The Flemish Region of Belgium

Flanders ('Vlaanderen') is one of the three Belgian regions with its own government, parliament and administration. The other two are the Brussels-Capital Region and the Walloon Region. Comprised of the Dutch-speaking part of the country, the Flemish Region has the largest population of the three (58%).

As a result of various state structure reforms over the last 30 years, Belgium has been transformed into a federal state, giving the regions more and more responsibilities. Apart from the environment, the Flemish government is also competent in other matters, such as the economy, employment, education and culture, agriculture, foreign trade, land planning, urban development, housing, public works ...

More information on Flanders
 
 
 
 		 Flanders Belgium EU-27
total population (2008)  6 161 600 10 666 866  497 481 657
surface area 13 522 km² 30 528 km² 4 304 006 km² 
capital Brussels Brussels  Brussels 
highest point Voeren (288 m) Botrange (694 m)  Mont Blanc (4 811 m) 
population density (2005) 447 inhabitants/km² 342 inhabitants/km²  116 inhabitants/km²
           (2008) 
population growth (2000-2007) 3.7 % 4.2 %   3.0 % 
proportion of population aged
65 or older (2008)		 17.9 % 17.1 %  16.9 % (2007) 
proportion of population younger
than 20 (2008) 		 22.1 %  23.0 %  15.8 % (2007)
(younger than 15)
gross domestic product (GDP)
(2006)		 182.9 billion euros  316.6 billion euros  11 583 billion euros 
GDP per inhabitant (2006)  29 992 euros  30 017 euros  23 500 euros 
average real annual GDP growth
in 1998-2007		 2.3 %  2.2 %  2.5 % 
level of employment (a)(c) (2007) 66.1 %  62.0 %  64.4 % (2006)
level of unemployment (b) (2007)  6.4 % 7.5 %  8.2 % (2006) 
number of fatal traffic victims  per
100 000 inhabitants (2007) 		 8.6 10.0  8.7 (2006) 
life expectancy (at birth) (2006)
men 		 78.1 years 77.0 years 74.6 years (2005)
life expectancy (at birth) (2006)
women		 83.3 years 82.7 years  80.8 years (2005) 
proportion of CHP in gross
electricity consumption (%) (2007) 		 14.7 8.7 (2006)  10.9 (2006) 
proportion of renewable energy
sources in gross electricity
consumption (%) (2007) 		 2.7  3.0 (2006)  14.7 (EU-25, 2006) 

(a) number of employed as % of the population at active employment age (15-64 years)
(b) number of unemployed as % of the population at active employment age (15-64 years)
(c) From 2001 people who had been unemployed for longer than 3 months were no longer counted as workers.

Source: APS, EEA, EurObserv'ER, Eurostat, FOD Economy (Statistics Department), NBB