EAST FLANDERS

Flemish Oost-Vlaanderen, French Flandre Orientale province, northwestern Belgium, extending southward from the Netherlands border. Drained by the Leie, Schelde (Escaut or Scheldt), and Dender (Dendre) rivers, it is divided into six administrative arrondissements (Aalst, Dendermonde, Eeklo, Ghent, Oudenaarde, and Sint-Niklaas). It was formerly part of the old county of Flanders, other parts of which are contained in West Flanders province, the French dpartement of Nord, and the Dutch province of Zeeland. During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods, it formed part of the dpartements of Lys and Scheldt. An area of low hills, the province lies in interior Flanders, rising inland from the coastal plain. The soil is mixed sand and clay in the north, with more fertile alluvial clays in the south. In the northeast, to the west of the Schelde estuary, are the fertile reclaimed polderlands of the Waasland (Pays de Waes) region. Agriculture has been practiced intensively since the Middle Ages, much of it on a horticultural scale, for the holdings are small, particularly in the south. Ornamental plants and flowers are grown for export around Ghent; rye, potatoes, and vegetables are cultivated in the north. The Waasland supports market gardening, bush fruits, and dairy and poultry farms. The more fertile south produces wheat, oats, barley, flax, hops, chicory, sugar beets, and tobacco. Fodder crops and cattle and pig raising are widespread. A textile region since the Middle Ages, inland Flanders has also long had a flourishing industrial and commercial economy. Cotton has replaced wool and linen as the most important textile product; other textiles (jute, rayon, and nylon) also are produced. The chief centre is Ghent (the capital), which accounts for much of the country's textile production. Other textile towns include Deinze, Ronse, Oudenaarde, Geraardsbergen, Aalst, Ninove, and Dendermonde, many of which also have metallurgical, chemical, food-processing, and leather industries. Sint-Niklaas and Eeklo are busy market towns. The province is well served by road and rail communications. Canals link Ghent with Brugge (Bruges), Ostend, and Terneuzen (Netherlands), and the rivers carry a heavy traffic. Flemish-speaking East Flanders is one of Europe's most densely settled areas. Area 1,151 square miles (2,982 square km). Pop. (1991 est.) 1,335,793.