Flanders

The Flemish Region and the Dutch language area are identical.

Some facts about Flanders

• Population: 6,161,600
• Number of Communes: 308
• Important towns and cities: Antwerp, Gent, Ostend, Bruges, Hasselt, Genk.

Institutions

Flemish Parliament - Plenar hall Foto K. Van Strijthem

The Flemish institutions differ from those in the Francophone part of the country: in Flanders a single parliament and government hold the powers and responsibilities of the Region and the Community. The Flemish Parliament is thus the legislative body for all the amenities of the Flemish Community.

• the Flemish Parliament has 118 MPs (+ 6 MPs who are only responsible for communitary matters)
• the Flemish Government may have up to 11 members, of whom at least one must reside in Brussels.
• the seat of the Flemish Parliament and the Flemish Government is in Brussels.