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| |- ||- ||} Ostend (Oostende, French and German: Ostende) is a Belgian
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
 city
City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
 and municipality located in the Flemish
Flemish Region

The Flemish Region is one of the three official Communities and regions of Belgium of the Kingdom of Belgium alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region....
 province
Provinces of Belgium

Belgium is divided into three regions, two of them are subdivided into five provinces each.The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of the Constitution of Belgium....
 of West Flanders
West Flanders

West Flanders is the westernmost Provinces of regions in Belgium of Flemish Region, in Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands, the Flemish Region province of East Flanders and the Wallonia province of Hainaut in Belgium, on France, and the North Sea....
. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke
Mariakerke

Mariakerke is a village in the Belgian province of East-Flanders. It is part of the urban area of the province's capital city Ghent. Its population is of 11,883 people ....
, Stene and Zandvoorde
Zandvoorde

Zandvoorde may refer to:* Zandvoorde , a Belgian village, part of the city of Oostende* Zandvoorde , a Belgian village, part of the municipality of Zonnebeke...
, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast.

arlier times, Ostend was nothing more than a small village built on the east-end of an island (originally called Testerep
Testerep

Testerep was an island along the Belgium coast. Fishing villages were scattered about, among them were Oostende and Westende. Oostende being the far east , Westende the far west , and Middelkerke the middle of the island....
) between the North Sea and a beach lake.






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Encyclopedia


| |- ||- ||} Ostend (Oostende, French and German: Ostende) is a Belgian
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
 city
City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
 and municipality located in the Flemish
Flemish Region

The Flemish Region is one of the three official Communities and regions of Belgium of the Kingdom of Belgium alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region....
 province
Provinces of Belgium

Belgium is divided into three regions, two of them are subdivided into five provinces each.The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of the Constitution of Belgium....
 of West Flanders
West Flanders

West Flanders is the westernmost Provinces of regions in Belgium of Flemish Region, in Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands, the Flemish Region province of East Flanders and the Wallonia province of Hainaut in Belgium, on France, and the North Sea....
. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke
Mariakerke

Mariakerke is a village in the Belgian province of East-Flanders. It is part of the urban area of the province's capital city Ghent. Its population is of 11,883 people ....
, Stene and Zandvoorde
Zandvoorde

Zandvoorde may refer to:* Zandvoorde , a Belgian village, part of the city of Oostende* Zandvoorde , a Belgian village, part of the municipality of Zonnebeke...
, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast.

History


Origin to Middle Ages

In earlier times, Ostend was nothing more than a small village built on the east-end of an island (originally called Testerep
Testerep

Testerep was an island along the Belgium coast. Fishing villages were scattered about, among them were Oostende and Westende. Oostende being the far east , Westende the far west , and Middelkerke the middle of the island....
) between the North Sea and a beach lake. Although small, the village rose to the status of "city" around 1265 when the inhabitants were allowed to hold a market and to build a market hall.

The major source of income for the inhabitants was fishing. The North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
 coastline has always been rather unstable and in 1395 the inhabitants decided to build a new Ostend behind large dikes and further away from the always-threatening sea.

15th to 18th century