Hainaut, Province de

Hainaut, a province in southwestern Belgium, stretches northeastward from the French border and is watered by three rivers, the Schelde, the Dender, and the Sambre. Occupied successively by the Celtic-German tribe of the Nervii, the Romans, and the Merovingians, the province was part of the great medieval county of Hainaut, which at its peak was larger than all of modern Belgium. After centuries of rule by Holland, the area was taken by France and held by it from 1659. It passed to the Netherlands in 1814, whence it passed to Belgium in 1831. The land is rich in agricultural land and coal, and industries include coal mining, steel, textiles, chemicals, glass, wire and machine tools. The province boasts of over 100 castles. It has an area of 1,462 square miles and its 2003 estimated population was 1,284,700.