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Ghent
Province:	East Flanders
District:	Ghent
Area:	157.69 km²
Population:	220.059 (2004)
Population density:	1421.65 /km²

Ghent (Gent in Dutch, Gand in French, once Gaunt in English) is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of East Flanders, of which it is the capital. The city centre lies at the confluence of rivers Scheldt and Lys. It is situated at the crossing of the European routes E17European route E17 passes through the following cities: Antwerpen Gent Kortrijk Lille Arras Cambrai Laon Reims Chalons-sur-Marne Troyes Langres Beaune This article refers to the European road route. For other meanings of E17, see E17 (disambiguation). and E40European route E40 passes through the following cities: Calais Dunkerque Brugge Ghent Brussels Leuven Liege Aachen Koln Gummersbach Olpe Siegen Wetzlar Giessen Bad Hersfeld Eisenach Gotha Erfurt Weimar Jena Gera Chemnitz Dresden Bautzen Gorlitz Boleslawie.

The municipality comprises the city of Ghent proper and the towns of Afsnee , DesteldonkDesteldonk is a parish in the municipality of Ghent in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The first historical record of Desteldonk dates back to 967. The area has a population of 900. It became part of Ghent in 1965., DrongenDrongen ( French: Tronchiennes is a borough of the city of Ghent ( East Flanders, Flanders, Belgium). Drongen is the biggest borough of the city. It is divided in three big neighbourhoods, here also called hamlets: Drongen-Centre, Luchteren and Baarle., GentbruggeGentbrugge is a sub- municipality of Ghent. It is famous for its decorated/painted watertower which can be seen from the E17 driving from Kortrijk to Antwerp., Ledeberg , Mariakerke , Mendonk , Oostakker , Sint-Amandsberg , Sint-Denijs-Westrem , Sint-Kruis-Winkel , WondelgemWondelgem used to be a village in East Flanders, Belgium. It is now part of the city of Ghent. In the 9th century the Carolingian emperors owned a large estate in Wondelgem. Ghent has a total population of about 228,000, of which about 12,000 people live and ZwijnaardeZwijnaarde is a city in Belgium, known for its fair and its "zwijntjes" beer.. On January 1st, 2001 Ghent had a total population of 225.956. The total area is 157.69 km²Square kilometre (symbol km is an SI unit of surface area. It is one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to: the area of a square measuring 1 kilometre on each side 1 000 000 m² 100 hectares 0. 386 102 square miles (statute) 247. 105 381 acres Convers which gives a population density of 1421.65 inhabitants per km². In terms of population it is Belgium's fourth largest municipality.

1 History

The region of Ghent was inhabited in Celtic times. The name Ghent comes from the Celtic word 'ganda' which means converging of e.g. two rivers (Scheldt and Lys). There are no written records of the Roman period but archeological research confirms that the region of Ghent was further inhabited.

When the Franks invaded the Roman territories (from the end of the 4th century and well into the 5th century) they brought their language with them and Ghent became a region where Celtic and Latin were replaced by (ancient) Dutch.

From the 7th century on, Ghent had two important abbeys Sint-Pieters (625-650) and Sint-Baafs (650). The city grew from several nuclei, the abbeys and a commercial centre. Around 800, the city must have been important enough for Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, to appoint Einhard as abbot of both abbeys. Einhard was the biographer of Charlemagne, Charles the Great.

The rivers flowed in an area where a lot of land was periodically inundated. These 'meersen' (a word related to the English 'marsh', but not meaning excatly the same, a 'meers' is not permanently under water.) were ideally suited for herding sheep, which wool was used for making cloth. In fact, Ghent was during the middle ages the most important city for cloth.

Outside Italy, Ghent was until the 13th century the biggest city after Paris. Within the city walls lived up to 60.000 or 65.000 people. It was e.g. bigger than London, Cologne or Moscow. Today, the center of the city still has several large towers, the belfry and the towers of the Cathedral and Sint-Niklaas Church are just a few examples of what could be called the 'Manhattan of the Middle Ages'.

Ghent was a city where the wool-industry was so important that wool had to be imported from England. This was on of the reasons for Flanders' good relationship with England.

2 Tourism

right Belfry of Ghent. Behind it the Saint Nicholas church is visible. Ghent is arguably one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Much of the city's medieval architecture remains intact and is remarkably well preserved. Its center is the largest carfree area in Belgium. Interesting highlights are the Saint Bavo Cathedral with the Ghent Altarpiece, the belfry, the gravensteen, and the Graslei . The city is host to some big cultural events such as the Gentse Feesten, I Love Techno , Flanders International Film Festival Ghent and Festival van Vlaanderen . Night bus services (weekends only) are free of charge.

The city has an extensive harbour which is accessed by the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, which ends at Terneuzen in the Westerschelde.

Ghent was the birthplace of Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V, and of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. It was also the site of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent which formally ended the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States of America.

3 See also

Ghent University
Bruges and Antwerp

4 External links

Wikimedia Commons has multimedia related to }.

Official website - Information available in Dutch, English, French and German
http://www.use-it.be/gent/eng/ Gent for youngsters

East Flanders
Aalst: \| Aalst \| Denderleeuw \| Erpe-Mere \| Geraardsbergen \| Haaltert \| Herzele \| Lede \| Ninove \| Sint-Lievens-Houtem \| Zottegem \|
Dendermonde: \| Berlare \| Buggenhout \| Dendermonde \| Hamme \| Laarne \| Lebbeke \| Waasmunster \| Wetteren \| Wichelen \| Zele \|
Eeklo: \| Assenede \| Eeklo \| Kaprijke \| Maldegem \| Sint-Laureins \| Zelzate \|
Ghent: \| Aalter \| Deinze \| De Pinte \| Destelbergen \| Evergem \| Gavere \| Ghent \| Knesselare \| Lochristi \| Lovendegem \| Melle \| Merelbeke \| Moerbeke \| Nazareth \| Nevele \| Oosterzele \| Sint-Martens-Latem \| Waarschoot \| Wachtebeke \| Zomergem \| Zulte \|
Oudenaarde: \| Brakel \| Horebeke \| Kluisbergen \| Kruishoutem \| Lierde \| Maarkedal \| Oudenaarde \| Ronse \| Wortegem-Petegem \| Zingem \| Zwalm \|
Sint-Niklaas: \| Beveren \| Kruibeke \| Lokeren \| Sint-Gillis-Waas \| Sint-Niklaas \| Stekene \| Temse \|

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East Flanders
Aalst: \| Aalst \| Denderleeuw \| Erpe-Mere \| Geraardsbergen \| Haaltert \| Herzele \| Lede \| Ninove \| Sint-Lievens-Houtem \| Zottegem \|
Dendermonde: \| Berlare \| Buggenhout \| Dendermonde \| Hamme \| Laarne \| Lebbeke \| Waasmunster \| Wetteren \| Wichelen \| Zele \|
Eeklo: \| Assenede \| Eeklo \| Kaprijke \| Maldegem \| Sint-Laureins \| Zelzate \|
Ghent: \| Aalter \| Deinze \| De Pinte \| Destelbergen \| Evergem \| Gavere \| Ghent \| Knesselare \| Lochristi \| Lovendegem \| Melle \| Merelbeke \| Moerbeke \| Nazareth \| Nevele \| Oosterzele \| Sint-Martens-Latem \| Waarschoot \| Wachtebeke \| Zomergem \| Zulte \|
Oudenaarde: \| Brakel \| Horebeke \| Kluisbergen \| Kruishoutem \| Lierde \| Maarkedal \| Oudenaarde \| Ronse \| Wortegem-Petegem \| Zingem \| Zwalm \|
Sint-Niklaas: \| Beveren \| Kruibeke \| Lokeren \| Sint-Gillis-Waas \| Sint-Niklaas \| Stekene \| Temse \|

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