WikiProject Belgium/Conventions/Places
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Conventions | ||
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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.
- Parts of the residential areas that have their own name get the tag place=neighbourhood.
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:
- West-Vlaanderen
- Oost-Vlaanderen
- Antwerpen
- Limburg
- Liège
- Luxembourg
- Namur
- Hainaut (in dutch, French version doesn't contain useful info on this at this moment)
- Vlaams-Brabant
- Brabant_wallon
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=*
- postal_code=*
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.
This is a complete list of all places in the Brussels-Capital Region, which will have both names in the place tag:
- 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 | |||||
Bever (Biévène) | 1204549 1204549 | 273054851 273054851 | |||
Drogenbos | 78953 78953 | 251470263 251470263 | |||
Herstappe | 2129894 2129894 | 279438049 279438049 | |||
Kraainem | 78954 78954 | 347083997 347083997 | |||
Linkebeek | 78808 78808 | 140389751 140389751 | |||
Mesen (Messines) | 405618 405618 | 1678308936 1678308936 | 2241761 2241761 (duplicate of level 8?) | ||
Ronse (Renaix) | 398192 398192 | 1678174119 1678174119 | |||
Sint-Genesius-Rode (Rhode-Saint-Genèse) | 78796 78796 | 1678634235 1678634235 | |||
Spiere-Helkijn (Espières-Helchin) | 961207 961207 | 720896704 720896704 720897201 720897201 (as label? | Spiere | 961190 961190 | 720896704 720896704 |
Helkijn | 2241761 2241761 | 720897194 720897194 | |||
Voeren (Fourons) | 404525 404525 | 30119707 30119707 | 's-Gravenvoeren | 4497125 4497125 | 30119707 30119707 |
Sint-Martens-Voeren | 4497357 4497357 | 30119686 30119686 | |||
Teuven | 4497382 4497382 | 30119461 30119461 | |||
Remersdaal | 4497381 4497381 | 282826256 282826256 | |||
Sint-Pieters-Voeren | 4497189 4497189 | 282825994 282825994 | |||
Moelingen | 4497126 4497126 | 2793489035 2793489035 | |||
Wemmel | 77186 77186 | 344911882 344911882 | |||
Wezembeek-Oppem | 78958 78958 | 347082350 347082350 | |||
French-speaking municipalities with facilities for Dutch speakers | |||||
Comines-Warneton (Komen-Waasten) | 405621 405621 | 1719301306 1719301306 | Comines | 11583050 11583050 | 667385732 667385732 |
Houthem | 11583051 11583051 | 667385731 667385731 | |||
Bas-Warneton | 11583052 11583052 | 667385730 667385730 | |||
Warneton | 11583053 11583053 | 661326286 661326286 | |||
Ploegsteert | 11583054 11583054 | 667385729 667385729 | |||
Enghien (Edingen) | 1412058 1412058 | 61756241 61756241 | Enghien | 11137263 11137263 | 61756241 61756241 |
Petit-Enghien | 11137262 11137262 | 61756890 61756890 | |||
Marcq | 11137287 11137287 | 61757971 61757971 | |||
Flobecq (Vloesberg) | 1374657 1374657 | 33540551 33540551 | |||
Mouscron (Moeskroen) | 1920616 1920616 | 539515887 539515887 | Mouscron | 11584137 11584137 | 539515887 539515887 |
Luingne | 11584136 11584136 | 539535035 539535035 | |||
Herseaux | 11584135 11584135 | 146850924 146850924 | |||
Dottignies | 11584134 11584134 | 661173430 661173430 | |||
French-speaking municipalities with facilities for German speakers | |||||
Malmedy (Malmünd) | 2409000 2409000 | 79348077 79348077 | Malmedy | 79348077 79348077 | |
Bévercé | 240091253 240091253 | ||||
Bellevaux-Ligneuville | 300439040 300439040729692738 729692738 | ||||
Waimes (Weismes) | 2402391 2402391 | 456954713 456954713 | Waimes | 456954713 456954713 | |
Robertville | 12275879 12275879 | 456972845 456972845 | |||
Faymonville | 692037363 692037363 | ||||
German-speaking municipalities with facilities for French speakers | |||||
Amel (Amblève) | 2433429 2433429 | 240047835 240047835 | Amel | 240047835 240047835 | |
Heppenbach | 240127172 240127172 | ||||
Meyerode | 240120127 240120127 | ||||
Büllingen (Bullange) | 2435409 2435409 | 240043891 240043891 | Büllingen | 240043891 240043891 | |
Rocherath | 240085501 240085501 | ||||
Manderfeld | 240110936 240110936 | ||||
Burg-Reuland | 2436182 2436182 | 260087044 260087044 | Thommen | 600057169 600057169 | |
Reuland | 720457765 720457765 | ||||
Bütgenbach (Butgenbach) | 2435381 2435381 | 240026313 240026313 | Bütgenbach | 240026313 240026313 | |
Elsenborn | 694660190 694660190 | ||||
Eupen (old French: Néau) | 2400207 2400207 | 64801957 64801957 | Eupen | 11146246 11146246 | 64801957 64801957 |
Kettenis | 11146245 11146245 | 240069922 240069922 | |||
Kelmis (La Calamine) | 2400116 2400116 | 240061758 240061758 | Kelmis | 11198408 11198408 | 240061758 240061758 |
Neu-Moresnet | 11198466 11198466 | ||||
Hergenrath | 11198467 11198467 | 197297769 197297769 | |||
Lontzen | 2400114 2400114 | 240128965 240128965 | Lontzen | 240128965 240128965 | |
Walhorn | 240096716 240096716 | ||||
Raeren | 2400181 2400181 | 240097474 240097474 | Raeren | 12142314 12142314 | 240097474 240097474 |
Eynatten | 12142312 12142312 | 91143491 91143491 | |||
Hauset | 12142313 12142313 | 161971055 161971055 | |||
Sankt Vith (Saint-Vith) | 2433430 2433430 | 721081807 721081807 | Sankt-Vith | 721081807 721081807 | |
Schönberg | 240025316 240025316 | ||||
Lommersweiler | 240040899 240040899 | ||||
Crombach | 690203882 690203882 | ||||
Recht | 240096781 240096781 |
There is no consensus for municipalities with languages facilities ("nl - fr" in Flanders, "fr - nl", "fr - de" and "de - fr" in Wallonia). Street signs are frequently written in both languages. Reflecting this in OSM, while ensuring that the main official language comes first, is a possibility, though monolingual names are more 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.
Boundaries
Boundaries are inherently tied to places, thus documented on the same spot.
Overview
Below, there's an overview of the different boundary types used in Belgium
Administrative boundaries
Admin level | FR name | NL name | DE name | EN name | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Pays | Land | Staat | Country | A single country boundary. The country name is used when writing an international address. |
4 | Région | Gewest | Region | Region | Belgium is divided in three sovereign regions: Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. The regions decide mostly on economical matters. Regions are well known by locals, but not part of an address. However, the region can be easily guessed from the postcode (1xxx for Brussels, 2xxx 3xxx 8xxx and 9xxx for Flanders and 4xxx 5xxx 6xxx 7xxx for Wallonia). |
6 | Province | Provintie | Provinz | Province | The regions of Flanders and Walonia are each divided in 5 provinces (so 10 provinces in total). Brussels does not have any provinces, and although it's enclosed by the province of Flemish-Brabant, it's not part of that province. Province boundaries are well known by locals (often different provinces compete in TV games), however, provinces are not part of any address information. For some provinces, the name is equal to their capital city, which may be confusing. |
7 | Arrondissement | Arrondissement | Arrondissement | Arrondissement | Arrondissements are rather hollow administrative divisions. Arrondissements mostly combine one city or bigger town with all surrounding municipalities. The name of the Arrondissement is normally equal to the name of that major town. Arrondissements aren't important at all, many people don't even know in what arrondissement they live. |
8 | Commune | Gemeente | Gemeinde | Municipality | A correct address always shows the municipality name. Municipalities do local road works, and decide the destination of a piece of ground. As a result of that, municipal boundaries are rather clear, and many people know of their friends in which municipalities they live. |
9 | Section | Deelgemeente | Teilgemeinde | Part-municipality | Part-municipalities are no longer official administrative divisions. They used to be independent municipalities, until the big municipality merge in the 1960-70's. The boundaries are however rather well-known, because many people (certainly in rural areas) still refuse to use the official municipality in their address. As the boundaries don't exist anymore, the OSM boundaries are just estimates based on old maps, and can't be verified in many places. Mentioning a part-municipality in an address is accepted, but discouraged by the postal instances. Part-municipality names can also be ambiguous (the same name can be used for multiple places), while municipality names are unique throughout Belgium. |
Other boundaries
Next to the administrative boundaries, there are also some other boundaries present in Belgium.
- Belgian communities
Belgium is also divided in 3 communities, which mostly overlap with the 3 regions. However, communities aren't economy-based, but language-based. The communities organise the politics surrounding culture and education. Both communities are active in the bi-lingual region of Brussels, as such, Brussels as a territory belongs to both communities. The German-speaking community is the smallest one, against the German border, and completely inside the Walloon region. Communities are mapped as a political boundary
- Postcode boundaries
Postcodes in Belgium are also mapped as boundaries. Mostly, there's a one-to-one relation between a postcode and a municipality. However, big municipalities (big cities) often have multiple postcodes to keep the number of inhabitants per postcode low enough; Brussels-City is a more complicated case because in addition of having 4 main zones numbered 1000, 1020, 1120 and 1130, some outer parts of its territory use 1030, 1040, 1050, 1070, which are postcodes typically associated with other municipalities. Therefore, one should never rely on a one-to-one relation for Brussels addresses. See boundary=postal_code for more info. Postcodes are part of official addresses, however, most people have to look them up when sending paper mail.