Hainault

Hainault, a province of Belgium, bounded on the north by Brabant and Flanders, on the east by Namur, and having France on the south and west. It is the northern part of the old countship of Hainaut, which passed successively to Bavaria, Burgundy, and the house of Austria. The present province, constituted in 1815, has an area of 1,437 square miles. The French department of the Nord once formed the southern part of Hainault, is watered by the Scheldt, the Sambre, the Dender and the Haine, and produces much wheat, flax, and beet. There are valuable coal-mines in the south, and iron, marble, and limestone are the chief of the other minerals. Large manufactures of linen, porcelain, lace, and hardware are also carried on in the towns, and the Hainault breed of horses and cattle is celebrated. The forest of Ardennes covers the greater part of the south of the province. The chief towns, Mons and Charleroi, are in the south-east.