| East Flanders | |
| Native Name: | Dutch; Flemish: Oost-Vlaanderen |
| Settlement Type: | Province of Belgium |
| Coordinates: | 51°N 48°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Ghent |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Carina Van Cauter |
| Area Total Km2: | 3007 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 1,572,002 |
| Population As Of: | 1 January 2024 [2] |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | GDP |
| Demographics1 Footnotes: | [3] |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Total |
| Demographics1 Info1: | €62.123 billion (2021) |
| Blank Name Sec2: | HDI (2021) |
| Blank Info Sec2: | 0.936[4] · 6th of 11 |
| Iso Code: | BE-VOV |
| Image Blank Emblem: | East Flanders 2016.svg |
| Blank Emblem Type: | Brandmark |
| Blank Emblem Size: | 120px |
East Flanders (Dutch; Flemish: Oost-Vlaanderen in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˌoːst ˈflaːndərə(n)/,[5] French: Flandre-Orientale in French pronounced as /flɑ̃dʁ ɔʁjɑ̃tal/, German: Ostflandern pronounced as /de/, Ôost-Vloandern) is a province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Dutch province of Zeeland and the Flemish province of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut and West Flanders. It has an area of, divided into six administrative districts containing 60 municipalities, and a population of over 1.57 million as of January 2024.[6] The capital is Ghent, home to the Ghent University and the Port of Ghent.
During the short-lived Napoleonic Empire, most of the area of the modern province was part of the Department of Escaut, named after the River Scheldt. Following the defeat of Napoleon, the entity was renamed after its geographical location in the eastern part of the historic County of Flanders (now in the western portion of the current Flemish Region).
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 the Flemish 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.
The province has several geographic or tourist regions:
Important rivers are the Scheldt and the Leie which merge in Ghent. The Dender merges into the Scheldt in the city of Dendermonde.
East Flanders is divided into 6 administrative arrondissements (districts), subdivided into a total of 60 municipalities. In addition, there are 3 judicial and 3 electoral arrondissements.
| District | Ghent District | Oudenaarde District | Eeklo District | Aalst District | Dendermonde District | Sint-Niklaas District | |
| Location | |||||||
| HASC NUTS NIS Population Area | BE.OV.GT BE234 44 944 km² | BE.OV.OD BE235 45 419 km² | BE.OV.EK BE233 43 334 km² | BE.OV.AL BE231 41 469 km² | BE.OV.DM BE232 42 343 km² | BE.OV.SN BE236 46 475 km² | |
| Municipalities |
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 is Ghent, also the second largest city in the Flemish Region. Other smaller cities are Aalst, Sint-Niklaas and Dendermonde in the east of the province. The eastern part of the province, part of the Flemish Diamond, is more densely populated than the western part.
The Gross 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.[7]
The provincial council (provincieraad) consists of 36 members which were last elected in the 2018 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 the N-VA, CD&V, and Groen.
The daily government is led by the governor, who is appointed by the Flemish Government. Carina Van Cauter (VLD) has been the governor of East Flanders since 1 September 2020.[8]
The province has a yearly budget of approximately 300 million euro.
Timeline:
DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:1830 till:2025TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1830
Colors = id:liberal value:rgb(0,0,1) legend:liberal id:catholic value:rgb(1,0.6,0) legend:catholic id:socialist value:rgb(1,0,0) legend:socialist id:none value:rgb(0.5,0.5,0.5) legend:none
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TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:"
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from:1830 till:1830 color:catholic text:"De Ryckere" fontsize:10 from:1830 till:1834 color:catholic text:"de Lamberts-Cortenbach" fontsize:10 from:1834 till:1836 color:catholic text:"Vilain" fontsize:10 from:1837 till:1843 color:catholic text:"de Schierve" fontsize:10 from:1843 till:1848 color:catholic text:"Desmaisières" fontsize:10 from:1848 till:1871 color:liberal text:"De Jaegher" fontsize:10 from:1871 till:1879 color:catholic text:"de T'Serclaes De Wommersom" fontsize:10 from:1879 till:1885 color:liberal text:"Verhaeghe de Naeyer" fontsize:10 from:1885 till:1919 color:catholic text:"de Kerchove d'Exaerde" fontsize:10 from:1919 till:1921 color:liberal text:"Lippens" fontsize:10 from:1921 till:1929 color:catholic text:"de Kerchove De Denterghem" fontsize:10 from:1929 till:1935 color:liberal text:"Karel Weyler" fontsize:10 from:1935 till:1938 color:liberal text:"Ingenbleek" fontsize:10 from:1938 till:1939 color:liberal text:"Frederiq" fontsize:10 from:1939 till:1954 color:catholic text:"Van den Boogaerden" fontsize:10 from:1954 till:1963 color:liberal text:"Mariën" fontsize:10 from:1963 till:1984 color:socialist text:"de Kinder" fontsize:10 from:1984 till:2004 color:socialist text:"Balthazar" fontsize:10 from:2004 till:2013 color:liberal text:"Denys" fontsize:10 from:2013 till:2018 color:none text:"Briers" fontsize:10 from:2018 till:2023 color:liberal text:"Van Cauter" fontsize:10