Walloon Brabant

Walloon Brabant
(French: Brabant-Wallon)
Province of Belgium

Flag
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 50°40′N 04°35′E / 50.667°N 4.583°E / 50.667; 4.583Coordinates: 50°40′N 04°35′E / 50.667°N 4.583°E / 50.667; 4.583
Country  Belgium
Region  Wallonia
Capital Wavre
Government
 • Governor Gilles Mahieu
Area
 • Total 1,090.56 km2 (421.07 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2016)[1]
 • Total 396,840
 • Density 360/km2 (940/sq mi)
Website Official site

Walloon Brabant (French: Brabant wallon, Dutch:  Waals-Brabant , Walloon: Roman Payis) is a province of Belgium, located in Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut (Wallonia). Its capital is Wavre.

The provincial population was recorded at 347,423 in January 1999, giving a population density of 318 inhabitants / km².

Etymology

Walloon in Walloon Brabant is likely one of the first uses of the word. Louis de Haynin wrote "Belgium is a great country between France, Germany and the North Sea (...). This country is divided in two regions, Flanders and Wallonia (...). Wallonia is divided in (the following provinces...) Brabant Wallon, Hainaut, Namur, Liège, Luxembourg"...[2]

History

The Battle of Waterloo took place in this province in June 1815.

Walloon Brabant was created in 1995 when the former Province of Brabant was split into three parts: two new provinces, Walloon Brabant and Flemish Brabant; and the Brussels Capital Region, which no longer belongs to any province. The split was made to accommodate the federalisation of Belgium in three regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels).

Subdivisions

It has an area of 1,093 square kilometres (422 sq mi) and contains only one administrative district (arrondissement in French), the Arrondissement of Nivelles, with 27 municipalities.

Nivelles District:

The Butte du lion in Waterloo
The Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude in Nivelles
Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park, aerial view

Economy

The Université catholique de Louvain is located in this province. The Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park is developing cooperation between industry and the Université catholique de Louvain and is contributing to regional economic development. It covers 231 hectares spread over the area of the town of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve and the municipality of Mont-Saint-Guibert (30 km away from Brussels). The main areas of activity are: Life sciences, Fine chemistry; Information technologies, Engineering, 135 innovative companies, 4,500 employees, one business incubator.

A part of the Walloon industrial power was based in the Sillon industriel with the steel industry of Clabecq, which has operated to the present. The Ronquières inclined plane is on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal which passes through the province, connecting connects Charleroi, one of the main cities of the Sillon industriel, with the Capital of Belgium and the Port of Antwerp. Piétrain is a breed of domestic pig taking its name from Piétrain, a little village of Jodoigne in Walloon Brabant. The most important town of this province is Nivelles, which has the Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude and its westwork.

In Rixensart, the company Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques (changed to GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in 2000) is one of the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers, supplying around 25% of the world’s vaccines:

GSK Biologicals employs a little over 5,300 persons on the Walloon sites of Rixensart, Wavre and Gembloux. The company distributes 36 doses of vaccines every second.[3]

The castle of Corroy-le-Château, one of the best conserved castles of this period in Northern Europe was bought by 21st-century Flemish artist Wim Delvoye for EUR 3.3 million. He is planning to convert the Corroy-le-Château into a museum of modern art.[4]

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Walloon Brabant is twinned with:

Notes

  1. ↑ Population per municipality as of 1 January 2016 (XLS; 397 KB)
  2. ↑ Louis de Haynin, Histoire générale des guerres de Savoie, de Bohême, du Palatinat et des Pays-Bas 1616-1627 par le seigneur Du Cornet, Gentilhomme belgeois, avec une introduction et des notes par A.L.P. de Robaulx de Soumoy, Bruxelles, 1868, First published in 1628, pp. 6-7. French: La Belge selon qu'elle est, pour le présent, est un grand pays entre la France, l'Allemagne, et la mer Océane […] Elle se my-partit ordinairement en deux régions presque esgalles, c'est à scavoir en belge wallonne et belge allemande ou flamande, selon aucuns. La Wallonne a pour provinces l'Artois, Lille Douay et Orchies autrement dite Flandre gauloise ou walonne: Cambresis, Tournesis, Haynaut et l'Estat de Valencennes, Namur, Lothier ou Brabant wallon, Luxembourgues et Prince-Bishopric of Liège.
  3. ↑ Dynamisme wallon, review of the Union Wallonne des Entreprises, Décembre 2007
  4. ↑ "Belgian artist buys castle for EUR 3.3m", Expatica.com 2008-09-24
  5. ↑ 友好城市 (Friendly cities), 市外办 (Foreign Affairs Office), 2008-03-22. (Translation by Google Translate.)
  6. ↑ 国际友好城市一览表 (International Friendship Cities List), 2011-01-20. (Translation by Google Translate.)
  7. ↑ 友好交流 (Friendly exchanges), 2011-09-13. (Translation by Google Translate.)
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 Flemish Brabant
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