The Arrondissement of Bruges ( nl, Arrondissement Brugge; french: Arrondissement de Bruges) is one of the eight administrative

arrondissements An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

in the

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

West Flanders West Flanders ( nl, West-Vlaanderen ; vls, West Vloandern; french: (Province de) Flandre-Occidentale ; german: Westflandern ) is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the No ...

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 ...

. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. However, the Judicial Arrondissement of Bruges also comprises the municipalities of the

Arrondissement of Ostend The Arrondissement of Ostend ( nl, Arrondissement Oostende; french: Arrondissement d'Ostende) is one of the eight administrative arrondissements in the Province of West Flanders, Belgium. The Administrative Arrondissement of Ostend consists o ...

, most of the

Arrondissement of Tielt The Arrondissement of Tielt ( nl, Arrondissement Tielt; french: Arrondissement de Tielt) is one of the eight administrative arrondissements in the Province of West Flanders, Belgium. History The Arrondissement of Tielt was created in 1818 and ...

(except the municipalities of Meulebeke,

Dentergem Dentergem () is a municipality, located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Dentergem proper, Markegem, Oeselgem and Wakken Wakken is a village and ''deelgemeente'' in Dentergem municipality, in ...

, Oostrozebeke and

Wielsbeke Wielsbeke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Ooigem, Sint-Baafs-Vijve and Wielsbeke proper. On January 1, 2018, Wielsbeke had a total population of 9,584. The total ar ...

), as well as the municipality of Lichtervelde (in the Arrondissement of Roeselare).

History

The Arrondissement of Bruges was created in 1800 as the first

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

in the Department of Lys ( nl, Departement Leie). It originally comprised the cantons of

Ardooie Ardooie (; vls, Ardôoie) is a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Ardooie proper and Koolskamp. In 2006 Ardooie had a total population of 9,147. The local inhabitants are called Ardoo ...

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

Gistel Gistel () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Following local government boundary reforms in 1971 and 1977, the municipality has comprised not only Gistel, but also the towns of Moere, Snaaskerke and ...

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, Ruiselede, Tielt and

Torhout Torhout (; french: Thourout; vls, Toeroet) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Torhout proper, the villages of Wijnendale and Sint-Henricus, and the hamlet of De Dr ...

. In 1818, the arrondissements of

, Roeselare, Tielt and Torhout were created. This resulted in the arrondissement losing more than half of its territory. The

Arrondissement of Torhout The Arrondissement of Torhout ( nl, Arrondissement Torhout; french: Arrondissement de Torhout) was a short-lived arrondissement in present-day Belgium. It was created out of the Arrondissement of Bruges The Arrondissement of Bruges ( nl, Arron ...

already ceased to exist in 1823 and the canton of Torhout was added to the Arrondissement of Bruges again. As a result of the merger of the municipalities of 1977, the village of

Wijnendale Wijnendale is a village located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. It belongs to the municipality of Torhout. Wijnendale is situated at 4 km from the city center of Torhout, halfway in between this city center and Ichtegem. The villa ...

(which was added to

and was part of

Ichtegem Ichtegem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders 15 km southwest of Bruges. The municipality comprises the towns of Bekegem, Eernegem and Ichtegem proper. On January 1, 2006 Ichtegem had a total population of 13 ...

prior to that) was added to the arrondissement from the

and the then municipality of Wenduine (which was merged into De Haan) was ceded to the Arrondissement of Ostend.

Municipalities

The Administrative Arrondissement of Bruges consists of the following

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

: *

Beernem Beernem (; vls, Beirnem) is a rural municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders, located southeast of Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Bel ...

Blankenberge Blankenberge (; french: Blankenberghe; vls, Blanknberge) is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitkerke. On 1 December 2014, ...

Damme Damme () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, six kilometres northeast of Brugge (Bruges). The municipality comprises the city of Damme proper and the villages of Hoeke, Lapscheure, Moerkerke, Oostkerk ...

* Jabbeke *

Knokke-Heist Knokke-Heist (; french: Knocke-Heist) is a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Heist-aan-Zee, Knokke, Duinbergen, Ramskapelle and Westkapelle. On January 1, 2006 Knokke-Heist had a total ...

Oostkamp Oostkamp (; vls, Ôostkamp) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Hertsberge, Oostkamp proper, Ruddervoorde and Waardamme. On January 1, 2019, Oostkamp had a total populatio ...

Zedelgem Zedelgem (; vls, Zillegem) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Aartrijke, Loppem, Veldegem and Zedelgem proper. On January 1, 2019, Zedelgem had a total population of 2 ...

* Zuienkerke {{Judicial arrondissements of Belgium