Flemish Vlaanderen
Medieval principality extending along the coast of the Low Countries .
Its lands are now included in the French département of Nord, the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders, and the Dutch province of Zeeland. Ruled by Baldwin I in 862, Flanders began to grow as a commercial centre, fostered by its strategic location between the Mediterranean Sea and the Scandinavian and Baltic countries. It passed to Burgundy in 1384 and then to the Austrian Habsburg s in 1477. It remained part of the Netherlands under Spanish rule in the 17th century. It was the scene of fighting during both World War I and World War II. Limited autonomy was granted to Belgian Flanders in the 1980s, and it became one of the three regions in the new federation of Belgium in 1993.