Meerbeke is a village in the

Denderstreek The Denderstreek or Denderland is a region in Belgium. It is named after the river Dender. Though the river stretches over three provinces, Hainaut, East Flanders and Flemish Brabant, the region called after the river is situated in East Flander ...

in the province of

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Administratively it is part of the municipality of

Ninove Ninove () is a city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is situated on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Ninove proper and since the 1976 merger of ...

. This rural community is located along the

Dender The Dender (Dutch, ) or Dendre ( French, ) is a 65-kilometre (40 mi) long river in Belgium, the right tributary of the river Scheldt. The confluence of the two rivers is in the Belgian town of Dendermonde. The Western or Little Dender is 22 kilome ...

River on the western border of what is known as "

Pajottenland The Pajottenland (in English occasionally Payottenland) is a distinct region within the Flemish Brabant province and the south-western part of the Brussels Region of Belgium. The region is located west-southwest of Brussels. The Pajottenland is pre ...

". With a total surface of 1056ha it is the second largest village in

(behind

Denderwindeke Ninove () is a city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is situated on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Ninove proper and since the 1976 merger of ...

). With 5.888 inhabitants (in 2021) it's the most populated village in Ninove, next to the centre of Ninove itself. It is perhaps most known as the arrival location for the Flemish cycling race the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organi ...

(1973-2011). Meerbeke used to be an independent municipality until 1977 when it was merged into Ninove.

References

Ninove Populated places in East Flanders {{EastFlanders-geo-stub