BELGIUM-ROOTS ProjectPlaces in BelgiumBelgian Municipalities and Places |
The municipality is the smallest administrative unit in Belgium. It can be compared to an incorporated township or town in the United States.
In Belgium they are called "gemeente", in Dutch, or "commune", in French. Commune is also a proper English word for "the smallest administrative district of local government in France and Belgium" [Webster's New World Dictionary], but since I lived through the 60s and 70s, a "commune" has a different sound in my ears. Hence, I will always use "municipality". A municipality may obtain the honorary title of "city" ("Stad" in Dutch, "Ville" in French), but that isn't very important here since the administrative organization remains the same.
Evolution
In 1831, Belgium counts 2,739 municipalities. The Treaty of XXIV articles, finalized by the Final Treaty of 1839, by which the King of the Netherlands recognizes the independence of Belgium, decrees that 124 Limburg municipalities are surrendered to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and 119 Luxemburg municipalities to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.
By 1928, 161 new municipalities have been created and 13 have been suppressed. In addition, Belgium acquired 31 municipalities from Germany in the Treaty of Versailles as a compensation for WWI.
We are looking for the lists of those municipalities and will publish them once found. Contact us if you have them (or know where to find).
- Main sources:
- Dictionary of the municipalities of Belgium, S.A. Imprimerie E. Guyot n.v., Brussels, 1997
- ISBN 2-87263-164-X.
- Nijhoffs Geschiedenis-Lexicon Nederland en België, Martinus Nijhoff, 's Gravenhage / Antwerpen, 1981.
- ISBN 90 247 9078 6
The merger of municipalities
In 1964, there were 2663 independent municipalities in Belgium. A major restructuring took place in the 1960s and 1970s, which emanated on 1 January 1977 in a merger of most municipalities in 589 larger ones. In most cases the newly formed municipality would be named after the most dominant or prominent municipality from which it was formed.
E.g.: the independent municipalities of Beveren, Melsele, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Doel, Verrebroek, Vrasene, and Haasdonk were merged into the new municipality of Beveren.
The merger that was decreed in 1975 and came into effect on January 1, 1977, was by no means the only one. Others took place in 1964 and 1970/1971, as shown by the number of municipalities in each of these years:
Evolution of the number of municipalities per province 1830 1850 1875 1900 1928 1961 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Antwerp 142 146 151 152 154 148 Brabant 334 338 341 344 348 348 Hainaut 424 427 435 441 444 443 Liège 326 331 336 342 374 369 Limbourg 198 203 206 206 206 206 Luxembourg 190 195 205 225 233 233 Namur 343 346 352 361 366 366 East Flanders 293 293 296 298 297 297 West Flanders 248 249 250 248 253 253 ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- 2,498 2,528 2,572 2,617 2,675 2,663
- Main source:
- Dictionary of the municipalities of Belgium, S.A. Imprimerie E. Guyot n.v., Brussels, 1997
- ISBN 2-87263-164-X.
Number of municipalities in Belgium, per province and per linguistic area: after the merger of ------------------- Province in 1964 1964 1970/1 1975 -------- ------- ---- ------ ---- Antwerp 148 147 144 70 East Flanders 295 282 241 65 West Flanders 244 240 182 64 Flemish Brabant 232 223 203 65 Limburg 205 202 136 44 Subtotal Flanders 1,124 1,094 906 308 Hainaut 452 444 435 69 Liege 355 339 317 84 Namur 366 345 345 38 Walloon Brabant 114 114 108 27 Luxemburg 233 231 229 44 Subtotal Wallonia 1,520 1,473 1,434 262 Brussels-Capital 19 19 19 19 Total 2,663 2,586 2,359 589
- Main source:
- Winkler Prins Encyclopedisch Jaarboek 1973, Elsevier, Amsterdam/Brussel, 1976.
- ISBN 90 10 01611 0. Lemma: GEMEENTEN, Samenvoeging van
|
|
|
|