 | This articledoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Waasland" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
TheWaasland (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈʋaːslɑnt], archaically "Waesland") orLand van Waas (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈlɑntvɑnˈʋaːs]) is a historic region in northern Belgium. It is part of the Belgian province ofEast Flanders. The other borders are with theScheldt andDurmerivers (east and south) and, to the north, the border with the Dutch region ofZeelandic Flanders. The (informal) capital and major city of the region isSint-Niklaas.
Waas most likely refers to the soggy soil of the region although the exactetymology is unknown. One possibility is a connection to theEnglish word "wasteland". The swamps that characterized it have long been drained although many fields are still noticeably convex; the result of many years of plowing the topsoil towards the center to improve drainage.
Historically, on account of its waterlogged, poor soils the region was thinly populated in comparison to the rest of Belgium and agriculture was by necessity based on holder farms using innovative techniques not usually applied elsewhere even if the farmers had ready markets nearby in the cities ofGhent andAntwerp.Charles Townshend (1674–1748), one of the proponents of the earlyBritish Agricultural Revolution, was an explicit advocate of agricultural practices first developed here in Belgium, such as the use ofturnips incrop rotation, and the region for some time attracted study trips by early agriculturists in his wake.
The epic tale ofReynard the Fox is set in the region.
The surname "Waas" and variants thereof is quite common in Belgium and refers to this region.
