Editing Walloon Brabant

{{Short description|Province in Wallonia, Belgium}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name               = Walloon Brabant
| native_name        = {{native name|fr|Brabant wallon}}<br/>{{native name|wa|Roman Payis}}
| native_name_lang   = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| settlement_type    = [[Provinces of Belgium|Province of Belgium]]
| image_flag         = Walloon-brabant flag.png
| flag_size          = 120x80px
| image_shield       = Waals Brabant-Wapen.png
| shield_size        = 100x90px
| coordinates        = {{Coord|50|40|N|04|35|E|region:BE-WBR_type:adm2nd|display=inline,title}}
| image_map          = Province du Brabant wallon in Belgium.svg
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{BEL}}
| subdivision_type1  = Region
| subdivision_name1  = {{BE-WAL}}
| seat_type          = Capital
| seat               = [[Wavre]]
| seat1_type         = Largest town
| seat1              = [[Braine-l'Alleud]]
| leader_title       = Governor
| leader_name        = [[Gilles Mahieu]]
| area_total_km2     = 1097
| area_footnotes     = <ref>{{cite web | url=https://bestat.statbel.fgov.be/bestat/crosstable.xhtml?view=90c1e218-dc4f-4827-824d-9b25abfefe59 | title=Be.STAT }}</ref>
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web | url=https://statbel.fgov.be/nl/themas/bevolking/structuur-van-de-bevolking | title=Structuur van de bevolking &#124; Statbel }}</ref>
| population_total   = 414,130
| population_as_of   = 1 January 2024
| population_density_km2 = auto
| demographics_type1 = GDP
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web | url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tgs00003/default/table?lang=en | title=EU regions by GDP, Eurostat|access-date=18 September 2023}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1 = Total
| demographics1_info1 = €21.155 billion (2021)
| blank_name_sec2    = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2021)
| blank_info_sec2    = 0.951<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/BEL/?levels=1%2B4&interpolation=1&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&years=2019}}</ref><br/>{{color|green|very high}} · [[List of Belgian provinces by Human Development Index|2nd]]
| iso_code           = BE-WBR
| website            = {{URL|http://www.brabantwallon.be/|Official site}}
| image_blank_emblem = Walloon Brabant.svg
| blank_emblem_type  = [[Brandmark]]
| blank_emblem_size  = 120px
}}

'''Walloon Brabant''' ({{langx|fr|Brabant wallon}} {{IPA|fr|bʁabɑ̃ walɔ̃||LL-Q150 (fra)-Madehub-Brabant wallon.wav}}; {{langx|nl|Waals-Brabant}} {{IPA|nl|ˌʋaːlz ˈbraːbɑnt||Nl-Waals-Brabant.ogg}}; {{langx|wa|Roman Payis}}) is a [[Provinces of regions in Belgium|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 the provinces of [[Liège Province|Liège]], [[Namur Province|Namur]] and [[Hainaut Province|Hainaut]]. Walloon Brabant's [[Capital city|capital]] is [[Wavre]]; however, the municipality of [[Braine-l'Alleud]] is slightly more populous.

The provincial population was recorded at about 414,000 as of January 2024, and an area of 1,097 square kilometres (424 sq mi).

==Etymology==
Walloon is a Belgian version of an old [[West Germanic]] word reconstructed as *walh (“foreigner, stranger, speaker of Celtic or Latin”). Brabant is from Old Dutch *brākbant (attested in Medieval Latin as pāgus brācbatensis, Bracbantum, Bracbantia), from Frankish, a compound of Proto-Germanic *brēk-, *brekaną (“fallow, originally 'to break'”) + *bant-, *bantō, *banti (“district, region”)

Like the terms "Belgium" and "Flanders", the terms "Walloon" and "Brabant" are much older than the modern political entities which they represent today, but were already being used in the region when political boundaries were different. For example, Louis de Haynin wrote as follows in 1628:<ref>Louis de Haynin, ''Histoire générale des guerres de [[Savoy|Savoie]], de [[Bohemia|Bohême]], du [[Electoral Palatinate|Palatinat]] et des Pays-Bas 1616-1627 par le seigneur Du Cornet, Gentilhomme belgeois'', avec une introduction et des notes par A.L.P. de Robaulx de Soumoy, Bruxelles, 1868, First published in 1628, pp. 6-7. French: ''La Belge selon qu'elle est, pour le présent, est un grand pays entre la [[France]], l'[[Germany|Allemagne]], et la mer Océane […] Elle se my-partit ordinairement en deux régions presque esgalles, c'est à scavoir en belge wallonne et belge [[German language|allemande]] ou [[Flemish dialects|flamande]], selon aucuns. La Wallonne a pour provinces l'[[Artois]], [[Lille]], [[Douai|Douay]] et [[Orchies]] autrement dite Flandre gauloise ou walonne: [[Cambrésis|Cambresis]], [[Tournai|Tournesis]], [[County of Hainaut|Haynaut]] et l'Estat de [[Valenciènnes|Vallencennes]], [[Namur]], Lothier ou Brabant wallon, [[Duchy of Luxembourg|Luxembourgues]] et [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège|Liège]]. [...] La Wallonne, suyvant la plus commune opinion, auroit esté ainsi nommée à raison de son langage françois...''</ref>
:The Belgian [region (''contrée'' or ''province'')] is a large country (''pays'') between [[France]], [[Germany]] and the [[North Sea]]. This country is typically divided into two regions [''régions''] which are about equal, which is to say, Belgian Wallonia and Belgian, or according to some, Flemish Germany [''belge wallonne et belge allemagne ou flamande, selons aucun'']."

De Haynin noted that the distinction people made in his time between Walloon and German or Flemish Belgium was apparently based upon language, with the Walloons speaking French, and the others speaking what he described as a type of [[Low German]] (''un bas alleman'') which people, especially foreigners, referred to as Flemish. Among the provinces within these two large Belgian regions he contrasted "[[French Flanders|French or Walloon Flanders]]", now largely within France, with the rest of "[[County of Flanders|Flanders]]", and "[[Lothier]] or Walloon Brabant (''brabant wallon'')" with the larger "German or Flemish" part of Brabant, which at that time stretched into what is now the [[Netherlands]].{{cn|date=April 2025}} Note that for de Haynin and his contemporaries "Belgium" was much larger than modern Belgium, corresponding to the old [[Burgundian Netherlands]] and its associated church-ruled principalities. "Belgium" therefore included all of the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and a part of France. In contrast, the term "Flanders" could be used for a smaller region than today, equivalent to the region once dominated by the [[County of Flanders]], near the [[North Sea]].{{cn|date=April 2025}} As already noted, de Haynin himself used the adjective "Flemish" to refer to the [[Dutch language]], including dialects outside the old Flemish region, but he noted that the term "Flemish" was now being used to cover a bigger area than it originally applied to, because of the prestige of the old medieval county, which was also well-known to foreigners.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

== History ==
{{See also|Duchy of Brabant|Duke of Brabant}}

The [[Battle of Waterloo]] took place in this province in June 1815.

Walloon Brabant was created in 1995 when the former [[Province of Brabant]] was split into three parts: two new provinces, Walloon Brabant and Flemish Brabant; and the [[Brussels Capital Region]], which no longer belongs to any province. The split was made to accommodate the federalisation of Belgium in three regions ([[Flanders]], [[Wallonia]] and Brussels).

==Subdivisions==
[[File:Municipalities Brabant-Wallon Belgium Map - Number.svg|350px|right]]
It has an area of {{Convert|1097|km2}} and contains only one [[Arrondissements of Belgium|administrative district]] (''arrondissement'' in [[French language|French]]), the [[arrondissement of Nivelles]], with 27 municipalities.

Nivelles District:
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
# [[Beauvechain]] (Bevekom)
# [[Braine-l'Alleud]] (Eigenbrakel)
# [[Braine-le-Château]] (Kasteelbrakel)
# [[Chastre]]
# [[Chaumont-Gistoux]]
# [[Court-Saint-Étienne]]
# [[Genappe]] (Genepiën)
# [[Grez-Doiceau]] (Graven)
# [[Hélécine]] (Heilissem / Heylissem)
# [[Incourt, Belgium|Incourt]]
# [[Ittre]] (Itter)
# [[Jodoigne]] (Geldenaken)
# [[La Hulpe]] (Terhulpen)
# [[Lasne]]
# [[Mont-Saint-Guibert]]
# [[Nivelles]] (Nijvel)
# [[Orp-Jauche]]
# [[Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve]]
# [[Perwez]] (Perwijs)
# [[Ramillies, Belgium|Ramillies]]
# [[Rebecq]]
# [[Rixensart]]
# [[Tubize]] (Tubeke)
# [[Villers-la-Ville]]
# [[Walhain]]
# [[Waterloo, Belgium|Waterloo]]
# [[Wavre]] (Waver)
}}
[[File:Braine-L'Alleud - Butte du Lion dite de Waterloo.jpg|thumb|The [[Butte du Lion]] in [[Waterloo, Belgium|Waterloo]]]]
[[File:Belgium, Nijvel, Main Church.JPG|thumb|The Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude in [[Nivelles]]]]
[[File:Vueaerienne2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park]], aerial view]]

==Economy==
The regional [[Gross domestic product]] (GDP) of the province was 19.3 billion € in 2018, accounting for only 4.2% of Belgium's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €42,300 in the same year, equivalent to 140% of the EU27 average. GDP per person employed was still higher, at 157% of the EU27 average. Compared to other Belgian provinces, Walloon Brabant is thus relatively small, but it is the wealthiest. The other four Walloon provinces to Brabant's south all have a significantly lower GDP per capita, none being above €30,000 in 2018. This wealth is at least partly due to the economy of the neighbouring capital city region of Brussels, which is not a province, because many residents of Walloon Brabant are employed there. For comparison, Brussels had a GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power of €61,300, equivalent to 203% of the EU average, but unlike Walloon Brabant it is significantly lower, at 161%, when calculated per person employed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/10474907/1-05032020-AP-EN.pdf/81807e19-e4c8-2e53-c98a-933f5bf30f58|title=Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018|website=Eurostat}}</ref>

Historically the greater Walloon region was one of the earliest regions of industrialization, mainly concentrated in the so-called ''[[Sillon industriel]]'', which is to the south of Walloon Brabant. There was also steel production in [[Clabecq]] in Walloon Brabant, which is still operating. The [[Ronquières inclined plane]] on the [[Brussels-Charleroi Canal]] which passes through the province, connects canal traffic between [[Charleroi]], one of the main cities of the ''Sillon industriel'', with Brussels and the [[Port of Antwerp]], to the north of Walloon Brabant.

Today, the [[UCLouvain|University of Louvain]] (UCLouvain) is located in Walloon Brabant. The [[Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park]] is developing cooperation between industry and UCLouvain and is contributing to regional economic development.  It covers 231 hectares spread over the area of the town of [[Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve]] and the municipality of [[Mont-Saint-Guibert]] (30&nbsp;km away from [[Brussels]]). The main areas of activity are life sciences, fine chemistry, information technologies and engineering. The park is made up of 135 innovative companies, 4,500 employees, and the university's [[business incubator]].

[[Piétrain]] is a breed of [[domestic pig]] taking its name from ''Piétrain'', a little village of [[Jodoigne]] in Walloon Brabant.

The most important town of this province is [[Nivelles]], which has the [[Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude]] and its westwork.

In [[Rixensart]], the company [[Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques]] (changed to ''GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals'' in 2000) is one of the world's leading vaccine manufacturers, supplying around 25% of the world's vaccines: GSK Biologicals employs a little over 5,300 persons on the Walloon sites of [[Rixensart]], [[Wavre]] and [[Gembloux]]. The company distributes 36 doses of vaccines every second.<ref>''Dynamisme wallon'', review of the [[Union Wallonne des Entreprises]], Décembre 2007</ref>

The castle of ''Corroy-le-Château'', one of the best conserved castles of this period in Northern Europe was bought by 21st-century Flemish artist [[Wim Delvoye]] for EUR 3.3 million. He is planning to convert the Corroy-le-Château into a museum of modern art.<ref>[http://www.expatica.com/be/articles/news/Belgian-artist-buys-castle-for-EUR-3_3m.html "Belgian artist buys castle for EUR 3.3m"], Expatica.com 2008-09-24</ref>

==Twin towns and sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Belgium}}

Walloon Brabant is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:
*{{flagicon|PRC}} [[Shenzhen]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], since 1993<ref>[http://www.szfao.gov.cn/zwgk/wsz/201103/t20110322_1645217.htm 友好城市 (Friendly cities)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719025116/http://www.szfao.gov.cn/zwgk/wsz/201103/t20110322_1645217.htm |date=2014-07-19 }}, 市外办 (Foreign Affairs Office), 2008-03-22. (Translation by [[Google Translate]].)</ref><ref>[http://www.szfao.gov.cn/ygwl/yxyc/ycgy/201101/t20110120_1631663.htm 国际友好城市一览表 (International Friendship Cities List)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113092638/http://www.szfao.gov.cn/ygwl/yxyc/ycgy/201101/t20110120_1631663.htm |date=2013-11-13 }}, 2011-01-20. (Translation by [[Google Translate]].)</ref><ref>[http://www.szfao.gov.cn/ygwl/yxyc/yhjl/ 友好交流 (Friendly exchanges)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112101846/http://www.szfao.gov.cn/ygwl/yxyc/yhjl/ |date=2014-11-12 }}, 2011-09-13. (Translation by [[Google Translate]].)</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19980423200123/http://www.brabantwallon.be/ The province's official site]

{{Subdivisions of Belgium}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Walloon Brabant| ]]
[[Category:Brabant]]
[[Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union]]
[[Category:Provinces of Wallonia]]