Province of Brabant

Not to be confused with Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant, or North Brabant.
For other uses, see Brabant (disambiguation).
Map of the Low Countries including Brabant (yellow). The border between the Northern and the Southern Netherlands is marked in red

The Province of Brabant was a province in Belgium from 1830 to 1995. It was created in 1815 as South Brabant, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.[1] In 1995, it was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.[2]

History

United Kingdom of the Netherlands

After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created at the Congress of Vienna, consisting of territories which had been added to France by Napoleon: the former Dutch Republic and the Southern Netherlands. In the newly created kingdom, the former French département Dyle became the new province of South Brabant, distinguishing it from Central Brabant (later Antwerp province); and from North Brabant (now part of the Netherlands), all named after the former Duchy of Brabant.

The provincial governors during this time were:

Belgium

Diagram of the Belgian Province of Brabant, which was divided into Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and the Brussels-Capital Region.

After the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the Southern Netherlands (including South and Central Brabant) became independent as Belgium and later also Luxembourg. The province was then renamed simply Brabant and became the central province of Belgium, with its capital city Brussels. The province contained three arrondissements: Brussels, Leuven and Nivelles.

In 1961-1963 the language border was established, from which the province was divided into a Dutch-speaking region, a French-speaking region and the bilingual Brussels. The Brussels arrondissement was split to this end. In 1989, Brussels-Capital Region was created, but the region was still part of the province of Brabant. In 1995, the province of Brabant was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. The Brussels-Capital Region exercises the powers of a Province on its own territory.

Demographic development

As comparison, the current two provinces of Brabant plus Brussels had 2,621,275 inhabitants in January 2011.

Number of inhabitants x 1000

  • Source: NIS
  • 1806 till 1970: census
  • 1980 and 1990: number of inhabitants on 1 January
  • 1994: number on 31 December

References

  1.  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Brabant (province)". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  2. Administratief Arrondissement Brussel-Hoofdstad
  3. Roman foederati
  4. The Chamavi merged into the confederation of the Franks; the Tubanti merged into the confederation of the Saxons.
  5. Roman foederati
  6. Roman foederati
  7. Part of East Francia after 939, divided in Upper Lorraine (as part of West Francia) and Lower Lorraine (as part of East Francia) in 959.
  8. Lower Lorraine — also referred to as Lothier — disintegrated into several smaller independent territories and only the title of a "Duke of Lothier" remained, held by Brabant.
  9. Lordship of Frisia and Lordship of Groningen (including the Ommelanden) after 1524 and 1536 respectively.
  10. Including County of Zeeland, that was ruled by neighboring County of Holland and County of Flanders (until 1432).
  11. Utrecht included Lordship of Overijssel (until 1528), County of Drenthe (until 1528) and County of Zutphen (until 1182).
  12. Duchy of Brabant included since 1288 also the Duchy of Limburg (now part of the Belgian Province of Liège) and the "Overmaas" lands Dalhem, Valkenburg and Herzogenrath (now part of the Dutch Province of Limburg).
  13. The county, later duchy, of Guelders consisted of four quarters, as they were separated by rivers: situated upstream Upper Quarter (the present day northern half of the Dutch province of Limburg), spatially separated from the three downstream Lower Quarters: County of Zutphen (after 1182), Veluwe Quarter and Nijmegen Quarter. The three lower quarters emerged from the historic gau Hamaland (named after the Chamavi tribe), and formed the present day province of Gelderland. Guelders did not include the Cleves enclave Huissen and the independent counties of Buren and Culemborg, that were much later seceded to the province of Gelderland.
  14. Including County of Artois (part of Flanders until 1237) and Tournaisis.
  15. Throughout the Middle Ages, the bishopric was further expanded with the Duchy of Bouillon in 1096 (ceded to France in 1678), the acquisition of the county of Loon in 1366 and the county of Horne in 1568. The Lordship of Mechelen was also part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.
  16. The name Seventeen Provinces came in use after the Habsburg emperor Charles V had re-acquired the Duchy of Guelders, and an continuous territory arose.

See also

Coordinates: 50°47′N 4°38′E / 50.783°N 4.633°E / 50.783; 4.633

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