East Flanders

East Flanders (, , ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium.
Its capital, and also the largest city of the province, is Ghent (, ).
Name.
"East" in "East Flanders" means that it is in eastern part of Flanders, a region that forms part of the present Belgium. The word "Flanders" refers to the historic county of Flanders and appears for the first time in the year 358 under the name "pagus Flandrensis" ("pagus" is a Latin word meaning a very small town, with only few houses).
The "pagus Flandrensis" region was a coastal area with large tidal channels and green marshes where sheep farmers lived.
The modern province of East Flanders was the old Escaut department, created in 1795 during the First French Empire in the eastern part of the County of Flanders.
In 1815, during the creation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the department became the province of East Flanders.
Geography.
East Flanders borders (clockwise from the North) on the Netherlands and in Belgium on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant (both in Flanders), of Hainaut (Wallonia) and of West Flanders (Flanders).
The province has an area of with a population of about 1,544,000 in 2022.
The capital and biggest city is Ghent, also the second largest city in the Flemish Region. Other smaller cities are Aalst, Sint-Niklaas and Dendermonde in the east of the province.
Its highest point is Hotondberg, high, in the municipality of Kluisbergen, Oudenaarde district.
The main river in the province is the Scheldt (Dutch: Schelde, ); it merges with the Leie in Ghent. The Dender flows into the Scheldt in the city of Dendermonde.
Administrative divisions.
The province of Hainaut is divided into six "arrondissements" (Aalst, Dendermonde, Eeklo, Ghent, Oudenaarde and Sint-Niklaas) and a total of 60 municipalities since 2019.
Population by arrondissement.
Population x 1,000 (on 1 January since 1980).