The 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region[1][2] are the political subdivisions of Belgium's central region.[3] The government of each municipality is responsible for the handling of local level duties, such as law enforcement and the upkeep of schools and roads within its borders.[4] Municipal administration is also conducted by a mayor, a council, and an executive.[4]
In 1831, Belgium was divided into 2,739 municipalities, including 20 within the current Brussels-Capital Region (which at that time did not exist).[5] In 1841, a 21st and 22nd municipality were created when Berchem-Sainte-Agathe formally separated from neighbouring Koekelberg and Jette-Ganshoren split into Jette and Ganshoren. Since then, three municipalities have been merged with the City of Brussels: Laeken, Haren, and Neder-Over-Heembeek, in 1921. Unlike most of the municipalities in Belgium, the ones located in the Brussels-Capital Region were not merged with others during mergers occurring in 1964, 1970, and 1975.[5] However, many territorial changes have occurred, predominantly between the City of Brussels and its neighbouring municipalities.
The largest and most populous of the municipalities is the City of Brussels, covering 32.6 km2 (12.6 sq mi) with 176,545 inhabitants. The least populous is Koekelberg with 21,609 inhabitants, and the smallest in area is Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, which is only 1.1 km2 (0.4 sq mi) and also has the highest population density, at 24,650/km2 (63,800/sq mi). Watermael-Boitsfort has the lowest population density, at 1,928/km2 (4,990/sq mi).
List
The names of the municipalities are given in the two official languages of the Brussels-Capital Region: French and Dutch.
^"The Belgian Constitution (English version)"(PDF). Belgian House of Representatives. January 2009. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2009-06-05. Article 3: Belgium comprises three Regions: the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels Region. Article 4: Belgium comprises four linguistic regions: the Dutch-speaking region, the French speaking region, the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital and the German-speaking region.
^"Brussels-Capital Region: Creation". Centre d'Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise (Brussels Regional Informatics Center). 2009. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-05. Since 18 June 1989, the date of the first regional elections, the Brussels-Capital Region has been an autonomous region comparable to the Flemish and Walloon Regions. (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.)
