Antwerp (province) in the context of "Dyle (river)"

Duffel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdʏfəl] ) is a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp.

The municipality comprises the town of Duffel proper. On 1 January 2020, Duffel had a total population of 17,664. The total area is 22.71 km which gives a population density of 778 inhabitants per km.

Limburg (Dutch: Limburg, pronounced [ˈlɪmbʏr(ə)x] ; Limburgish: Limburg [ˈlɪm˦ˌbʏʀ˦əx] or Wes-Limburg [wæsˈlɪm˦ˌbʏʀ˦əx]; French: Limbourg, pronounced [lɛ̃buʁ] ), also known as Belgian Limburg, is a province in Belgium. It is the easternmost of the five Dutch-speaking provinces that together form the Region of Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern-day Belgium. As of January 2024, Limburg had a population of 0.9 million.

Limburg is located west of the Meuse (Dutch: Maas), which separates it from the similarly named Dutch province of Limburg. To the south it shares a border with the French-speaking province of Liège, with which it also has historical ties. To the north and west are the old territories of the Duchy of Brabant. Today these are the Flemish provinces of Flemish Brabant and Antwerp to the west, and the Dutch province of North Brabant to the north. Historically Belgian Limburg is roughly equivalent to the Dutch-speaking part of the secular lordship of the medieval Prince-Bishopric of Liège, which was dominated by the County of Loon.

The Dyle plan or Plan D was the plan of the commander-in-chief of the French Army, Général d'armée Maurice Gamelin, to defeat a German attempt to invade France through Belgium. The Dyle (Dijle) river is 86 km (53 mi) long, from Houtain-le-Val through Flemish Brabant and Antwerp; Gamelin intended French, British and Belgian troops to halt a German invasion force along the line of the river. The Franco-Belgian Accord of 1920 had co-ordinated communication and fortification efforts of both armies. After the German Remilitarization of the Rhineland on 7 March 1936, the Belgian government abrogated the accord and substituted a policy of strict neutrality, now that the German Army (Heer) was on the German–Belgian border.

French doubts about the Belgian Army led to uncertainty about whether French troops could move fast enough into Belgium to avoid an encounter battle and fight a defensive battle from prepared positions. The Escaut plan/Plan E and Dyle plan/Plan D were devised for a forward defence in Belgium, along with a possible deployment on the French–Belgian border to Dunkirk. Gamelin chose the Escaut plan, then substituted Plan D for an advance to the line of the Dyle, which was 43–50 mi (70–80 km) shorter. Some officers at Grand Quartier Général (GQG, general headquarters of the French Army) doubted that the French Army could arrive before the Germans.

North Brabant (Dutch: Noord-Brabant [ˌnoːrd ˈbraːbɑnt] ; Brabantian: Broabant [ˈbrɑːban]), also unofficially called Brabant or Dutch Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the west, and Belgium's provinces of Antwerp and Limburg to the south. The northern border follows the Meuse westward to its mouth in the Hollands Diep strait, part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta.

North Brabant had a population of about 2,626,000 as of January 2023. Major cities in North Brabant are Eindhoven (pop. 231,642), Tilburg (pop. 217,259), Breda (pop. 183,873), its provincial capital 's-Hertogenbosch (pop. 154,205), and Helmond (pop. 94,967). The province has the third-largest economy of all Dutch provinces, after North Holland and South Holland. The agricultural and horticultural sectors are traditionally strong, as is forestry.

East Flanders (Dutch: Oost-Vlaanderen [ˌoːst ˈflaːndərə(n)] ; French: Flandre-Orientale [flɑ̃dʁ ɔʁjɑ̃tal] ; German: Ostflandern [ˈɔstˌflandɐn] ; West Flemish: Ôost-Vloandern) is a province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut and West Flanders. It has an area of 3,007 km (1,161 sq mi), divided into six administrative districts containing 60 municipalities, and a population of over 1.57 million as of January 2024. The capital is Ghent, home to the Ghent University and the Port of Ghent.

Brabantian or Brabantish, also Brabantic or Brabantine (Dutch: Brabants, Standard Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbraːbɑnts] , Brabantian pronunciation: [ˈbrɑːbans]), is a dialect group of the Dutch language. It is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant, which corresponded mainly to the Dutch province of North Brabant, the Belgian provinces of Antwerp and Flemish Brabant as well as the Brussels-Capital Region (Brusselian; where its native speakers have become a minority) and the province of Walloon Brabant. Brabantian expands into small parts in the west of Limburg, and its strong influence on the Flemish dialects in East Flanders weakens toward the west. In a small area in the northwest of North Brabant (Willemstad), Hollandic is spoken. Conventionally, the Kleverlandish dialects are distinguished from Brabantian, but for no reason other than geography.

Over the relatively-large area in which it is spoken, Brabantian can be roughly divided into three subdialects, all of which differ in some aspects:

Geel (Dutch pronunciation: [ɣeːl] ) is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which acquired city status in the 1980s. It comprises Central-Geel which is composed of four old parishes or towns: Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum. Further on around the center are the parish-towns of Ten Aard (N), Bel (E), Winkelomheide (SE), Stelen, Oosterlo and Zammel (S), Punt (SW) and Larum (W). In 2021, Geel had a total population of 40,781. The total area is 109.85 km (42 sq mi). Geel’s patron saint, the Irish Saint Dymphna, inspired the town’s pioneering de-institutionalized method of care for the mentally ill.

Sint-Katelijne-Waver (Dutch pronunciation: [sɪnt kaːtəˌlɛinə ˈʋaːvər], old spelling: Kathelijne-Waver; French: Wavre-Sainte-Catherine, French pronunciation: [wavʁ sɛ̃t katʁin]) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver and Sint-Katelijne-Waver proper. In 2021, Sint-Katelijne-Waver had a total population of 21,197. The total area is 36.12 km. Roosendael, a ruined relic of a cistercian abbey is situated here and today hosts a youth and touristic centre with pleasant walkways.