West Flanders Province

West Flanders West Vlaanderen ( Dutch ) Flandre-Occidentale ( French )
Country:	Belgium
Region :	Flanders
Capital:	Bruges
Area :	3,144 km²
Residents	1,195,796 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density	380 inhabitants / km²
surface	3,144 km²
Municipalities :	64
Website:	www.west-vlaanderen.be
NIS code	30000
politics
Governor:	Carl Decaluwe ( CD&V )
Provincial Council:	Jean de Bethune ( CD&V )
Location of the province in Belgium
64 municipalities of the province

West Flanders ( Dutch West-Vlaanderen ^{? / I} , West- Flemish West-Vloandern ) is a province of Belgium . It is located in the west of the Flanders region , which also includes the province of East Flanders .

The western and northern parts of the province mainly consist of flat polder areas . In the south there is a hill zone with the Kemmelberg (159 m) as the highest elevation. West Flanders and Antwerp are the only Belgian provinces that have direct access to the sea . The inhabitants speak one of the West Flemish dialects of Dutch.

The municipality of Comines-Warneton forms a Walloon exclave surrounded by West Flanders and France , which belongs to the province of Hainaut .

Governors

• 1944–1979: Baron Pierre van Outryve d'Ydewalle
• 1979: Leo Vanackere
• 1979–1997: Olivier Vanneste
• 1997–2012: Paul Breyne
• since 2012: Carl Decaluwe

Districts

The province of West Flanders is divided into eight districts. These are in French as arrondissements and in Dutch as arrondissementen referred. Sometimes the term arrondissement is also used in German, although district is the official term.

district	Communities	Residents January 1, 2019	Area km²	Density of population / km²	NIS code
Bruges	10	282.209	661.29	427	31000
Diksmuide	5	51,525	362.42	142	32000
Kortrijk	12	290,706	402.87	722	34000
East End	7th	157,200	291.58	539	35000
Roeselare	8th	153.315	271.54	565	36000
Tielt	9	92.905	329.79	282	37000
Veurne	5	61,657	275.21	224	38000
Ypres	8th	106.279	549.62	193	33000
West Flanders Province	64	1,195,796	3,144.32	380	30000

See also : List of districts in Belgium

Communities

See the infobox for the location of the municipality in the province.

1. Alveringem
2. Display
3. Ardooie
4. Avelgem
5. Beernem
6. Blankenberge
7. Bredene
8. Bruges
9. Dams
10. De Haan
11. De Panne
12. Deerlijk
13. Dentergem
14. Diksmuide
15. Gistel
16. Harelbeke
17. Heuvelland
18. Hooglede
19. Houthulst
20. Ichtegem
21. Ieper (Ypres)
22. Ingelmunster
23. Izegem
24. Jabbeke
25. Knokke-Heist
26. Koekelare
27. Koksijde
28. Cortemark
29. Kortrijk
30. Kuurne
31. Langemark-Poel Chapel
32. Ledegem
33. Lichtervelde
34. Lendelede
35. Lo-Reninge
36. Men
37. Mesen
38. Meulebeke
39. Middelkerke
40. Moorslede
41. Nieuwpoort
42. Ostend (Ostend)
43. Oostkamp
44. Oostrozebeke
45. Oudenburg
46. Pittem
47. Poperinge
48. Roeselare
49. Ruiselede
50. Spiere-Helkijn
51. Staden
52. Tielt
53. Torhout
54. Veurne
55. Vleteren
56. Commodity
57. Wervik
58. Wevelgem
59. Wielsbeke
60. Wingene
61. Zedelgem
62. Zonnebeke
63. Zuienkerke
64. Zwevegem

See also : List of former municipalities in the Province of West Flanders  and List of municipalities in Flanders

economy

In comparison with the gross domestic product of the European Union expressed in purchasing power standards , the province achieved an index of 115 (EU-25: 100) in 2015, slightly lower than the Belgian average of 119 but above the EU average.

In 2017, the unemployment rate was 3.2%, making it the lowest of any province in the country.

Web links

Commons : West Flanders  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of West Flanders
• Pictures, maps and texts on the past and present of Flanders

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eurostat. Retrieved April 27, 2018 . 
2. ↑ Unemployment rate, by NUTS 2 regions. Retrieved November 5, 2018 .