LOKEREN

municipality (gemeente), East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen) province, northern Belgium, on the Durme River, just east-northeast of Ghent (Gent). Notable buildings include the Church of St. Lawrence (1721), the town hall (1761), and several Flemish Renaissance houses. Lokeren was granted a weekly market in 1555. By the 1940s the town had an almost complete Belgian monopoly of couperie de poilsthe shearing of rabbits and the preparation of their fur for use in felt manufacture. Other industries include textile and rope manufacture. Pop. (1992 est.) mun., 35,100.