Walloon Brabant

Walloon Brabant (French: Brabant wallon, Dutch: Waals-Brabant , Walloon: Roman Payis) is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. 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 and largest city is Wavre.

Walloon Brabant

(French: Brabant wallon)
Province of Belgium
Coordinates: 50°40′N 04°35′E
Country Belgium
Region Walloon Region
Capital
(and largest city)		Wavre
Government
 • GovernorGilles Mahieu
Area
 • Total1,097 km2 (424 sq mi)
Population
 (1 January 2019)[2]
 • Total403,599
 • Density368/km2 (950/sq mi)
HDI (2018)0.925[3]
very high · 4th
WebsiteOfficial site

The provincial population was recorded at 403,599 as of January 2019, giving a population density of 368/km2 (950/sq mi).

Etymology

The terms Walloon and Brabant are older, and were sometimes used in combination before the coming into existence of the political entity.

Louis de Haynin wrote in 1868, "Belgium is a country between France, Germany and the North Sea. This country is divided in two regions, Flanders and Wallonia. Wallonia is divided in Brabant Wallon, Hainaut, Namur, Liège and Luxembourg.[4]

History
See also: Duchy of Brabant and Duke of Brabant

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 1,097 square kilometres (424 sq mi) and contains only one administrative district (arrondissement in French), the Arrondissement of Nivelles, with 27 municipalities.

Nivelles District:

  1. Beauvechain (Bevekom)
  2. Braine-l'Alleud (Eigenbrakel)
  3. Braine-le-Château (Kasteelbrakel)
  4. Chastre
  5. Chaumont-Gistoux
  6. Court-Saint-Étienne
  7. Genappe (Genepiën)
  8. Grez-Doiceau (Graven)
  9. Hélécine (Heilissem / Heylissem)
  10. Incourt
  11. Ittre (Itter)
  12. Jodoigne (Geldenaken)
  13. La Hulpe (Terhulpen)
  14. Lasne
  15. Mont-Saint-Guibert
  16. Nivelles (Nijvel)
  17. Orp-Jauche
  18. Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve
  19. Perwez (Perwijs)
  20. Ramillies
  21. Rebecq
  22. Rixensart
  23. Tubize (Tubeke)
  24. Villers-la-Ville
  25. Walhain
  26. Waterloo
  27. Wavre (Waver)
The Butte du lion in Waterloo
The Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude in Nivelles
Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park, aerial view

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 19.3 billion € in 2018, accounting for 4.2% of Belgiums economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 42,300 € or 140% of the EU27 average in the same year. GDP per person employed was 157% of the EU27 average. Walloon Brabant is the wealthiest province in Wallonia.[5]

The University of Louvain (UCLouvain) is located in Walloon Brabant. The Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park is developing cooperation between industry and UCLouvain 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 and engineering. The park is made up of 135 innovative companies, 4,500 employees, and the university's 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.[6]

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.[7]

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Belgium

Twin towns and sister cities

Walloon Brabant is twinned with:

Notes
  1. https://bestat.statbel.fgov.be/bestat/crosstable.xhtml?view=90c1e218-dc4f-4827-824d-9b25abfefe59
  2. https://statbel.fgov.be/nl/themas/bevolking/structuur-van-de-bevolking
  3. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  4. 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.
  5. "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.
  6. Dynamisme wallon, review of the Union Wallonne des Entreprises, Décembre 2007
  7. "Belgian artist buys castle for EUR 3.3m", Expatica.com 2008-09-24
  8. 友好城市 (Friendly cities) Archived 2014-07-19 at the Wayback Machine, 市外办 (Foreign Affairs Office), 2008-03-22. (Translation by Google Translate.)
  9. 国际友好城市一览表 (International Friendship Cities List) Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, 2011-01-20. (Translation by Google Translate.)
  10. 友好交流 (Friendly exchanges) Archived 2014-11-12 at the Wayback Machine, 2011-09-13. (Translation by Google Translate.)
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