Region of Belgium
Flanders
Dutch Vlaanderen · French Flandre
About Flanders
Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern region of Belgium, with 6,898,350 inhabitants (58.1% of the country) on 13,596 km². It has five provinces and 285 municipalities, and includes the North Sea coast and the port of Antwerp. The Flemish Parliament and Government sit in Brussels, which is also the capital of Flanders even though it lies outside the region.
Population of Flanders since 2016
Between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2026 the population of Flanders grew by 420,546 inhabitants (+6.5%), from 6,477,804 to 6,898,350. In the last year it changed by +33,584.
Belgium as a whole changed by +5.3% over the same period: Flanders +6.5%, Wallonia +3.1% and the Brussels-Capital Region +5.7%.
Provinces of Flanders
| Province | Capital | Population | Area km² | Municipalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antwerp | Antwerp | 1,931,891 | 2,852 | 67 |
| East Flanders | Ghent | 1,611,409 | 3,027 | 55 |
| Flemish Brabant | Leuven | 1,210,797 | 2,119 | 63 |
| Limburg | Hasselt | 908,582 | 2,428 | 38 |
| West Flanders | Bruges | 1,235,671 | 3,169 | 62 |