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 theFlemish 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.
East Flanders is divided into 6 administrativearrondissements (districts), subdivided into a total of 55 municipalities. In addition, there are 3 judicial and 3 electoral arrondissements.
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:
Year
Population
1 January 1990
1,331,608
1 January 1995
1,349,382
1 January 2000
1,361,623
1 January 2005
1,380,072
1 January 2010
1,432,326
1 January 2015
1,477,346
1 January 2017
1,496,187
The capital and biggest city isGhent, also the second largest city in theFlemish Region. Other smaller cities areAalst,Sint-Niklaas andDendermonde in the east of the province. The eastern part of the province, part of theFlemish Diamond, is more densely populated than the western part.
TheGross domestic product (GDP) 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.[6]
The provincial council (provincieraad) consists of 36 members which were last elected in the2018 elections. Previously it consisted of 72 members. The council currently consists of the following political parties:
Four people chosen by and from the council form the daily government, called the deputation (deputatie). The deputation of East Flanders is a coalition of theN-VA,CD&V, andGroen.
The daily government is led by the governor, who is appointed by theFlemish Government.Carina Van Cauter (VLD) has been the governor of East Flanders since 1 September 2020.[7]
The province has a yearly budget of approximately 300 million euro.[citation needed]
