East Flanders


East Flanders is a province of Belgium. It borders the Dutch province of Zeeland and the Flemish province of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut and West Flanders. It has an area of, divided into six administrative districts containing 60 municipalities, and a population of 1,515,064 as of January 2019. The capital is Ghent, home to the Ghent University and the Port of Ghent.

History

During the short-lived Napoleonic Empire, most of the area of the modern province was part of the Department of Escaut, named after the River Scheldt. Following the defeat of Napoleon, the entity was renamed after its geographical location in the eastern part of the historic County of Flanders.
The provincial flag has a black lion with red tongue and claws, on a background of horizontal white and green stripes. This is a recent adaptation; formerly, East Flanders used the Flemish flag, a black lion on a yellow background, as in the current coat of arms. The old flag is still publicly used, e.g. for road signs.

Geography

The province has several geographic or tourist regions:
Important rivers are the Scheldt and the Leie which merge in Ghent. The Dender merges into the Scheldt in the city of Dendermonde.

Subdivisions

East Flanders is divided into 6 administrative arrondissements, subdivided into a total of 60 municipalities. In addition, there are 3 judicial and 3 electoral arrondissements.

Demographics

The province has a population of almost 1.5 million. It had 734,000 inhabitants in 1830, when it was the most populated province of Belgium, and about a million in 1900. Population growth halted around the 1980s, but has increased again in the 21st century. Population figures in recent years is as follows:
YearPopulation
1 January 19901,331,608
1 January 19951,349,382
1 January 20001,361,623
1 January 20051,380,072
1 January 20101,432,326
1 January 20151,477,346
1 January 20171,496,187

The capital and biggest city is Ghent, also the second largest city in the Flemish Region. Other smaller cities are Aalst, Sint-Niklaas and Dendermonde in the east of the province. The eastern part of the province, part of the Flemish Diamond, is more densely populated than the western part.

Economy

The Gross domestic product of the province was 56.4 billion € in 2018. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 33,000 € or 109% of the EU27 average in the same year.

Government

The provincial council consists of 72 members which were last elected in the 2012 elections. Previously it consisted of 84 members. The council currently consists of the following political parties:
Six people chosen by and from the council form the daily government, called the deputation. The deputation of East Flanders is a coalition of the political parties CD&V, Open Vld and sp.a. The biggest party in the council, N-VA, is not included.
The daily government is led by the governor, who is appointed by the Flemish Government. André Denys has been the governor of East Flanders from 26 November 2004 until 21 January 2013. Jan Briers, who is not member of a political party but was nominated by N-VA, succeeded him on 1 February 2013.
The province has a yearly budget of approximately 300 million euro.

Governors

Timeline:

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from:1830 till:1830 color:catholic text:"De Ryckere" fontsize:10
from:1830 till:1834 color:catholic text:"de Lamberts-Cortenbach" fontsize:10
from:1834 till:1836 color:catholic text:"Vilain" fontsize:10
from:1837 till:1843 color:catholic text:"de Schierve" fontsize:10
from:1843 till:1848 color:catholic text:"Desmaisières" fontsize:10
from:1848 till:1871 color:liberal text:"De Jaegher" fontsize:10
from:1871 till:1879 color:catholic text:"de T'Serclaes De Wommersom" fontsize:10
from:1879 till:1885 color:liberal text:"Verhaeghe de Naeyer" fontsize:10
from:1885 till:1919 color:catholic text:"de Kerchove d'Exaerde" fontsize:10
from:1919 till:1921 color:liberal text:"Lippens" fontsize:10
from:1921 till:1929 color:catholic text:"de Kerchove De Denterghem" fontsize:10
from:1929 till:1935 color:liberal text:"Karel Weyler" fontsize:10
from:1935 till:1938 color:liberal text:"Ingenbleek" fontsize:10
from:1938 till:1939 color:liberal text:"Frederiq" fontsize:10
from:1939 till:1954 color:catholic text:"Van den Boogaerden" fontsize:10
from:1954 till:1963 color:liberal text:"Mariën" fontsize:10
from:1963 till:1984 color:socialist text:"de Kinder" fontsize:10
from:1984 till:2004 color:socialist text:"Balthazar" fontsize:10
from:2004 till:2013 color:liberal text:"Denys" fontsize:10
from:2013 till:2013 color:none text:"Briers" fontsize:10