Buggenhout

Buggenhout
Municipality

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Coat of arms
Buggenhout

Location in Belgium

Coordinates: 51°00′N 04°12′E / 51.000°N 4.200°E / 51.000; 4.200Coordinates: 51°00′N 04°12′E / 51.000°N 4.200°E / 51.000; 4.200
Country Belgium
Community Flemish Community
Region Flemish Region
Province East Flanders
Arrondissement Dendermonde
Government
  Mayor Tom Van Herreweghe (NCD)
  Governing party/ies NCD, BAL, SP.A, VLD
Area
  Total 25.25 km2 (9.75 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2013)[1]
  Total 14,237
  Density 560/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Postal codes 9255
Area codes 052
Website www.buggenhout.be

Buggenhout (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbʏɣənɦʌu̯t]) is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Buggenhout proper, Briel, Opdorp, and Opstal. On December 31, 2013, Buggenhout had a total population of 14,444. The total area is 25.25 square kilometres, which gives a population density of 572 inhabitants per square kilometre. The current mayor of Buggenhout is Tom Van Herreweghe, from the (local) NCD party.

Buggenhout is also known for its forest, the "Buggenhout Bos", which is the largest forest of East Flanders.

In Opdorp lays the geographic centre of Flanders.

Buggenhout has two breweries, Bosteels Brewery (known for the "Tripel Karmeliet", "Deus" (a champagne beer), "Kwak") and De Landtsheer, now called Brouwerij Malheur (known for "Malheur").

Etymology

The original meaning of the name is "beechwood" or "beech forest" (in modern Dutch: Beukenhout). The name is derived from the Middle Dutch Bucghenhout from Old Dutch Bukenholt. Buken comes from Proto-Germanic *bokjon (Modern Dutch: beuken, Old English: becen (beechs)), holt from *hulta (Modern Dutch: hout (bos), Old English: holt (forest)). Buggenhout still contains a small forested area called Buggenhoutbos.

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This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, November 04, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.