgium

Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By January 1, 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,462 square kilometres (564 sq mi) with a total population of 522,522 by January 1, 2008, ranking it as the 5th most populous in Belgium after Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, and Ghent. The inhabitants are called Carolorégiens or simply Carolos.

History

Historical map of the County of Hainaut, with in red the current French-Belgian border. Carte du comte de Hainaut.jpg
Historical map of the County of Hainaut, with in red the current French-Belgian border.

The province derives from the French Revolutionary Jemmape department, formed in 1795 from part of the medieval County of Hainaut, the small territory of Tournai and the Tournaisis, a part of the county of Namur (Charleroi), and also a small part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (Thuin). (A large part of the historical county of Hainaut is now within France and sometimes referred to as French Hainaut.)

Jemmape (department) former French department (1795-1814)

Jemmape[ʒɛ.map] was a department 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. Its capital was Mons.

County of Hainaut countship

The County of Hainaut, sometimes given the spelling Hainault, was a historical lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire with its capital eventually established at Mons, and named after the river Haine, both now in Belgium. Besides Mons, it included the city of Valenciennes, now in France. It consisted of what is now the Belgian province of Hainaut and the eastern part of the French département of Nord.

County of Namur countship

Namur was a county of the Carolingian and later Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries. Its territories largely correspond with the present-day Belgian arrondissement Namur plus the northwestern part of the arrondissement Dinant, both part of the modern province of Namur, and previously part of the French Republican department of Sambre-et-Meuse.

Subdivisions

HainautGemeenten.png

Hainaut province is divided into 7 administrative districts (arrondissements), subdivided into a total of 69 municipalities. It has an area of 3,800 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi).

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.

Map no.MunicipalityArrondissement
1 Aiseau-Presles Charleroi
2 Anderlues Thuin
3 Antoing Tournai
4 Ath Ath
5 Beaumont Thuin
6 Belœil Ath
7 Bernissart Ath
8 Binche Thuin
9 Boussu Mons
10 Braine-le-Comte Soignies
11 Brugelette Ath
12 Brunehaut Tournai
13 Celles Tournai
14 Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont Charleroi
15 Charleroi Charleroi
16 Châtelet Charleroi
17 Chièvres Ath
18 Chimay Thuin
19 Colfontaine Mons
20 Comines-Warneton Mouscron
21 Courcelles Charleroi
22 Dour Mons
23 Écaussinnes Soignies
24 Ellezelles Ath
25 Enghien Soignies
26 Erquelinnes Thuin
27 Estaimpuis Tournai
28 Estinnes Thuin
29 Farciennes Charleroi
30 Fleurus Charleroi
31 Flobecq Ath
32 Fontaine-l'Evêque Charleroi
33 Frameries Mons
34 Frasnes-lez-Anvaing Ath
35 Froidchapelle Thuin
36 Gerpinnes Charleroi
37 Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes Thuin
38 Hensies Mons
39 Honnelles Mons
40 Jurbise Mons
41 La Louvière Soignies
42 Le Roeulx Soignies
43 Lens Mons
44 Les Bons Villers Charleroi
45 Lessines Soignies
46 Leuze-en-Hainaut Tournai
47 Lobbes Thuin
48 Manage Charleroi
49 Merbes-le-Château Thuin
50 Momignies Thuin
51 Mons Mons
52 Mont-de-l'Enclus Tournai
53 Montigny-le-Tilleul Charleroi
54 Morlanwelz Thuin
55 Mouscron Mouscron
56 Pecq Tournai
57 Péruwelz Tournai
58 Pont-à-Celles Charleroi
59 Quaregnon Mons
60 Quévy Mons
61 Quiévrain Mons
62 Rumes Tournai
63 Saint-Ghislain Mons
64 Seneffe Charleroi
65 Silly Soignies
66 Sivry-Rance Thuin
67 Soignies Soignies
68 Thuin Thuin
69 Tournai Tournai

Governors

Jean-Baptiste Thorn was a Luxembourg-born jurist and politician that held office in both Luxembourg and Belgium during and immediately after the Belgian Revolution.

Charles Liedts Belgian politician

Charles Augustin Baron Liedts was a Belgian liberal politician.

Augustin Dumon-Dumortier diplomat, industrialist, politician

Augustin Aimable Dumon-Dumortier was a Belgian industrialist, diplomat and liberal politician.

Miscellaneous

The patron saint of the province Hainaut is Saint Waltrude. [2]

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References