Flemish Brabant in the context of "Wilsele"

Leuven (UK: /ˈlɜːvən/, US: /ˈlʌvən/, Dutch: [ˈløːvə(n)] ), also called Louvain (/luːˈvæ̃/, US also /luːˈveɪn/, French: [luvɛ̃] ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of Heverlee, Kessel-Lo, Leuven proper, Wilsele, Wijgmaal and part of Haasrode and Korbeek-Lo. It is the eighth largest city in Belgium, with more than 100,244 inhabitants.

Leuven has been a university city since 1425. This makes it the oldest university city in the Low Countries. KU Leuven, the largest Dutch-speaking university in the world and the largest university in the Low Countries (and thus also Belgium's largest university), has its flagship campus in Leuven.

Liège (/liˈɛʒ, liˈeɪʒ/ lee-EZH, lee-AYZH; French: [ljɛʒ] ; Walloon: Lîdje [liːtʃ]; Dutch: Luik [lœyk] ; German: Lüttich [ˈlʏtɪç] ) is the easternmost province of Wallonia, the primarily French-speaking region of Belgium.

Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Dutch province of Limburg, the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, the Luxembourgish canton of Clervaux, the Belgian Walloon (French-speaking) provinces of Luxembourg, Namur and Walloon Brabant and the Belgian Flemish (Dutch-speaking) provinces of Flemish Brabant and Limburg.

Hainaut, historically also known as Heynault in English, is the westernmost province of Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium.

To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clockwise from the north) on the Flemish provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant and the Walloon provinces of Walloon Brabant and Namur.

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 Kingdom of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, Brussels, does not belong to any province, nor is it subdivided into provinces. Instead, it has amalgamated both regional and provincial functions into a single "Capital Region" administration.

Most of the provinces take their name from earlier duchies and counties of similar location, while their territory is mostly based on the departments installed during French annexation. At the time of the creation of Belgium in 1830, only nine provinces existed, including the province of Brabant, which held the City of Brussels. In 1995, Brabant was split into three areas: Flemish Brabant, which became a part of the region of Flanders; Walloon Brabant, which became part of the region of Wallonia; and the Brussels-Capital Region, which became a third region. These divisions reflected political tensions between the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish; the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual.

The Dyle (French: [dil]; Dutch: Dijle [ˈdɛilə]) is a river in central Belgium, left tributary of the Rupel. It is 86 kilometres (53 mi) long. It flows through the Belgian provinces of Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Its source is in Houtain-le-Val, near Nivelles in Walloon Brabant.

The most important cities along the Dyle are (starting from the source) Ottignies, Wavre, Leuven and Mechelen, the last of which is often called the 'Dijlestad' (Dyle City). The main tributaries of the Dyle are the rivers Demer (in Werchter, Rotselaar municipality), and the Zenne at the Zennegat, on the farthest outskirts of Mechelen, where the canal Leuven-Mechelen also connects. A few hundred metres downstream, the confluence of the Dyle and the Nete at Rumst forms the river Rupel, which 12 kilometres (7 mi) further comes into the Scheldt on which the Antwerp seaport is located.

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.

The Antwerp Province (/ˈæntwɜːrp/; Dutch: Provincie Antwerpen [proːˈvɪnsi ˈɑntʋɛrpə(n)]; French: Province d'Anvers; German: Provinz Antwerpen), between 1815 and 1830 known as Central Brabant (Dutch: Midden-Brabant [ˌmɪdə(m)ˈbraːbɑnt], French: Brabant-Central, German: Mittel-Brabant), is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the North Brabant province of the Netherlands to the north and the Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders. Its capital is Antwerp, which includes the Port of Antwerp, the second-largest seaport in Europe. It has an area of 2,876 km (1,110 sq mi), and with over 1.92 million inhabitants as of January 2024, is the country's most populous province. The province consists of three arrondissements: Antwerp, Mechelen and Turnhout. The eastern part of the province comprises the main part of the Campine region.

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.

Heverlee (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦeːvərleː] ) is a sub-municipality of the city of Leuven located in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1977. On 1 January 1977, it was merged into Leuven. According to the official website of Leuven, Haasrode is a part of Heverlee.

Heverlee is the location of the Heverlee War Cemetery for Commonwealth casualties from the Second World War.

Kessel-Lo (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkɛsəˌloː]) is a sub-municipality of the city of Leuven located in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1977. On 1 January 1977, it was merged into Leuven.

Wijgmaal (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɛixmaːl]) is a village of the city of Leuven located in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region, Belgium. Before the fusion of the Belgian municipalities in 1977, it was a part of the municipality of Herent. On 1 January 1977, it was merged into Leuven. Wijgmaal has never been a municipality, but in some sources, Wijgmaal is mentioned as a "deelgemeente" (sub-municipality).

Walloon Brabant (French: Brabant wallon [bʁabɑ̃ walɔ̃] ; Dutch: Waals-Brabant [ˌʋaːlz ˈbraːbɑnt] ; Walloon: Roman Payis) is a 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, Namur and Hainaut. Walloon Brabant's 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).

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: