Editing Antwerp Province (section)

==History==
During the early [[Middle Ages]] the region was part of the [[Francia|Frankish Empire]], which was divided into several ''[[Pagus|pagi]]''. The territory of the present-day province belonged to several ''pagi'' of which the region around what would become the city of [[Antwerp]] belonged to the Pagus Renesium. The [[Toxandria|Pagus Toxandria]] stretched from [[North Brabant]] into the [[Campine]] region. To the south there was the Pagus Bracbatinsis and the [[Hesbaye|Pagus Hasbaniensis]]. In 843 the [[Carolingian Empire]] of [[Charlemagne]] was divided among his sons and the river [[Scheldt]] became the border between [[West Francia]] and [[East Francia]]. In 974 [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]] established the [[Margraviate of Antwerp]] as a defence against the [[County of Flanders]].

[[File:Sebastiaan Vrancx (1573-1647) - De plundering van Wommelgem (1625-1630) - Düsseldorf Museum Kunstpalast 15-08-2012 15-08-12.JPG|thumb|240px|The aftermath of the plundering of the village of [[Wommelgem]] in 1589. [[Eighty Years' War]], painting by [[Sebastiaen Vrancx]].]]
In 1106, [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V]] granted the Margraviate to [[Godfrey I of Leuven]]. His descendants would from 1235 onwards become the Dukes of Brabant and the region itself was the northern part of the [[Duchy of Brabant]]. In 1430 the Duchy became part of the [[Duchy of Burgundy]] until 1477 when it fell to the [[House of Habsburg]]. In 1713, at the end of the [[Spanish Succession War]] the region became part of the [[Austrian Netherlands]] until 1794, with in 1790 the short lived [[United States of Belgium]]. On 1 October 1795 the former Austrian Netherlands were annexed by France under the [[French Directory]].

The modern province was created as the ''[[Deux-Nèthes|Department of the two Netes]]'' during the [[First French Empire]] (when the [[Southern Netherlands]] were part of France). After the defeat of [[Napoleon]], the territory became part of the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] as the province of '''Central Brabant''', distinguishing it from [[North Brabant]] and [[Province of Brabant|South Brabant]]. In 1830, after [[Belgian Revolution|Belgium's independence]] the province was renamed Antwerp (after its major city and capital).

===Prefects from 1800 until 1814===
Prefects of the [[Deux-Nèthes|Department of the two Netes]] during the [[First French Empire]]
* [[Marquis]] [[Charles Joseph Fortuné d'Herbouville]] (1800–1805)
* [[Charles Cochon]] (1805–1808)
* [[Marc René Marie de Voyer d'Argenson]] (1809–1813)
* [[Baron]] [[Jacques Fortunat de Savoye-Rollin]] (1813–1814)

===Governors from 1815 until 1830===
Governors of the province of Antwerp during the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]]
* [[Charles&ndash;Louis van Keverberg van Kessel]] (1815–1817)
* [[Pierre Joseph Pycke]] (1817–1820)
* [[Leonard Pierre Joseph du Bus de Gisignies]] (1820–1823)
* [[André Charles Membrede]] (1823–1828)
* [[Edmond Charles Giullaume Ghislain de la Coste]] (1828–1829)
* [[Alexandre François Ghislain van der Fosse]] (1830)

===Governors since 1830===
Governors of the Belgian province of Antwerp 
*[[François de Robiano]] (1830–1831)
*[[Jean-François Tielemans]] (1831)
*[[Charles Rogier]] (1831–1832 and 1834–1840)
*[[Henri de Brouckère]] (1840–1844)
*[[Jules Malou]] (1844–1845)
*[[Jan Teichmann]] (1845–1862)
*[[Edward Pycke d'Ideghem]] (1862–1887)
*[[Charles du Bois de Vroylande]] (1887–1888)
*[[Edward Osy de Zegwaart]] (1889–1900)
*[[Fredegand Cogels]] (1900–1907)
*[[Louis de Brouchoven de Bergeyck]] (1907–1908)
*[[Ferdinand de Baillet-Latour]] (1908–1912)
*[[Gaston van de Werve de Schilde]] (1912–1923)
*[[Georges Holvoet]] (1923–1945)
*[[Richard Declerck]] (1946–1966)
*[[Andries Kinsbergen]] (1967–1993)
*[[Camille Paulus]] (1993–2008)
*[[Cathy Berx]] (since 2008)

===Population===
* 1846: 406,354
* 1856: 434,485
* 1866: 456,607
* 1880: 577,232
* 1890: 700,019
* 1900: 819,159
* 1910: 968,677
* 1920: 1,016,963
* 1930: 1,173,363
* 1947: 1,281,333
* 2008: 1,715,707
* 2010: 1,744,862