WikiProject Belgium/Conventions/Places

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WikiProject Belgium +/-
Conventions
Subprojects

Tags

Place tags

  • All municipalities get a place=city, place=town or place=village tag according to their population:
    • city: > 100.000
    • town: 10.000 - 100.000
    • village: < 10.000
  • All part-municipalities (deelgemeentes) that don't have the same name as the municipality they belong to get a place=town or place=village tag according to their population:
    • town: > 10.000
    • village: < 10.000
  • Smaller villages or quarters that don't have the same name as the deelgemeente or municipality and are spatially separated from other centres they belong to get a place=hamlet tag.

Examples

  • the municipality of Antwerp has almost 500.000 inhabitants so is place=city. Antwerp is also the name of a deelgemeente so it doesn't get another place node for that. The district Wilrijk in Antwerp has almost 40.000 inhabitants so becomes place=town.
  • the municipality of Heuvelland has just over 8.000 inhabitants so is place=village. Each deelgemeente (Dranouter, Kemmel, Loker, etc.) get a place=village tag as well.
  • the municipality of Langemark-Poelkappelle has almost 8.000 inhabitants so is place=village. Each of the deelgemeentes (Langemark, Poelkapelle, Bikschote) gets a place=village tag. Langemark consists of three settlements: Langemark, Madonna and Sint-Juliaan. The latter two get a place=hamlet tag.
  • Bruges has a part called Kristus Koning which isn't a deelgemeente, and completely connected to the main living area of Bruges. Kristus Koning gets the tag place=neighbourhood.

Lists of municipalities in Belgium

A list of municipalities (and wheter they are cities or not) can be found here:

Other tags

Other tags that can be included on place nodes.

  • population=* Population tags should go on boundaries, otherwise it's unclear what area the count applies to: municipality, part-municipality, this agglomeration?
  • name=*
  • website= on the municipality's node/boundary.
  • wikipedia & wikidata
  • postal_code=* Postal tags should go on separate postal zone boundaries, otherwise it's unclear what area the count applies to: part-municipality, multiple part-municipalities, municipality or an agglomeration?

Bilingual Places

As we live in a country with multiple languages some places have names in those multiple languages.

Municipalities that have only one language are the easiest case. The name=* tag should use the name in the official language, and translations as name:<xx> are optional, e.g.:

Brussels-Capital Region

The Brussels-Capital Region is bilingual. The name of municipalities, places, streets, public transport stops… are bilingual, and that should be reflected in the main name=* tag. Use name:fr=* and name:nl=* for monolingual versions of the name. (Needless to say, when names are identical in every language, e.g. name=Anderlecht, they should not be written multiple times.)

For database consistency reasons, the "fr - nl" language order is used.

Below is the list of the 19 bilingual municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region.

  • Anderlecht
  • Auderghem - Oudergem
  • Berchem-Sainte-Agathe - Sint-Agatha-Berchem
  • Bruxelles - Brussel
  • Etterbeek
  • Evere
  • Forest - Vorst
  • Ganshoren
  • Ixelles - Elsene
  • Jette
  • Koekelberg
  • Molenbeek-Saint-Jean - Sint-Jans-Molenbeek
  • Saint-Gilles - Sint-Gillis
  • Saint-Josse-ten-Noode - Sint-Joost-ten-Node
  • Schaerbeek - Schaarbeek
  • Uccle - Ukkel
  • Watermael-Boitsfort - Watermaal-Bosvoorde
  • Woluwe-Saint-Lambert - Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe
  • Woluwe-Saint-Pierre - Sint-Pieters-Woluwe

Source: http://www.statbel.fgov.be

Language facilities

Name (admin level 8) Admin level 8

boundary relation

Admin level 8

admin centre node

Name (admin level 9) Admin level 9

boundary relations

Admin level 9

admin centre node

Dutch-speaking municipalities with facilities for French speakers (nl - fr)
Bever (Biévène) relation 1204549 node 273054851
Drogenbos relation 78953 node 251470263
Herstappe relation 2129894 node 279438049
Kraainem relation 78954 node 347083997
Linkebeek relation 78808 node 140389751
Mesen (Messines) relation 405618 node 1678308936 relation 2241761 (duplicate of level 8?)
Ronse (Renaix) relation 398192 node 1678174119
Sint-Genesius-Rode (Rhode-Saint-Genèse) relation 78796 node 1678634235
Spiere-Helkijn (Espières-Helchin) relation 961207 node 720896704 node 720897201 (as label? Spiere relation 961190 node 720896704
Helkijn relation 2241761 node 720897194
Voeren (Fourons) relation 404525 node 30119707 's-Gravenvoeren relation 4497125 node 30119707
Sint-Martens-Voeren relation 4497357 node 30119686
Teuven relation 4497382 node 30119461
Remersdaal relation 4497381 node 282826256
Sint-Pieters-Voeren relation 4497189 node 282825994
Moelingen relation 4497126 node 2793489035
Wemmel relation 77186 node 344911882
Wezembeek-Oppem relation 78958 node 347082350
French-speaking municipalities with facilities for Dutch speakers (fr - nl)
Comines-Warneton (Komen-Waasten) relation 405621 node 1719301306 Comines relation 11583050 node 667385732
Houthem relation 11583051 node 667385731
Bas-Warneton relation 11583052 node 667385730
Warneton relation 11583053 node 661326286
Ploegsteert relation 11583054 node 667385729
Enghien (Edingen) relation 1412058 node 61756241 Enghien relation 11137263 node 61756241
Petit-Enghien relation 11137262 node 61756890
Marcq relation 11137287 node 61757971
Flobecq (Vloesberg) relation 1374657 node 33540551
Mouscron (Moeskroen) relation 1920616 node 539515887 Mouscron relation 11584137 node 539515887
Luingne relation 11584136 node 539535035
Herseaux relation 11584135 node 146850924
Dottignies relation 11584134 node 661173430
French-speaking municipalities with facilities for German speakers (fr - de)
Malmedy (Malmünd) relation 2409000 node 79348077 Malmedy node 79348077
Bévercé node 240091253
Bellevaux-Ligneuville node 300439040node 729692738
Waimes (Weismes) relation 2402391 node 456954713 Waimes node 456954713
Robertville relation 12275879 node 456972845
Faymonville node 692037363
German-speaking municipalities with facilities for French speakers (de - fr)
Amel (Amblève) relation 2433429 node 240047835 Amel node 240047835
Heppenbach node 240127172
Meyerode node 240120127
Büllingen (Bullange) relation 2435409 node 240043891 Büllingen node 240043891
Rocherath node 240085501
Manderfeld node 240110936
Burg-Reuland relation 2436182 node 260087044 Thommen node 600057169
Reuland node 720457765
Bütgenbach (Butgenbach) relation 2435381 node 240026313 Bütgenbach node 240026313
Elsenborn node 694660190
Eupen (old French: Néau) relation 2400207 node 64801957 Eupen relation 11146246 node 64801957
Kettenis relation 11146245 node 240069922
Kelmis (La Calamine) relation 2400116 node 240061758 Kelmis relation 11198408 node 240061758
Neu-Moresnet relation 11198466
Hergenrath relation 11198467 node 197297769
Lontzen relation 2400114 node 240128965 Lontzen node 240128965
Walhorn node 240096716
Raeren relation 2400181 node 240097474 Raeren relation 12142314 node 240097474
Eynatten relation 12142312 node 91143491
Hauset relation 12142313 node 161971055
Sankt Vith (Saint-Vith) relation 2433430 node 721081807 Sankt-Vith node 721081807
Schönberg node 240025316
Lommersweiler node 240040899
Crombach node 690203882
Recht node 240096781

The Belgian community voted in 2024 to use bilingual names in those municipalities. Street signs are frequently written in both languages. However, as of 2026 it is not strictly enforced. Since most QA validators, e.g., Nominatim QA and Osmose, are currently unaware of this rule, monolingual names are still common.

OSM is not a battlefield. If you don't like how the situation is, fight for your beliefs through your political party, not on OSM.

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