Escaut (department)

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Escaut is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Belgium and Netherlands. It is named after the river Scheldt (Escaut in French). It was formed in 1795, when the Southern Netherlands were annexed by France. Before the occupation, the territory was part of the county of Flanders and the United Provinces (Staats-Vlaanderen).

Its capital was Ghent. The département was subdivided into the following arrondissements and cantons:

• Ghent, cantons: Deinze, Evergem, Gent, Kruishoutem, Lochristi, Nazareth, Nevele, Oosterzele, Waarschoot and Zomergem.
• Dendermonde, cantons: Aalst, Beveren, Dendermonde, Hamme, Lokeren, Sint-Gillis-Waas, Sint-Niklaas, Temse, Wetteren and Zele.
• Eeklo, cantons: Assenede, Axel, Eeklo, Hulst, IJzendijke, Kaprijke, Oostburg and Sluis.
• Oudenaarde, cantons: Brakel, Geraardsbergen, Herzele, Ninove, Oudenaarde, Ronse, Sint-Maria-Horebeke and Zottegem.

After Napoleon was defeated in 1814, the département became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its territory corresponds with the present Belgian province East Flanders and the Dutch region Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.