Province of Brabant

Diagram of the Belgian Province of Brabant, which was divided into Flemish Brabant (bright yellow), Walloon Brabant (bright red), and the Brussels-Capital Region (orange).

Brabant was a province of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815 until 1830 and a province of Belgium from 1830 until 1995, when it was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.^[1]

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, named after the former Duchy of Brabant. This is why the modern Dutch province of North Brabant is formally still called North Brabant, despite commonly being referred to as Brabant in the Netherlands.

Belgium

After the Belgian independence of 1830, the Southern Netherlands became independent as Belgium and later also Luxembourg. Brabant became the central province of Belgium, with its capital town Brussels.

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.

Demographical development

Number of inhabitants x 1000

References

See also

• State reform in Belgium

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