Antwerp (province)

Infobox Belgian Province
EnglishName = Antwerp
LocalNameInLanguage1 = ( _nl. Antwerpen)
LocalNameInLanguage2 =
LocalNameInLanguage3 =

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region = BE-VLG
capital = Antwerp
governor = Cathy Berx
area = 2,867
population_as_of = 2005
population = 1,682,683
populationdensity = 587


officialsite = http://www.provant.be/

Antwerp ( _nl. Antwerpen) is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders. Its capital is Antwerp which comprises the Port of Antwerp. It has an area of 2867 km² and with nearly 1.7 million inhabitants it is the country's most populous province. The eastern part of the province is the main part of the Campine region.

History

The region was the northern part of the Duchy of Brabant. The province was created as the "Department of the two Netes" during the First French Empire (when the Southern Netherlands were part of France). After the defeat of Napoleon, the territory became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands as the province of Antwerp. In 1830, after the Belgian Revolution the province kept its name.

Economy

The Port of Antwerp is the economic heart of the province. The chemical and petrochemical industry is widely represented in the port region and comprises the world's second largest cluster of petrochemical industry, next to Houston (USA).

The industrial development of the eastern part of the province, part of the Campine region, started in the nineteenth and twentieth century when industry established itself in the region, such as the metallurgy in Balen. The region around Turnhout became famous for its printing business, with companies such as Brepols. In 1872 the "Sablières et Carrières Réunies" (SCR), now Sibelco, was founded to extract the silica sand layers in Mol for industrial applications (glass). In the twentieth Century the first nuclear installation in Belgium, at the SCK•CEN in Mol in 1962. The European Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) was founded in Geel in 1957. Pharmaceutical industry was founded in Beerse in the sixties, with Janssen Pharmaceutica and more recently with Genzyme in Geel. Soudal (silicon) in Turnhout and Ravago (plastics) in Arendonk became leading companies in their markets.

Governors from 1815 until 1830

Governors of the province of Antwerp during the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
* Charles–Louis van Keverberg van Kessel (1815-1817)
* Pierre Joseph Pycke (1817-1820)
* Leonard Pierre Joseph du Bus de Gisignies (1820-1823)
* André Charles Membrede (1823-1828)
* Edmond Charles Giullaume Ghislain de la Coste (1828-1829)
* Alexandre François Ghislain van der Fosse (1830)

Governors since 1830

Governors of the Belgian province of Antwerp
*François de Robiano (1830-1831)
*Jean-François Tielemans (1831)
*Charles Rogier (1831-1832 and 1834-1840)
*Henri de Brouckère (1840-1844)
*Jules Malou (1844-1845)
*Jan Teichmann (1845-1862)
*Edward Pycke d'Ideghem (1862-1887)
*Charles du Bois de Vroylande (1887-1888)
*Edward Osy de Zegwaart (1889-1900)
*Fredegand Cogels (1900-1907)
*Louis de Brouchoven de Bergeyck (1907-1908)
*Ferdinand de Baillet-Latour (1908-1912)
*Gaston van de Werve de Schilde (1912-1923)
*Georges Holvoet (1923-1945)
*Richard Declerck (1946-1966)
*Andries Kinsbergen (1967-1993)
*Camille Paulus (1993-2008)
*Cathy Berx (since 2008)

Administrative subdivisions

The province is divided into three administrative arrondissements ("arrondissementen" in Dutch) containing 70 municipalities :

ee also

*List of schools in Antwerp

References

* Steve Heylen, Bart De Nil, Bart D’hondt, Sophie Gyselinck, Hanne Van Herck en Donald Weber, "Geschiedenis van de provincie Antwerpen. Een politieke biografie", Antwerpen, Provinciebestuur Antwerpen, 2005, 2 Volumes

External links

* [http://www.provant.be/ Official website]
* [http://flagspot.net/flags/be-van.html Flag of the Antwerp province]