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North Brabant Print E-mail

North Brabant (Dutch: Noord-Brabant) is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River (Maas) in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west. [hotels]

 

Until the 17th century, the area that now makes up the province of North Brabant was mostly part of the Duchy of Brabant, of which the southern part is now in present-day Belgium. In the 14th and 15th century, the area experienced a golden age, especially the cities of Leuven (Louvain), Antwerp (both now in Belgium), Breda and 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc).

After the Union of Utrecht was signed in 1579, Brabant became a battlefield between the Protestant Dutch Republic and Catholic Spain, which occupied the southern Netherlands. As a result of the Peace of Westphalia, the northern part of Brabant became part of the Netherlands as the territory of Staats-Brabant. (State Brabant) Under federal rule (the founding provinces of the Dutch Republic were self-governing).

Attempts to preach Protestantism failed, and the area served mainly as a military buffer zone. In 1796, when the Netherlands became the Batavian Republic, Staats-Brabant became a province as Bataafs Brabant. This status ended with the reorganisation by the French, and the area was divided over several departments.

In 1815, Belgium and the Netherlands were united in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the province of North Brabant was established, in order to distinguish it from South Brabant, in present-day Belgium, which separated from the Kingdom in 1830. This boundary between the Netherlands and Belgium is special in that it does not form a contiguous line, but there are a handful of tiny enclaves (and enclaves inside enclaves) on both sides of the border, such as Baarle-Hertog. When the province was founded, its territory was expanded with a part of the province of Holland and the former territory of Ravenstein which had previously belonged to the Duchy of Cleves, as well as several small, formerly autonomous entities.

From the end of the 19th century, the province has grown increasingly industrialised. Textile production was centred in Tilburg and Helmond, while the town of Eindhoven has grown to the country's 5th large city thanks to the Philips and Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (DAF) companies.

Municipalities
North Brabant is currently divided into 68 municipalities. Traditionally, almost every town was a separate municipality, but their number was reduced greatly in the 1990s by incorporating smaller towns into neighbouring cities or by other mergers. The municipalities in North Brabant are:

Aalburg
Alphen-Chaam
Asten
Baarle-Nassau
Bergeijk
Bergen op Zoom
Bernheze
Berkel-Enschot
Best
Bladel
Boekel
Boxmeer
Boxtel
Breda
Cranendonck
Cuijk
Deurne
Dongen
Drimmelen
Eersel
Eindhoven
Etten-Leur
Geertruidenberg
Geldrop-Mierlo
Gemert-Bakel
Gilze en Rijen
Goirle
Grave
Haaren
Halderberge
Heeze-Leende
Helmond
's-Hertogenbosch
Heusden
Hilvarenbeek
Laarbeek
Landerd
Lith
Loon op Zand
Maasdonk
Mill en Sint Hubert
Moerdijk
Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten
Oirschot
Oisterwijk
Oosterhout
Oss
Reusel-De Mierden
Roosendaal
Rucphen
Schijndel
Sint Anthonis
Sint-Michielsgestel
Sint-Oedenrode
Someren
Son en Breugel
Steenbergen
Tilburg
Uden
Valkenswaard
Veghel
Veldhoven
Vught
Waalre
Waalwijk
Werkendam
Woensdrecht
Woudrichem
Zundert

 

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