Flanders (administrative region)

I

Introduction

Flanders (administrative region), (Flemish Vlanderen), administrative region in northern Belgium consisting of five provinces: West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg, and Flemish Brabant. It covers an area of 13,522 sq km (5,221 sq mi) and is bordered to the west by France and the North Sea, to the north and east by the Netherlands, and to the south by the Belgian region of Wallonia. The western part of present-day Flanders encompasses the core of the historic Flanders, which figured so prominently in the economic and cultural life of north-west Europe in the Middle Ages (see Flanders (historical region)).

II

Land and Resources

Flanders consists of low coastal plains and plateaux, including areas of polders (land reclaimed from the sea) along the coast. Most of the region is relatively flat. Elevations range from sea-level in coastal regions to 200 m (655 ft) on Flanders' southern plateaux. A number of rivers drain from the higher plateau region to the south into the Scheldt River, which flows past the city of Antwerp to the North Sea.

III

Population

Flanders has a population of 6,095,416 (2006 estimate). It contains a number of large cities including Antwerp, Ghent, Kortrijk (Courtrai), and Bruges. The capital of Belgium, Brussels, is an enclave within Flanders. Brussels has separate regional status within Belgium, but it also functions as the administrative capital of Flanders. Flanders is inhabited predominantly by Flemings who speak variants of the Dutch language known as Flemish. The standardized language of the region is Dutch. Small concentrations of French speakers live in the districts around Brussels and along the border with Wallonia.

A linguistic border between the two regions of Flanders and Wallonia has existed since the 4th century ad, when pressure from the Germanic Franks led to a withdrawal of the Roman Empire, creating a division roughly equivalent to the contemporary regional border.

IV

Economy

Agriculture is important: the principal crops are sugar beet, cereals, flax, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, and flowers. The region has also long been one of Europe's major economic centres. Bruges was an international trading and textile centre as early as the 13th century, and Antwerp has been an important commercial port since the 15th century. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Ghent, Antwerp, and Kortrijk became important industrial centres, and coal mining was developed further east. Nonetheless, until World War II, the Belgian economy was centred around the region of Wallonia to the south. During the second half of the 20th century, a surge of foreign investment in the corridor between Antwerp and Brussels led to significant growth in Flanders' engineering and high technology sectors, and to the rapid expansion of the service sector. That corridor is now the economic heart not only of Flanders, but of Belgium as a whole. Tourism is also of economic importance for Flanders, especially along the coast and in the region's historic cities.