is a province of
Flanders , one of the three regions of
Belgium . It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of
Antwerp ,
Limburg ,
Liège ,
Walloon Brabant ,
Hainaut and
East Flanders . Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the
Brussels-Capital Region . Its capital is
Leuven . It has an area of 2,106 km² which is divided into two administrative districts (''arrondissementen'' in
Dutch ) containing 65 municipalities.
Flemish Brabant was created in , which no longer belongs to any province. The split was made to accommodate the eventual division of Belgium in three regions (Flanders,
Wallonia and the
Brussels-Capital Region ).
It is a province with a rich cultural history and a great diversity of typical products, among them several of the world-famous
Belgian Beers .
The province is made up of two
Arrondissements . The
Halle-Vilvoorde Arrondissement has
Brussels in its middle. It is therefore mainly a residential area, but it also has large industrial zones. For example, it is home to
Belgium's Main Airport . The other arrondissement is the
Leuven Arrondissement , centered on
Leuven .
The official language in Flemish Brabant is Dutch (as it is in the whole of Flanders), but a few municipalities are allowed to use French to communicate with their citizens; these are called the
Municipalities With Linguistic Facilities . Other such special municipalities can be found along the border between Flanders and Wallonia, and between Wallonia and the German-speaking area of Belgium. The fact that Halle-Vilvoorde surrounds
Brussels (which is officially bilingual but whose inhabitants mostly speak French) makes for an interesting mix of both languages.
The history of Brabant is at
Brabant ; see also
Duke Of Brabant .
Flemish Brabant has 65 towns: 35 in the administrative district of Halle-Vilvoorde and 30 in Leuven.
