The Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital ( nl, Arrondissement Brussel-Hoofdstad; french: Arrondissement de Bruxelles-Capitale; german: Verwaltungsbezirk Brüssel-Hauptstadt) is the only administrative

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

Brussels Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

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 ...

. Because it is the only administrative arrondissement in the Brussels Region, its territory coincides with that of the latter. The arrondissement was created in 1963 upon the splitting of the

arrondissement of Brussels The arrondissement of Brussels was one of the three arrondissements forming the province of Brabant, Belgium, or before Belgium's independence forming the French Dyle department. The arrondissement was split in 1963 upon the fixation of the lang ...

into the capital one and the surrounding

arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde The Halle-Vilvoorde Arrondissement () is one of the two administrative arrondissements in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It almost completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region and lies to the west of the other arrondissement in th ...

. They remained part of the

province of Brabant The Province of Brabant (, , ) was a province in Belgium from 1830 to 1995. It was created in 1815 as South Brabant, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1995, it was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speak ...

until it was split as well in 1995. In that year, the

arrondissement of Nivelles The Arrondissement of Nivelles (french: Arrondissement de Nivelles; nl, Arrondissement Nijvel) is an arrondissement in Wallonia and Belgium. It is the only arrondissement in the province of Walloon Brabant, and is coterminous with it. Before 199 ...

formed the new

Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant (french: Brabant wallon ; nl, Waals-Brabant ; wa, Roman Payis) is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and ...

and the arrondissements of Halle-Vilvoorde and Leuven formed the new

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hain ...

. The arrondissement of Brussels-Capital, corresponding to the Brussels-Capital Region, thus became extraprovincial, meaning it is not a province, neither does it belong to one, nor does it contain any. However, it was the only Belgian arrondissement that was headed by a

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and a vice-governor until 2014 when these posts were abolished in accord with the 2011 state reform. The Brussels-Capital Region is divided into 19 municipalities, of which the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Fl ...

is the largest and most populous. See the

list of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region The 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) are the political subdivisions of Belgium's central region. The government of each municipality is respons ...

Governor and vice-governor

The governor exercised most of the few remaining powers elsewhere exercised by a provincial governor, particularly in the field of public order, as far as no (federal) law, (regional) decree, ordonnance or decision states otherwise. The governor was appointed by the government of the Brussels-Capital Region on the unanimous advice of the Federal Council of Ministers. The regional government also appointed the vice-governor, who was required to have a considerable knowledge of both the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and who had a duty to ensure that the legislation regarding the use of languages was observed in the Brussels region.

References

{{Brussels-geo-stub Geography of Brussels Brussels-Capital

Governor and vice-governor

See also

References