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General information

Official name:  Flanders
 
Population: 6,043,161 (2005)
 
Capital city:  Brussels
 
Other towns: Antwerp (Antwerpen), Ghent (Gent), Bruges (Brugge), Leuven and Mechelen.
These are the largest cities of Flanders, with populations above or around 100,000. Brussels (Brussel) is a part of Flanders as far as community matters are concerned, but does not belong to the Flemish Region.
 
Area: 13 522 km².
 
Location and surface:  Flanders borders onto the North Sea, and is situated between The Netherlands and France. It is the northern part of Belgium. The most important cities of Europe - London, Paris, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Köln, Bonn and Luxembourg - are all situated within a radius of 300 km around Flanders' capital Brussels.
Flanders has two main geographical regions: the coastal plain in the north-west and a central plateau. The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Polders are areas of land, close to or below sea level that have been reclaimed from the sea, from which they are protected by dikes or, further inland, by fields that have been drained with canals. The central plateau lies further inland. This is a smooth, slowly rising area that has many fertile valleys and is irrigated by many waterways. Here one can also find rougher land, including caves and small gorges. 
 
Climate: The climate is maritime temperate, with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb; the average temperature is 3 °C (37°F) in January, and 18° C (64 °F) in July; the average precipitation is 65 millimetres (2.6 in) in January, and 78 millimetres (3.1 in) in July). 
 
Minority groups: Belgian nationality (90,3 %), 9.7% of the Flemish population is of foreign descent. 
4.5% European (including 1.8% Dutch, 0.6% Italian and 0.4% French) 5.1% from outside the European union, (inluding 1.8% Moroccan and 1.5% Turks).
 
Religions: The (Belgian) laicist constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the various governments generally respect this right in practice. About 47% of the population identify themselves as belonging to the Catholic Church. According to these figures, the Muslim population is the second-largest religious community, at 3,5%.
 
Official language: Dutch
The standard language used in Flanders is the same as in the Netherlands, i.e., Dutch. The Dutch dialects spoken in Belgium are often referred together as Flemish. However, using Flemish to refer to a specific dialectic language may be confusing as there are many different Flemish dialects that are sometimes mutually incomprehensible.
 
Administrative division: The Flemish Region covers 13,522 km² and contains over 300 municipalities. It is divided into 5 provinces:
Antwerp (Antwerpen) - Limburg (Limburg) - East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen) - Flemish Brabant (Vlaams-Brabant) - West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen) 

Independently from the provinces, Flanders has its own local institutions in the Brussels-Capital region, being the ‘Vlaamse GemeenschapsCommissie’ (VGC), and its municipal antennae (Gemeenschapscentra, community centers for the Flemish community in Brussels). These institutions are independent from the educational, cultural and social institutions which depend directly on the Flemish government. They exert, among others, all those cultural competencies that outside Brussels fall under the provinces.
 
Regional capitals: Antwerp, Hasselt, Ghent, Leuven and Bruges.
 
Currency: Euro (€) - it replaced the Belgian franc in 2002.
 
National holidays: January 1
Easter and Easter Monday
May 1
Our Lord Ascension Day
Whitsuntide and Whit Monday
July 21
August 15
November 1
November 11
December 25		 New Year’s Day 
variable dates
Labour Day 
sixth Thursday after Easter 
seventh Sunday and Monday after Easter
National holiday
Our Lady Ascension Day
All Saints’ Day
Remembrance Day of 1918
Christmas

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