1.
Dutch language
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It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
2.
Municipalities of Belgium
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As such, only Antwerp, having over 500,000 inhabitants, became subdivided into nine districts. The Belgian arrondissements, a level between province and municipality, or the lowest judicial level, are in English sometimes called districts as well. The municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants were grouped in so-called canton municipalities, in 1800, these canton municipalities were abolished again and the number of autonomous municipalities became 2,776. Not much changed during the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, only a number of municipalities were merged. In 1831, Belgium was divided into 2,739 municipalities, New municipalities were created until 1928. There were 2,528 municipalities in 1850,2,572 in 1875,2,617 in 1900 and this also includes the municipalities of the East Cantons that were added to Belgium following the First World War. In 1961, the so-called Unitary Law, of which the chapter was dedicated to the territorial organisation of the municipalities, was adopted. The authority to abolish municipalities was entrusted to the branch for a period of 10 years. Municipalities could be merged on financial grounds or on grounds of a geographical, linguistic, economic, in 1964 and in 1969 and 1970, roughly 300 municipalities ceased to exist and were subsumed into other municipalities. The number of municipalities was reduced from 2,663 in 1961 to 2,586 in 1965, article 4 of the constitution states that each municipality must belong to only one of the four official language areas that were established in 1962–63. In the three officially unilingual language areas, a couple of municipalities in the vicinity of another language area must provide limited facilities for speakers of that other language. Lucien Harmegnies, Minister of the Interior in the government of Gaston Eyskens decided to continue the process of reorganization of Belgium. In 1971, the provisions of the Unity Law were extended and modified to apply to large agglomerations and it was another Minister of the Interior, Joseph Michel, who managed the process. On December 30,1975, the law regarding the merger of the municipalities was adopted, the merger became effective on January 1,1977. The merger of 1977 further reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium from 2,359 to 596, because of the specific nature of the reorganization in Antwerp, the law of December 30,1975 didnt enter into force for Antwerp until January 1,1983. The formerly independent municipalities were called districts and were given an advisory function, however, on January 1,2001 they were given an administrative function again. The Mayor is not only the head of the municipality, he or she is also the representative of the Regional, in that capacity, he or she is responsible for the execution of laws, decrees, ordinances and orders. The Mayor is also responsible for the maintenance of order in his or her municipality
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
5.
Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
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Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities, three regions, and four language areas. For each of these types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country, in other words. The language areas were established by the Second Gilson Act, which entered force on August 2,1963. The division into language areas was included in the Belgian Constitution in 1970 and this is a schematic overview of the basic federal structure of Belgium as defined by Title I of the Belgian Constitution. Each of the entities either have their own Parliament and Government or their own Council, the language areas have no offices or powers and exist de facto as geographical circumscriptions, serving only to delineate the empowered subdivisions. The institutional communities are thus equally geographically determined, Belgian Communities do not officially refer directly to groups of people but rather to specific political, linguistic and cultural competencies of the country. There is no subnationality in Belgium, the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each comprise five provinces. The Brussels-Capital Region is not a province, nor does it contain any, the three regions are further subdivided into 589 municipalities, which in general consist of several sub-municipalities. These sub-municipalities were independent municipalities in the past, but no longer serve an official purpose, the Federal State retains a considerable common heritage. This includes justice, defence, federal police, social security, public debt and other aspects of public finances, nuclear energy, the State is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs and they supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies. In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specificities, each level can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers. Communities were created in 1970 as cultural communities with limited power, in 1980, more power was transferred from the federal state to these entities and they became simply communities. Both the Flemish and French Community have jurisdiction over the area of the Brussels-Capital Region, consequently, they do not have a defined number of inhabitants. The German-speaking Community is the community with an area over which they have sole jurisdiction as a community. It is located within the Walloon Region, which has transferred some regional powers to the German-speaking Community with regards to its area. The Flemish Region or Flanders occupies the part of Belgium. It has an area of 13,522 km2, or 44. 29% of Belgium
6.
French Community of Belgium
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In Belgium, the French Community refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. The name French Community refers to Francophone Belgians, and not to French people residing in Belgium, as such, the French Community of Belgium is sometimes rendered in English as the French-speaking Community of Belgium for clarity. The Community has its own parliament, government, and administration and its official flag is identical to the Walloon Flag, which is also the official flag of the Walloons of Wallonia. Wallonia is home to 80% of all Francophone Belgians, with the remaining 20% residing in Brussels, the French Community of Belgium includes 4.5 million people, of whom,3.6 million live in the Walloon Region,900,000 living in the Brussels-Capital Region. French speakers who live in the Flemish Region are not included in the numbers for the French-speaking Community. Their number is unknown, given the absence of sub-nationality status, estimates of the French-speaking population of Flanders vary from 120,000, around 200,000, to around 300,000. The French Community of Belgium makes up about 41% of the population of Belgium, 58% of the population belongs to the Flemish Community. For years there have been hints that the Community wanted to demonstrate the link between Wallonia and Brussels, the two main territories where the French speakers are in the majority. The independent/private media uses both the alternative and the original designation, in September 2011, the Community adopted a new logo that incorporates its new name. The French Community of Belgium is governed by the Parliament of the French Community, which selects the executive branch, the Parliament of the French Community is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. These members are elected for a term of five years, the current President of the Parliament of the French Community is Philippe Courard. Note, Government coalition parties are denoted with bullets The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium is the branch of the French Community. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the parliament and is headed by a Minister-President, following the 25 May 2014 election, the PS and CDH parties formed a coalition. A few days later, Milquet was replaced by Marie-Martine Schyns, Schyns took over the Compulsory Education portfolio, which she was already in charge of during the previous legislature. Greoli took over Culture and Child Care from Milquet and also received the Sports portfolio from René Collin, Brussels-Capital Region Commission communautaire française Communities and regions of Belgium Wallonia French Community of Belgium, official website. Parliament of the French Community of Belgium, official website
7.
Wallonia
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Wallonia is a region of Belgium. Wallonia is primarily French-speaking, and accounts for 55% of the territory of Belgium, unlike Flanders, the Walloon Region was not merged with the French Community of Belgium which is the political entity that is responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education. The German-speaking minority in the east forms the German-speaking Community of Belgium, during the industrial revolution, Wallonia was second only to the United Kingdom in industrialization, capitalizing on its extensive deposits of coal and iron. This brought the wealth, and, from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century. Since World War II the importance of industry has greatly diminished. Wallonia now suffers high unemployment and has a significantly lower GDP per capita than Flanders. The economic inequalities and linguistic divide between the two are major sources of conflict in Belgium and is a major factor in Flemish separatism. The capital of Wallonia is Namur but the city with the greatest population is Charleroi, most of Wallonias major cities and two-thirds of its population lie along the Sambre and Meuse valley, the former industrial backbone of Belgium. To the north lies the Central Belgian Plateau, which, like Flanders, is relatively flat, in the south-east lie the Ardennes, hilly and sparsely populated. Wallonia borders Flanders and the Netherlands in the north, France to the south and west, Wallonia has been a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie since 1980. The term Wallonia can mean different things in different contexts. One of the three regions of Belgium is still constitutionally defined as the Walloon Region, but the regions government has renamed it Wallonia. In practice, the difference between the two terms is small and what is meant is usually clear, based on context, the root of the word Wallonia, like the words Wales, Cornwall and Wallachia, is the Germanic word Walha, meaning the strangers. Wallonia is named after the Walloons, the population of the Burgundian Netherlands speaking Romance languages, in Middle Dutch, the term Walloons also included the French-speaking population of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or the whole population of the Romanic sprachraum within the medieval Low Countries. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in 57 BC, the Low Countries became part of the larger Gallia Belgica province which originally stretched from southwestern Germany to Normandy and the southern part of the Netherlands. The population of territory was Celtic with a Germanic influence which was stronger in the north than in the south of the province. The ancestors of the Walloons became Gallo-Romans and were called the Walha by their Germanic neighbours, the Walha abandoned their Celtic dialects and started to speak Vulgar Latin. The Merovingian Franks gradually gained control of the region during the 5th century, the language border began to crystallize between 700 under the reign of the Merovingians and Carolingians and around 1000 after the Ottonian Renaissance
8.
Provinces of Belgium
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The country of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, the Flemish Region or Flanders, and Walloon Region, the third region, the Brussels-Capital Region, is not divided into provinces, as it was originally only a small part of a province itself. Many of the provinces evolved from earlier duchies and counties of the name and similar location. At the time of the creation of Belgium in 1830, only nine provinces existed, including the province of Brabant and these divisions reflected political tensions between the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish, the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual. The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of the Belgian Constitution, the provinces are subdivided into 43 administrative arrondissements, and further into 589 municipalities. These each had their own identities and governments, though in the modern period almost all the Belgian states became part of larger entities. Each of the provinces of Belgium takes its name from one of these predecessors. At the time of the independence of Belgium from the Netherlands in 1830, the first article of the Belgian Constitution said, Belgium is divided into provinces. These provinces are Antwerp, Brabant, West Flanders, East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, in 1839 half of the province of Limburg became part of the Netherlands, which consequently has its own province of Limburg. In 1920, following the First World War, Belgium annexed the Eupen-Malmedy territory, during the second half of the 20th century, Belgium transitioned from a unitary state to a federal state with three Communities and three Regions. As part of the reforms, the province of Brabant was split in 1995 three ways, into two provinces and into the Brussels-Capital Region. The two new Brabant provinces became part of the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region respectively, the remaining eight provinces became part of these regions as well, so the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each contain five provinces. The Provincial Councils are the bodies of the population of the provinces. This is the equivalent of the States-Provincial in the Netherlands, the numbers of seats in the Provincial Councils are proportional to the population of the province, the numbers were reduced in both Flanders and Wallonia, starting 2013. They are directly elected each six years, at the time of the municipal elections. Before 1994, the elections instead coincided with the national elections. Until then, the provincial councils also appointed Provincial Senators to the Belgian Senate, the executive branch was previously called the Permanent Deputation. In the Flemish Region it is now called the Deputation and it consists of the Governor
9.
Hainaut (province)
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Hainaut is a province of Belgium in the Walloon region. Its capital is Mons and the most populous city is Charleroi, also the major urban, economic. The city is also the capital of Hainaut and one of the most important commercial centers in Belgium. Hainaut province is divided into 7 administrative districts, subdivided into a total of 69 municipalities and it has an area of 3,800 square kilometres. The patron saint of the province Hainaut is Saint Waltrude, Official web site of the Hainaut province Official gateway to the Hainaut The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hainaut Euro Info Centre Hainaut Walloon Settlers Monument
10.
Arrondissements of Belgium
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Arrondissements of Belgium are subdivisions below the provinces of Belgium. There are administrative, judicial and electoral arrondissements and these may or may not relate to identical geographical areas. The 43 administrative arrondissements are a level between the municipalities and the provinces. Brussels-Capital forms a single arrondissement for all 19 municipalities in the region by that name, Belgium had 27 judicial arrondissements until April 1,2014. Until 1999 the electoral districts for the election of the parliaments were electoral arrondissements, the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital is not part of any province and consequently forms its own electoral district
11.
Parti Socialiste (Belgium)
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The Socialist Party is a social-democratic French-speaking political party in Belgium. As of the 2014 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, the party is led by Elio Di Rupo, who was Prime Minister of Belgium from 6 December 2011 until 11 Oktober 2014. The party supplies the Minister-president of the Walloon Region, the French Community, in the German-speaking community, the party is known as the Sozialistische Partei. The party, or its members, have time to time been brought into connection with criminal activities and political scandals, mostly concerning bribery. The Carolorégienne affair caused Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe to step down as Minister-President of the Walloon region, results for the Chamber of Representatives, in percentages for the Kingdom of Belgium. The ideology and image of the PS is a mix of social-democracy, combined with a modern electoral marketing
12.
Lessines
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Lessines is a Picardy municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. As of the 2006 census, Lessines total population was 17,848, the total area is 72.29 km² which gives a population density of 247 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Lessines proper, Ghoy, Bois-de-Lessines, Oseke, Papignies, Deux-Acren, Wannebeek and it is primarily known as the birthplace of the Surrealist painter René Magritte. The LESSINES post-office opened before 1830 and it used a postal code 71 with bars, and 214 with points before 1874. It used a postal code 104 with points before 1874, the PAPIGNIES post-office opened on 18 February 1880, GHOY and OLLIGNIES on 25 May 1905, OGY on 5 November 1907
13.
Picard language
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Picard is a language or a set of languages closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. It is spoken in one region in the far north of France and in parts of the Belgian region of Wallonia, the district of Tournai, Picard is known by several different names. Linguists group all of them under the name Picard, in general, the variety spoken in Picardy is understood by speakers in Nord-Pas-de-Calais and vice versa. Belgiums French Community gave full recognition to Picard as a regional language along with Walloon, Gaumais, Champenois. The French government has not followed suit and has not recognized Picard as a regional language, Picard, like French, is one of the langues doïl and belongs to the Gallo-Roman family of languages. It consists of all the used for writing in the north of France from before 1000. Often, the langues doïl are referred to simply as Old French, Picard is phonetically quite different from the central langues doïl, which evolved into modern French. Picard gambe ~ Old French jambe, from *gambe, absence of palatalization of /ɡ/ in Picard before tonic /a/, there are striking differences, such as Picard cachier ~ Old French chacier, which later took the modern French form of chasser. Because of the proximity of Paris to the northernmost regions of France, French greatly influenced Picard, the closeness between Picard and French made the former not always be recognised as a language in its own right, as opposed to a distortion of French as it is often viewed. Picard includes a variety of closely related dialects. The varieties are defined by specific phonetic, morphological and lexical traits, the majority of Picard words derive from Vulgar Latin. Many words are similar to French, but a large number are totally specific to Picard - principally terms relating to mining or farming. Here are several phrases in Picard, accompanied by French and English translations. Jai pris ma bêche pour aller bêcher mon jardin, I took my spade to go dig my garden. Mi, à quate heures, jarchine eune bonne tartine, moi, à quatre heures, je mange une bonne tartine. At four oclock, I eat a good snack, quind un Chti mi iest à lagonie, savez vous bin che qui li rind la vie. Quand un gars du Nord est à lagonie, savez-vous bien ce qui lui rend la vie, when a northerner is dying, do you know what revives him. Il ne faut pas que les poules chantent plus fort que le coq, hens must not sing louder than the rooster J min vo à chlofe, lo qui npasse poin dcaroche
14.
Picardy
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Picardy is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is now part of the new region of Hauts-de-France and it is located in the northern part of France. The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department, the province of Artois separated Picardy from French Flanders. From the 5th century the area was part of the Frankish Empire, and in the period it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne, Montreuil, Ponthieu, Amiénois, Vermandois. According to the 843 Treaty of Verdun the region part of West Francia. The name Picardy was not used until the 12th or 13th century, during this time, the name applied to all lands where the Picard language was spoken, which included all the territories from Paris to the Netherlands. In the Latin Quarter of Paris, people identified a Picard Nation of students at Sorbonne University, during the Hundred Years War, Picardy was the centre of the Jacquerie peasant revolt in 1358. From 1419 onwards, the Picardy counties were gradually acquired by the Burgundian duke Philip the Good, in 1477, King Louis XI of France led an army and occupied key towns in Picardy. By the end of 1477, Louis would control all of Picardy, in the 16th century, the government of Picardy was created. This became a new region of France, separate from what was historically defined as Picardy. The new Picardy included the Somme département, the half of the Aisne département. In 1557, Picardy was invaded by Habsburg forces under the command of Emmanuel Philibert, after a seventeen-day siege, St. Quentin would be ransacked, while Noyon would be burned by the Habsburg army. In the 17th century, a disease similar to English sweat originated from the region. It was called Suette des picards or Picardy sweat, the sugar industry has continued to play a prominent role in the economy of the region. One of the most significant historical events to occur in Picardy was the series of battles fought along the Somme during World War I. From September 1914 to August 1918, four major battles, including the Battle of the Somme, were fought by British, French, and German forces in the fields of Northern Picardy. In 2009, the Regional Committee for local government reform proposed to reduce the number of French regions, Picardy would have disappeared, and each department would have joined a nearby region. The Oise would have incorporated in the Île-de-France, the Somme would have been incorporated in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais
15.
Municipality
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It is to be distinguished from the county, which may encompass rural territory and/or numerous small communities such as towns, villages and hamlets. The term municipality may also mean the governing or ruling body of a given municipality, a municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district. The term is derived from French municipalité and Latin municipalis, a municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, or a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York. The power of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete subordination to the state, municipalities may have the right to tax individuals and corporations with income tax, property tax, and corporate income tax, but may also receive substantial funding from the state. Similar terms include Spanish ayuntamiento, also called municipalidad, Polish gmina, Dutch/Flemish Gemeente, in Australia, the term local government area is used in place of the generic municipality. Here, the LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia, incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, the Province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers. Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities, nova Scotia also has regional municipalities, which include cities, counties, districts, or towns as municipal units. In India, a Nagar Palika or Municipality is a local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it directly with the state government. Generally, smaller cities and bigger towns have a Nagar Palika. Nagar Palikas are also a form of local self-government entrusted with duties and responsibilities. Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, since local government reorganisation, the unit in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is known as a district, and in Scotland as a council area. A district may be awarded borough or city status, or can retain its district title, in Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided. This is the highest level of government in this jurisdiction. In the United States, municipality is usually understood as a city, town, village, or other local government unit, in the Peoples Republic of China, a direct-controlled municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing. In Taiwan, a municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei. In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ, when referring to the territory, the word concelho is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word município is used
16.
Population density
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Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume, it is a quantity of type number density. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and most of the time to humans and it is a key geographical term. Population density is population divided by land area or water volume. Low densities may cause a vortex and lead to further reduced fertility. This is called the Allee effect after the scientist who identified it, commonly this may be calculated for a county, city, country, another territory, or the entire world. The worlds population is around 7,000,000,000, therefore, the worldwide human population density is around 7,000,000,000 ÷510,000,000 =13.7 per km2. If only the Earths land area of 150,000,000 km2 is taken into account and this includes all continental and island land area, including Antarctica. If Antarctica is also excluded, then population density rises to over 50 people per km2, thus, this number by itself does not give any helpful measurement of human population density. Several of the most densely populated territories in the world are city-states, microstates, cities with high population densities are, by some, considered to be overpopulated, though this will depend on factors like quality of housing and infrastructure and access to resources. Most of the most densely populated cities are in Southeast Asia, though Cairo, for instance, Milwaukee has a greater population density when just the inner city is measured, and the surrounding suburbs excluded. Arithmetic density, The total number of people / area of land, physiological density, The total population / area of arable land. Agricultural density, The total rural population / area of arable land, residential density, The number of people living in an urban area / area of residential land. Urban density, The number of people inhabiting an urban area / total area of urban land, ecological optimum, The density of population that can be supported by the natural resources. S. States by population density Selected Current and Historic City, Ward & Neighborhood Density
17.
Surrealism
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Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream, leader André Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was, above all, a revolutionary movement. Surrealism developed out of the Dada activities during World War I, the word surrealist was coined by Guillaume Apollinaire and first appeared in the preface to his play Les Mamelles de Tirésias, which was written in 1903 and first performed in 1917. The Dadaists protested with anti-art gatherings, performances, writings and art works, after the war, when they returned to Paris, the Dada activities continued. Meeting the young writer Jacques Vaché, Breton felt that Vaché was the son of writer. He admired the young writers anti-social attitude and disdain for established artistic tradition, later Breton wrote, In literature, I was successively taken with Rimbaud, with Jarry, with Apollinaire, with Nouveau, with Lautréamont, but it is Jacques Vaché to whom I owe the most. Back in Paris, Breton joined in Dada activities and started the literary journal Littérature along with Louis Aragon and they began experimenting with automatic writing—spontaneously writing without censoring their thoughts—and published the writings, as well as accounts of dreams, in the magazine. Breton and Soupault delved deeper into automatism and wrote The Magnetic Fields, continuing to write, they came to believe that automatism was a better tactic for societal change than the Dada form of attack on prevailing values. They also looked to the Marxist dialectic and the work of such theorists as Walter Benjamin, freuds work with free association, dream analysis, and the unconscious was of utmost importance to the Surrealists in developing methods to liberate imagination. They embraced idiosyncrasy, while rejecting the idea of an underlying madness, as Salvador Dalí later proclaimed, There is only one difference between a madman and me. Beside the use of analysis, they emphasized that one could combine inside the same frame, elements not normally found together to produce illogical. The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be−the greater its emotional power, the group aimed to revolutionize human experience, in its personal, cultural, social, and political aspects. They wanted to people from false rationality, and restrictive customs. Breton proclaimed that the aim of Surrealism was long live the social revolution. To this goal, at various times Surrealists aligned with communism and anarchism, in 1924 two Surrealist factions declared their philosophy in two separate Surrealist Manifestos. That same year the Bureau of Surrealist Research was established, leading up to 1924, two rival surrealist groups had formed. Each group claimed to be successors of a revolution launched by Guillaume Apollinaire, the other group, led by Breton, included Louis Aragon, Robert Desnos, Paul Éluard, Jacques Baron, Jacques-André Boiffard, Jean Carrive, René Crevel and Georges Malkine, among others. Goll and Breton clashed openly, at one point literally fighting, at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées, in the end, Breton won the battle through tactical and numerical superiority
18.
Joan Blaeu
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Joan Blaeu was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. In 1620 he became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father, in 1635 they published the Atlas Novus in two volumes. Joan and his brother Cornelius took over the studio after their father died in 1638, Joan became the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeus world map, Nova et Accuratissima Terrarum Orbis Tabula, incorporating the discoveries of Abel Tasman, was published in 1648 and this map was revolutionary in that it depicts the solar system according to the heliocentric theories of Nicolaus Copernicus, which show the earth revolving around the sun. Blaeus map was copied for the map of the set into the pavement of the Groote Burger-Zaal of the new Amsterdam Town Hall, designed by the Dutch architect Jacob van Campen. As Jean Blaeu, he published the 12 volume Le Grand Atlas, ou Cosmographie blaviane, en laquelle est exactement descritte la terre, la mer. That was folio, and contained 593 engraved maps and plates, in March 2015, a copy was on sale for £750,000. Around 1649 Joan Blaeu published a collection of Dutch city maps named Toonneel der Steeden, in 1651 he was voted into the Amsterdam council. In 1654 Joan published the first atlas of Scotland, devised by Timothy Pont, in 1662 he reissued the Atlas Novus, also known as Atlas Maior, in 11 volumes, and one for oceans. A cosmology was planned as their project, but a fire destroyed the studio completely in 1672. Joan Blaeu died in Amsterdam the following year and he is buried in the Westerkerk there. Blaeu and Joan Blaeu, Houten, Hes & De Graaf publishers BV, ISBN 90-6194-438-4 BROTTON, Jerry, A History of the World in Twelve Maps, London, utrecht University Arader Galleries Collection of Maps from Blaeus Atlas Major. Brazil map by Joan Blaeu, Amsterdam 1650 Plan of Delft from Joan Blaeu Town book, Amsterdam 1660 Blaeu on the Dutch map Jonathan Potter Maps
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Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
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French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
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Flobecq
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Flobecq is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. It borders to the municipalities of Ellezelles and Lessines in the province and to Brakel in the province of East Flanders. On January 1,2008, Flobecq had a population of 3,287. The total area is 23.00 km² which gives a density of 143 inhabitants per km². Each year, on the nearest Friday to 17 January, there is a local feast based on the adoration of Saint Antony. Flobecq was initially under influence of Tournai and, as in Tournai. Since the 13th century, the area was disputed between the County of Flanders and the County of Hainaut. Therefore, the region was often called debate land, in 1963, when the language border was fixed, within the municipality of Flobecq, only the village of La Houppe/DHoppe was Dutch-speaking. However, the village was not transferred to Dutch-speaking East Flanders, instead, Flobecq as a whole became a municipality with language facilities for Dutch. Media related to Flobecq at Wikimedia Commons flobecq. be - official site
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Brakel
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Brakel is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek and the Flemish Ardennes. The name is derived from a Carolingian villa Braglo first mentioned in 866, since 1970, the municipality has comprised the villages of Nederbrakel, Opbrakel, Michelbeke, Elst, Zegelsem. In 1977 Everbeek, Parike and part of Sint-Maria-Oudenhove were added, on January 1,2006, Brakel had a population of 13,726. The area is 56.46 km² which gives a density of 243 per km². The mayor is Herman De Croo, the region is known for the green hills and valleys, which attract cyclists and walkers and play a role in the Tour of Flanders cycling race. The Braekel chicken is named after the town, the Uitkijktoren, a 32 metres high viewing tower was opened in April 2001. It is located at 50. 8124°N3. 7391°E /50.8124,3.7391 on the Twaalfbunderstraat, orientation boards at the top enable visitors to identify places of interest in all directions
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East Flanders
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East Flanders is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on Zeelandic Flanders and on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, of Hainaut and it has an area of 2,991 km² which is divided into six administrative districts containing 65 municipalities. The provincial population is 1,408,484 and the capital is 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. The provincial flag has a lion with red tongue and claws, on a background of horizontal white. This is a recent adaptation, formerly, East Flanders used the Flemish flag, the old flag is still publicly used, e. g. for road signs. The province has several geographic and/or tourist regions, Denderstreek Meetjesland Waasland Flemish Ardennes Important rivers are the Scheldt, the Dender merges into the Scheldt in the city of Dendermonde. East Flanders is divided into 6 administrative arrondissements, subdivided into a total of 65 municipalities, in addition, there are 3 judicial and 3 electoral arrondissements. The province had a population of 1,445,831 as of 1 January 2011 and it had 734,000 inhabitants in 1380 and about a million in 1900. 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 provincial council consists of 72 members which were last elected in the 2012 elections, previously it consisted of 84 members. The deputation of East Flanders is a coalition of the political parties CD&V, Open Vld, the biggest party in the council, N-VA, is not included. The daily government is led by the governor, who is appointed by the Flemish Government, andré Denys has been the governor of East Flanders from 26 November 2004 until 21 January 2013. Jan Briers, who is not member of a party but was nominated by N-VA. The province has a budget of approximately 300 million euro
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Geraardsbergen
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Geraardsbergen is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. On January 1,2006 Geraardsbergen had a population of 31,380. The total area is 79.71 km² which gives a density of 394 inhabitants per km². The current mayor of Geraardsbergen is Guido De Padt, from the Open VLD party, Geraardsbergen is one of the oldest cities in Belgium. It came into close to the settlement of Hunnegem and in 1068 was one of the first communities in Western Europe to be granted city status. The city was destroyed in 1381 by Walter IV of Enghien, according to legend, during the siege local people threw some of their left over food over the city wall to show that they had sufficient food to survive a long siege. This bravado notwithstanding, the city was captured by Enghiens troops. Every year the city organizes the krakelingenworp carnival on top of the hill at Oudenberg to celebrate this historical event, on 29 May 1815, shortly before the Battle of Waterloo, Wellington and Blücher reviewed the Allied cavalry here. Some 6,000 troops were paraded in meadows on the banks of the Dender between Geraardsbergen and Jedeghem, manneken Pis, the oldest such statue, older than the more famous one in Brussels. The wall, a street paved with cobblestones, climbed every year by cyclists during the Tour of Flanders. Boelare Castle, seat of the feudal domain Land of Boelare. Overboelare Airfield, small glider airfield with a Douglas C-54A Skymaster as gate guard, Geraardsbergen is known for the mattentaart, a type of sweet pastry. This is made with matten paste or cheese curd, the mattentaart was granted Protected Geographical Indication status by the European Union in 2006, indicating they can only be made in Geraardsbergen or in the nearby municipality of Lierde
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Ellezelles
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Ellezelles is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Hainaut. It comprises the municipalities of Ellezelles, La Hamaide. Bordering Flanders, the town is home to a minority of Dutch-speakers, the village archives contain a document attesting to the birth of Hercule Poirot on April 1,1850. Media related to Ellezelles at Wikimedia Commons
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Bever, Belgium
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Bever is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality only comprises the town of Bever proper and it is located at 50°43′N 3°56′E. On January 1,2006, Bever had a population of 2,023. The total area is 19.78 km² which gives a density of 102 inhabitants per km². It is a Dutch-speaking village with facilities for French-speakers. Media related to Bever, Belgium at Wikimedia Commons Gazetteer Entry
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Flemish Brabant
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Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Flemish Brabant also surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. It has an area of 2,106 km² which is divided into two administrative districts containing 65 municipalities, the split was made to accommodate the eventual division of Belgium in three regions. It is a province with a cultural history and a great diversity of typical products. The province is made up of two arrondissements, the Halle-Vilvoorde Arrondissement has Brussels in its middle and is therefore mainly a residential area, even though it also has large industrial zones and contains Belgiums main airport. The other arrondissement is the Leuven Arrondissement, centered on Leuven, other such special municipalities can be found along the border between Flanders and Wallonia, and between Wallonia and the German-speaking area of Belgium. Halle-Vilvoorde mostly surrounds Brussels, which is officially bilingual but whose inhabitants mostly speak French, the history of Brabant can be found at the Duchy of Brabant article, see also Duke of Brabant. The Governor is the representative or commissioner of the Federal and the Flemish Government in Flemish Brabant and he is appointed by the Flemish Government, on the unanimous advice of the Federal Council of Ministers. The current Governor is Lodewijk De Witte, he has been the Governor of Flemish Brabant since it was created in 1995 as a result of the splitting up of the Province of Brabant. He also presides over the Deputation, however, he doesnt have the right to vote in the Deputation except in cases where the Deputation exercises a judicial function. Flemish Brabant is that only province that has a Deputy Governor as well and he is responsible for ensuring that the language legislation is observed in the peripheral municipalities of Flemish Brabant. The Provincial Council of Flemish Brabant consists of 72 members elected for a term of office of 6 years, the last election was held on Sunday 14 October 2012. She is assisted by a Bureau which consists of two Vice-Presidents, four Secretaries, three Quaestors and the leaders of the fractions in the Provincial Council. The governing majority in the Provincial Council for 2013–2018 is formed by CD&V, Open VLD, sp. a and these parties together have a majority of 43 out of 72 seats. The Deputation is the organ responsible for the daily administration of the province. It consists of the Governor and six Deputies elected by the Provincial Council from among its midst. For the 2013–2018 legislative term, the Deputies are divided among the majority parties as follows, Flemish Brabant has 65 municipalities,35 in the Arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde and 30 in Leuven. Official web site of the Flemish Brabant province
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Ath
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Ath is a Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Hainaut. Ath is known as the City of Giants after the Ducasse dAth festivities which take place every year on the weekend in August. Huge figures representing Goliath, Samson, and other figures are paraded through the streets. Archeological records show the existence of several Gallo-Roman settlements in the Ath area, the origin of the city of Ath, however, dates from around 1160, when Count Baudouin IV of Hainaut, bought some territory from his liegeman, Gilles de Trazegnies. A few years later, Baldwin built the Burbant Tower – which can still be seen today – to protect his new acquisition, the new city was soon given privileges and its newly built market hall on the Grand-Place began to attract residents. Ath was the setting of the Peace of Ath, signed on June 4,1357, by then, the weekly Ath market, which took place – and still takes place – on Thursdays, had started attracting sellers from a much larger region. The production of linen, cloth, hide, and luxury items such as gold ware, cabinets, the population growth necessitated the building of a second wall, which was completed at the end of the 14th century. In 1416, the city built a school for the study of Latin, the city counted then about 5,000 people. In 1667, Ath was conquered in a day by the army of Louis XIV. Soon after, Vauban built new fortifications, which included eight bastions, the city suffered again at the hands of the French army in 1745. At the end of the 18th century, Ath counted about 7,300 inhabitants, in 1816, two military engineering surveys concluded that Ath defences should be improved, the British survey recommended a garrison of 3,000 troops and the building cost would be £143,599. The Dutch wished to spend an additional £266,000, the Duke of Wellington agreed to the Dutch plan. The funding was paid for by England, Holland and by French war reparations, in 1824, the Dutch under King William I, built the Féron Fort, and the city once more gained strategic value. A treaty drafted in London on 15 November 1831, which the Netherlands refused to sign, was followed by the Treaty of London, part of the terms of the treaty required the fort, amongst others, to be dismantled. The freed up land assisted the town for the activities of a growing population, a new growth period took place between 1850 and 1914 driven by the forestry, agricultural and textile industries. In the 20th century, most of these went into decline and were replaced by commercial, administrative. In the last 30 years, several neighbourhoods have been revitalized and developed, the Ghislenghien industrial park near Ath was the scene of one of Belgiums worst ever industrial disasters on July 30,2004. Around 8,30 am local time, workers constructing a new factory for abrasives firm Diamant Boart reported a smell of gas
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Silly, Belgium
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Silly is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1,2006, Silly had a population of 7,995. The total area is 67.68 square kilometres gives a population density of 118 inhabitants per km². The name of the town derives from its stream, called the Sille or Zulle, in the English-speaking world, it has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Fouleng, Gondregnies, Graty, Hellebecq, Hoves, Silly proper, Thoricourt, Silly is twinned with, San Miniato, Italy Media related to Silly, Belgium at Wikimedia Commons Official website Local artisanal brewery
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Bernissart
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Bernissart is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1,2006, Bernissart had a population of 11,458. The total area is 43.42 km², which gives a density of 264 inhabitants per km². The municipality includes the village of Blaton, formerly an independent municipality, in 1878, dozens of Iguanodon skeletons were discovered in a coal mine,322 m below the ground. At the time, their proximity was considered proof that some dinosaurs were herd animals and they were mounted by Louis Dollo and set the standard that was followed for over a century. Nine of the skeletons are currently on display at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The two museums even made an error they acknowledge with humour, they displayed the skeletons standing, suggesting that the dinosaurs were bidepal, media related to Bernissart at Wikimedia Commons 17
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Brugelette
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Brugelette is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1,2006, Brugelette had a population of 3,284. The total area is 28.40 km² which gives a density of 116 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Brugelette proper, Cambron-Casteau, Attre, Mévergnies-lez-Lens, Attre Castle Pairi Daiza Media related to Brugelette at Wikimedia Commons Official web site
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Aiseau-Presles
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Aiseau-Presles is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1,2006, Aiseau-Presles had a population of 10,754. The total area is 22.19 km² which gives a density of 485 inhabitants per km². It is located in the arrondissement of Charleroi, cities and municipalities bordering, Châtelet - Farciennes - Fosses-la-Ville - Gerpinnes - Sambreville. Aiseau Pont-de-Loup Presles Roselies Oignies Abbey Historical population,1977,10,9691994,10,912 Media related to Aiseau-Presles at Wikimedia Commons Aiseau-Presles website
33.
Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont
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Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1,2006, Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont had a population of 14,022. The total area is 18.10 km² which gives a density of 775 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont proper, Godarville, alphonse Briart, geologist Media related to Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont at Wikimedia Commons
34.
Charleroi
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Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By January 1,2008, the population of Charleroi was 201,593. The inhabitants are called Carolorégiens or simply Carolos, the municipality of Charleroi straddles both banks of the river Sambre in an area marked by industrial activities, which has been nicknamed the Pays Noir, part of the larger sillon industriel. Even though most of the factories have closed since the 1950s, Charleroi lies around 50 kilometres south of Brussels. Several public buildings, temples and villas were built in the area in the Roman period, burial places, with jewels and weapons, have been found. The first written mention of a place called Charnoy dates from a 9th-century offering in the Lobbes abbey, during the Middle Ages, Charnoy was one of the many small hamlets in the area, with no more than about 50 inhabitants, part of the County of Namur. The history of the city of Charleroi began in 1666, in September of that same year, the name Charnoy was officially replaced by that of the newly founded city of Charles-Roi, so named in honor of Charles II. The chronogram FVNDATVR CAROLOREGIVM can be found in the register of the parish of Charnoy for the year 1666, a year later, Louis XIV’s armies, under the command of the Vicomte de Turenne, besieged the unfinished fortress. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban completed the work, the future city was granted its privileges, a bridge was built over the river. The French Prince of Conti took the city again in 1745, glass, steel and coal industries, which had already sprung up a century earlier, could now flourish. Trouble began again in 1790, the year of the uprising that eventually led to the United States of Belgium. The Austrians occupied the city, were forced out by the French after the Battle of Jemappes on November 6,1792, and took it back again four months later. On June 12,1794, the French revolutionary Army of Sambre-et-Meuse under the command of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, invested Charleroi, the city took the revolutionary name of Libre-sur-Sambre until 1800. After Frances defeat in 1814, the area was annexed to the Netherlands. Napoleon stayed in Charleroi for a couple of days in June 1815, after the Industrial Revolution, Charleroi benefited from the increased use of coke in the metallurgical industry. People from across Europe were attracted by the opportunities. Following the Industrial revolution in Wallonia, Charleroi from the 1850s–1860s became one of the most important places where labor strikes broke out, in 1886,12 strikers were killed by the Belgian army in Roux. In the 1880s, miners in Hainaut were recruited by the Dominion Coal Company in Glace Bay and these miners were anxious to flee the repression following bloody strikes and riots in Liège and Charleroi during the Walloon Jacquerie of 1886
35.
Courcelles, Belgium
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Courcelles is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. As of January 1,2006, Courcelles had a population of 29,626. The total area is 44.24 km² which gives a density of 670 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Courcelles proper, Gouy-lez-Piéton, Souvret, in 1944, the town was the site of the Courcelles Massacre of 20 civilians by Belgian collaborators. The event is commemorated by a plaque at the site, media related to Courcelles, Belgium at Wikimedia Commons
36.
Farciennes
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Farciennes is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1,2006, Farciennes had a population of 11,099. The total area is 10.39 km² which gives a density of 1,069 inhabitants per km². It is located on the entre-Sambre-et-Meuse in the periphery of Charleroi, in the past, Farciennes was an industrial city. Today, the site of Roton, of only the tower. Since the merger of the communes of 1977, the commune of Pironchamps was integrated into Farciennes. The districts of Wainage, Wairchat and Tergnée were and still are part of the territory of Farciennes, laurent Ciman, footballer Municipalities of Belgium Communities, regions and provinces of Belgium Media related to Farciennes at Wikimedia Commons
37.
Fleurus
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Fleurus is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. It has been the site of four major battles, during the Roman times, construction of roads like the. In October 1155, Henry IV of Luxembourg, also Count of Namur enfranchised the municipality became the city of Fleurus. Henry IV had a castle in Heppignies, the town has given its name to three battles fought in the area, The Battle of Fleurus in the Thirty Years War. The Battle of Fleurus in the Nine Years War, the Battle of Fleurus in the French Revolutionary Wars. Two days before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 Napoleon I defeated the Prussians in what is known as the Battle of Ligny, the Rue de Fleurus is on the Left Bank in Paris. In World War II, the fighting near Fleurus was a tank battle southwest of the town at Vieux Campinaire in September 1944. 0.1 km2 was added to the area in the early 2000s. Childrens publisher Proost is a local employer. The Institut national des radioéléments produces radioactive isotopes for medical use, media related to Fleurus at Wikimedia Commons
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Gerpinnes
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Gerpinnes is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 12,030 inhabitants, the total area is 47.10 km², giving a population density of 255 inhabitants per km². Every year at Whitsun, a procession is organised in honour of Saint Rolendis. Participants are dressed as Napoleonic soldiers, and walk about 40 km around the whole municipality
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Media related to Lessines at Wikimedia Commons
Lessines
