| Hainaut | |
| Native Name: | |
| Other Name: | Heynowes |
| Settlement Type: | Province of Belgium |
| Flag Size: | 120x80px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Mons |
| Seat1 Type: | Largest city |
| Seat1: | Charleroi |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Tommy Leclercq |
| Area Total Km2: | 3813 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 1,360,074 |
| Population As Of: | 1 January 2024 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | GDP |
| Demographics1 Footnotes: | [3] |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Total |
| Demographics1 Info1: | €36.940 billion (2021) |
| Blank Name Sec2: | HDI (2021) |
| Blank Info Sec2: | 0.893[4] · 11th of 11 |
| Image Blank Emblem: | Hainaut.svg |
| Blank Emblem Type: | Brandmark |
| Blank Emblem Size: | 120px |
Hainaut (also,,[5] [6] [7] in French ɛno/; Dutch; Flemish: Henegouwen in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˈɦeːnəɣʌu.ə(n)/; Walloon: Hinnot; Hénau), historically also known as Heynault in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium.
To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clockwise from the north) on the Flemish provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant and the Walloon provinces of Walloon Brabant and Namur.
Its capital is Mons (Dutch: Bergen) and the most populous city is Charleroi, the province's urban, economic and cultural hub, the financial capital of Hainaut and the fifth largest city in the country by population. Hainaut has an area of 3831km2 and as of January 2024 a population of over 1.36 million.[8] Another notable city is Tournai (Dutch Doornik) on the Scheldt river, one of the oldest cities in Belgium and the first capital of the Frankish Empire.
Hainaut province has a rolling landscape, except for the very southern part, the so-called Boot of Hainaut, which is quite hilly and belongs to the Ardennes and its foothills Fagne and the Condroz.
The village of L'Escaillère in the utmost southeastern corner, at an altitude of 365 metres, is the highest point of the province.
In the Boot of Hainaut on the border of Namur province the artificial five Eau d'Heure lakes are situated, the largest lake area of Belgium.
A well-known region is the Borinage, the old coal mining region around the city of Mons. Also well-known is the Pays des Collines (English Hill Country), a low hilly area forming one natural region with the Flemish Ardennes in the East Flanders province.
Picard is spoken in the western and central parts of the province, while in the eastern part a mixture of Walloon and Picard is spoken (Wallo-Picard).
Some Flemish and Brabantic is spoken in the municipalities bordering the Flemish region.
See also: County of Hainaut. The province derives from the French Revolutionary Jemmape department, formed in 1795 from part of the medieval County of Hainaut, the small territory of Tournai and the Tournaisis, a part of the county of Namur (Charleroi), and also a small part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (Thuin). (A large part of the historical county of Hainaut is now within France and sometimes referred to as French Hainaut.)
Hainaut province is divided into 7 administrative districts (arrondissements), subdivided into a total of 69 municipalities. It has an area of .
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 34.2 billion € in 2018, accounting for 7.4% of Belgium's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 22,500 € or 75% of the EU27 average in the same year. Hainaut is the province with the second lowest GDP per capita.[9]
The patron saint of the province Hainaut is Saint Waltrude.[10]