| Provinces of Belgium | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Province | |
| Location | Belgium | |
| Found in | Regions of Belgium | |
| Number | 10 provinces | |
| Possible types | ||
| Populations | 295,146 (Luxembourg) – 1,926,522 (Antwerp)[1] | |
| Areas | 1,097 km2 (424 sq mi) (Walloon Brabant) – 4,459 km2 (1,722 sq mi) (Luxembourg)[2] | |
| Government | ||
| Subdivisions | ||
TheKingdom of Belgium is divided into threeregions. Two of these regions,Flanders andWallonia, are each subdivided into fiveprovinces. The third region,Brussels, does not belong to any province, nor is it subdivided into provinces. Instead, it has amalgamated both regional and provincial functions into a single "Capital Region" administration.
Most of the provinces take their name from earlierduchies andcounties of similar location, while their territory is mostly based on thedepartments installed during French annexation. At the time of thecreation of Belgium in 1830, only nine provinces existed, including theprovince of Brabant, which held theCity of Brussels. In 1995, Brabant was split into three areas:Flemish Brabant, which became a part of the region of Flanders;Walloon Brabant, which became part of the region of Wallonia; and theBrussels-Capital Region, which became a third region. These divisions reflected political tensions between the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish; the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual.
The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of theBelgian Constitution. The provinces and Brussels are subdivided into 43 administrativearrondissements, and further into 565municipalities.
| Province | Name in
| Capital | Governor (Assumed office) | Area[2] | Population (1 January 2024)[1] | Density | Postal codes[3] | HASC[3] | ISO[3] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flanders | ||||||||||
 Antwerp |
| Antwerp | Cathy Berx (2008) | 2,876 km2 (1,110 sq mi) | 1,926,522 | 670/km2 (1,700/sq mi) | 2000– 2999 | BE.AN | VAN | |
 East Flanders |
| Ghent | Carina Van Cauter (2013) | 3,007 km2 (1,161 sq mi) | 1,572,002 | 520/km2 (1,300/sq mi) | 9000– 9999 | BE.OV | VOV | |
 Flemish Brabant |
| Leuven | Jan Spooren (2020) | 2,118 km2 (818 sq mi) | 1,196,773 | 570/km2 (1,500/sq mi) | 1500– 1999 (West), 3000– 3499 (East) | BE.VB | VBR | |
 Limburg |
| Hasselt | Jos Lantmeeters (2009) | 2,427 km2 (937 sq mi) | 900,098 | 370/km2 (960/sq mi) | 3500– 3999 | BE.LI | VLI | |
 West Flanders |
| Bruges | Carl Decaluwé (2012) | 3,197 km2 (1,234 sq mi) | 1,226,375 | 380/km2 (980/sq mi) | 8000– 8999 | BE.WV | VWV | |
| Wallonia | ||||||||||
 Hainaut |
| Mons | Tommy Leclercq (2013) | 3,813 km2 (1,472 sq mi) | 1,360,074 | 360/km2 (930/sq mi) | 6000– 6599 (East), 7000– 7999 (West) | BE.HT | WHT | |
 Liège |
| Liège | Hervé Jamar (2015) | 3,857 km2 (1,489 sq mi) | 1,119,038 | 290/km2 (750/sq mi) | 4000– 4999 | BE.LG | WLG | |
 Luxembourg |
| Arlon | Olivier Schmitz (2016) | 4,459 km2 (1,722 sq mi) | 295,146 | 66/km2 (170/sq mi) | 6600– 6999 | BE.LX | WLX | |
 Namur |
| Namur | Denis Mathen (2007) | 3,675 km2 (1,419 sq mi) | 503,895 | 140/km2 (360/sq mi) | 5000– 5999 | BE.NA | WNA | |
 Walloon Brabant |
| Wavre | Gilles Mahieu (2015) | 1,097 km2 (424 sq mi) | 414,130 | 380/km2 (980/sq mi) | 1300– 1499 | BE.BW | WBR | |
| Brussels | ||||||||||
 Brussels Capital Region |
| Brussels City | Rudi Vervoort (2013) | 162 km2 (63 sq mi) | 1,249,597 | 7,700/km2 (20,000/sq mi) | 1000– 1299 | BE.BR | BBR | |
The medievalLow Countries, including present-day Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, as well as parts of modern Germany and France, comprised a number of rival and independent feudal states of varying sizes. These each had their own identities and governments, though in the early modern period almost all the Belgian states became part of larger entities (theSeventeen Provinces (1549–1581) and theSouthern Netherlands (after 1581)). Prominent early states in the area of modern Belgium included theDuchy of Brabant, theCounty of Flanders, thePrince-Bishopric of Liège and theDuchy of Luxembourg; smaller ones included theCounty of Hainaut, theDuchy of Limburg and theCounty of Namur, though there were other small states as well.
When these territories were annexed by France in 1795, they were reorganised intodépartments; the borders were redrawn and the historical names were replaced by names of geographical features (generally the main river of the area).
At the end of French rule and the creation of theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, the departmental territories were generally retained but were renamed into provinces and the historical names returned. At the time of theindependence of Belgium from the Netherlands in 1830, Belgium's territory simply consisted of the existing nine southern provinces. The first article of theBelgian Constitution said: "Belgium is divided into provinces. These provinces are Antwerp, Brabant, West Flanders, East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, except for the relations of Luxembourg with theGerman Confederation." As such, each of the modern provinces of Belgium (with the exception ofAntwerp) takes its name from one of the medieval predecessors, whereas the borders largely correspond to those of the French departments, which in most cases differ substantially from the historical entities.
In 1839, as part of theTreaty of London, half of the province of Limburg became part of theNetherlands, which consequently has its ownprovince of Limburg.
In 1920, following theFirst World War, Belgium annexed theEupen-Malmedy territory, which became part ofLiège Province.
During the second half of the 20th century, Belgium transitioned from a unitary state to a federal state withthree Communities and three Regions. As part of thestate reforms, the (bilingual)province of Brabant was split in 1995 three ways: into two (unilingual) provinces (Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant) and into the (bilingual)Brussels-Capital Region. (The Brussels-Capital Region does not belong to any province, is not a province, and does not contain any provinces.) The two new Brabant provinces became part of the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region respectively. The remaining eight provinces became part of these regions as well, so the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each contain five provinces.
The following table presents a simplified overview of the evolution of the Frenchdepartments into the present-day Belgian provinces.
The provincial government consists of three main branches: theProvincial Council, which is the legislative body, theDeputation orProvincial College, which is the executive body, and theGovernor, who is appointed by the regional government (i.e. the Flemish or Walloon Government).
The Provincial Councils (Dutch:Provincieraad;French:Conseil provincial) are the representative bodies of the population of the provinces. This is the equivalent of theStates-Provincial in theNetherlands. The numbers of seats in the Provincial Councils are proportional to the population of the province; the numbers were reduced in both Flanders and Wallonia, starting 2013 (following the2012 elections). They are directly elected each six years, at the same time of the municipal elections. Before 1994, the provincial elections instead coincided with the national elections. Until then, the provincial councils also appointed Provincial Senators to theBelgian Senate. The last elections were held on14 October 2018.
The executive branch was previously called thePermanent Deputation. In theFlemish Region it is now simply called the Deputation (Dutch:Deputatie) and it consists of the Governor and six Deputies elected by the Provincial Council from among its members. Following the next 2018 election, there will be one Deputy less, i.e. five Deputies. In theWalloon Region it is called the Provincial College (French:Collège provincial) which consists of the Governor and four to five Deputies (depending on the number of inhabitants of the province) elected by the Provincial Council from among its members.
InFlemish Brabant, there is also a Deputy Governor (Dutch:Adjunct van de gouverneur). The Deputy Governor is appointed by theFlemish Government on the unanimous advice of theFederal Council of Ministers and must have a considerable knowledge of both theDutch and theFrench language. He is responsible for ensuring that the language legislation is observed in the municipalities in theBrussels Periphery.
Following the FifthState Reform, the responsibility for the provincial institutions was devolved to the Regions. The Regions have the power to amend or replace the existing legislation on the provincial institutions, most notably the Provincial Law of 30 April 1836. In the Flemish Region, the Provincial Decree of 9 December 2005 applies. In the Walloon Region, the Code of Local Democracy and Decentralisation applies. The legal framework in these Regions is still very similar, but that could change in the future. Although the Regions are responsible for the provincial institutions, the Federal State has retained its responsibility over the provinces in certain cases. For instance, the Regions are responsible for the appointment of the Provincial Governors, but only after the unanimous advice of theFederal Council of Ministers. Legislation regarding the Governor and Vice-Governor ofBrussels-Capital, and the Deputy Governor ofFlemish Brabant, has also remained a federal competency.
TheBrussels Capital Region does not belong to any province, nor does it contain any. The extraprovincial status of Brussels has existed since 1995, when the formerprovince of Brabant, which had Brussels as its capital, was divided into the Dutch-speaking province ofFlemish Brabant and the French-speaking province ofWalloon Brabant.
Within this mainly French speaking region, nearly all former provincial competencies are assumed by its regional institutions and by theFrench Community Commission, theFlemish Community Commission or theCommon Community Commission. However, theArrondissement of Brussels-Capital has two commissioners of theFederal Government who are called "Governor of the Brussels-Capital Region" and "Vice-Governor". The Governor exercises most of the few remaining powers elsewhere exercised by a provincial governor, particularly in the field of public order, as far as no (federal) law, (regional) decree, ordinance or decision states otherwise.[4]
The Governor is appointed by thecabinet of the Brussels Capital Region on the unanimous advice of the Federal Council of Ministers. The regional government also appoints the Vice-Governor, who must have a considerable knowledge of bothFrench andDutch and who must ensure that the legislation regarding the use of the two languages is observed in Brussels.[5]
Because theGerman-speaking Community is located entirely withinLiège Province, it has been proposed on multiple occasions to create an eleventh province, the province ofEupen-Sankt Vith, which would comprise the nine municipalities of the German-speaking Community. Most of the functions carried out by provincial organs would then be exercised by the organs of the German-speaking Community.[6][7]
However, the community is small in area (854 km2 or 330 sq mi) and has only about 76,000 inhabitants, which would make it the smallest and by far the least populated province.
