Flanders is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,906 |
The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,907 |
The official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels, although the Brussels-Capital Region has an independent regional government.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,908 |
The government of Flanders only oversees the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels, such as Flemish culture and education.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,909 |
In medieval contexts, the original "County of Flanders" stretched around AD 900 from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary and expanded from there.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,910 |
Geographically, Flanders is mainly flat, and has a small section of coast on the North Sea.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,911 |
Flanders has exclaves of its own: Voeren in the east is between Wallonia and the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in the north consists of 22 exclaves surrounded by the Netherlands.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,912 |
Name originally applied to the ancien regime territory called the County of Flanders, that existed from the 8th century until its absorption by the French First Republic.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,913 |
Now, Flanders extends over the northern part of Belgium, including not only the Dutch-speaking Belgian parts of the medieval Duchy of Brabant, which was united with Flanders since the Middle Ages, but Belgian Limburg, which corresponds closely to the medieval County of Loon, which was never under Burgundian control.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,914 |
In most present-day contexts the term Flanders is taken to refer to either the political, social, cultural, and linguistic community, or the geographical area, one of the three institutional regions in Belgium, namely the Flemish Region.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,915 |
Flanders's informants told him that especially in the east, the tribes claimed ancestral connections and kinship with the "Germanic" peoples then east of the Rhine.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,916 |
The first certain Count in the comital family, Baldwin I of Flanders, is first reported in a document of 862, when he eloped with a daughter of his king Charles the Bald.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,918 |
The remaining parts of Flanders came under the rule of the counts of neighbouring imperial Hainaut under Baldwin V of Hainaut in 1191.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,919 |
County of Flanders started to take control of the neighbouring County of Brabant during the life of Louis II, Count of Flanders, who fought his sister-in-law Joanna, Duchess of Brabant for control of it.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,920 |
Flanders inherited the Seventeen Provinces, Spain with its colonies and in 1519 was elected Holy Roman Emperor.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,921 |
Flanders now became part of the Kingdom of Belgium, which was recognized by the major European Powers on 20 January 1831.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,922 |
Flanders saw some of the greatest loss of life on the Western Front of the First World War, in particular from the three battles of Ypres.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,923 |
Some inhabitants, Flanders is more than just a geographical area or the federal institutions .
FactSnippet No. 1,052,924 |
Flanders has two main geographical regions: the coastal Yser basin plain in the north-west and a central plain.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,926 |
Flanders was one of the first continental European areas to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the 19th century.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,927 |
Flanders attracted a large majority of foreign investments in Belgium.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,928 |
Flanders has developed an extensive transportation infrastructure of ports, canals, railways and highways.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,929 |
Main airport is Brussels Airport, the only other civilian airport with scheduled services in Flanders is Antwerp International Airport, but there are two other ones with cargo or charter flights: Ostend-Bruges International Airport and Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport, both in West Flanders.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,930 |
In French Flanders, French is the only official language and now the native language of the majority of the population, but there is still a minority of Dutch-speakers living there.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,931 |
Many Flemings are able to speak French, children in Flanders generally get their first French lessons in the 5th primary year .
FactSnippet No. 1,052,932 |
Public radio and television broadcaster in Flanders is VRT, which operates the TV channels een, Canvas, Ketnet, OP12 and BVN.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,933 |
Flanders is known for its music festivals, like the annual Rock Werchter, Tomorrowland and Pukkelpop.
FactSnippet No. 1,052,934 |