Hainaut Province in the context of "Frameries"

Soignies (French pronunciation: [swaɲi] ; Dutch: Zinnik, pronounced [ˈzɪnɪk]; Picard: Sougniye; Walloon: Sougniye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

It consists of the following districts: Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies and Thieusies. Casteau is known worldwide because SHAPE, the military headquarters of NATO, has been based at the village since 1967.

Tournai (/tʊərˈneɪ/ toor-NAY, French: [tuʁnɛ] ; Picard: Tornai; Walloon: Tornè [tɔʀnɛ] ; Dutch: Doornik [ˈdoːrnɪk] , sometimes anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies 89 km (55 mi) by road southwest of the centre of Brussels on the river Scheldt, and is part of Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai, In 2022, the municipality of Tournai had an estimated population of 68,518 people.

Tournai is one of the oldest cities in Belgium and has played an important role in the country's cultural history. It was the first capital of the Frankish Empire, with Clovis I being born here.

Naast (Walloon: Nåsse) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Soignies, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium, known by the wellspring of the river Zenne.

Its population continued to increase throughout the nineteenth century. In 1972 a city was built to address the housing crisis but also to maintain a young population in Naast who tended to emigrate.

Mons (French: [mɔ̃s] ; German and Dutch: Bergen, Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɛrɣə(n)] ; Walloon and Picard: Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. The population grew quickly, trade flourished, and several commercial buildings were erected near the Grand-Place. In 1814, King William I of the Netherlands increased the fortifications, following the fall of the First French Empire. The Industrial Revolution and coal mining made Mons a centre of heavy industry. In 1830, Belgium gained its independence and the decision was made to dismantle the fortifications, allowing the creation of large boulevards and other urban projects. In 1914, Mons was the location of the Battle of Mons. The British were forced to retreat by a numerically superior German force and the town remained occupied by the Germans until its liberation by the Canadian Corps during the final days of the war. There are several memorial placards related to the World War I battles.

Namur (French: [namyʁ] ; Walloon: Nameur; Dutch: Namen [ˈnaːmə(n)] ) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French department of Ardennes. Its capital and largest city is the city of Namur. As of January 2024, the province of Namur has a population of about 0.5 million.

Flemish Brabant (Dutch: Vlaams-Brabant [ˌvlaːmz ˈbraːbɑnt] ; French: Brabant flamand [bʁabɑ̃ flamɑ̃] ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven. It has an area of 2,118 km (818 sq mi) which is divided into two administrative districts (arrondissementen in Dutch) containing 65 municipalities. As of January 2024, Flemish Brabant had a population of over 1.19 million.

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

Nord-Pas-de-Calais (French pronunciation: [nɔʁ pɑ d(ə) kalɛ] ; Picard: Nord-Pas-Calés; West Flemish: Nôord-Nauw van Kales) was a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais bordered the English Channel (west), the North Sea (northwest), Belgium (north and east), and Picardy (south). Until the 17th century, the history of the North was largely shared with the history of Belgium (the Celtic Belgians during Antiquity were a multitude of Celtic peoples from the north of Gaul), that of a land that "for almost a thousand years served as a battlefield for all of Europe."

The majority of the region was once part of the historical Southern Netherlands, but gradually became part of France between 1477 and 1678, particularly during the reign of King Louis XIV. The historical French provinces that preceded Nord-Pas-de-Calais are Artois, French Flanders, French Hainaut, and (partially) Picardy (part of Hainaut and Flanders is in the Kingdom of Belgium). These provincial designations are still frequently used by the inhabitants. The former administrative region was created in 1956 under the name "Nord" and maintained that name until 1972, when "Pas-de-Calais" was added. This remained unchanged until its dissolution in 2016.

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).