Courcelles (; ) is a

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

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

located in the province of Hainaut,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. As of January 1, 2006, Courcelles had a total population of 29,626. The total area is 44.24 km² which gives a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 670 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

: Courcelles,

Gouy-lez-Piéton Gouy-lez-Pieton () is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Courcelles, Belgium, Courcelles, located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. It was a fully fledged municipality before the fusion of the Belgia ...

, Souvret, and Trazegnies. In 1944, the town was the site of the Courcelles Massacre of 20 civilians by Belgian collaborators. The event is commemorated by a plaque at the site.

The mining

In 1853, a company, called Société Anonyme des Charbonnages du Nord de Charleroi, was formed to bring together the various concessions located in Courcelles. The mining capacity was 19,000 tons in 1854. It reached 500,000 tons in 1930. The shafts were closed one by one and currently, no extraction shaft is in operation on the territory of Courcelles, but we can still see a lot of spoil tips which are now nice places for walking.

Notable people

Loïc Nottet Loïc Jean-Pierre Nottet (; born 10 April 1996) is a Belgian people, Belgian singer, songwriter and dancer. He began his career as a singer in the third season of ''The Voice Belgique'' in 2014 and represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Cont ...

, singer who finished second in the third season of The Voice Belgique in 2014 and represented Belgium in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

which was held in Vienna, Austria

References

External links

* Municipalities of Hainaut (province) {{Hainaut-geo-stub