Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital

The Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital (Arrondissement Brussel-Hoofdstad; Arrondissement de Bruxelles-Capitale;  Verwaltungsbezirk Brüssel-Hauptstadt) is the only administrative arrondissement in the Brussels Capital Region in Belgium. Because it is the only administrative arrondissement in the Brussels Region, its territory coincides with that of the latter.

The arrondissement was created in 1963 upon the splitting of the arrondissement of Brussels into the capital one and the surrounding arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde. They remained part of the province of Brabant until it was split as well in 1995. In that year, the arrondissement of Nivelles formed the new Walloon Brabant and the arrondissements of Halle-Vilvoorde and Leuven formed the new Flemish Brabant. The arrondissement of Brussels-Capital, corresponding to the Brussels-Capital Region, thus became extraprovincial, meaning it is not a province, neither does it belong to one, nor does it contain any. However, it was the only Belgian arrondissement that was headed by a governor and a vice-governor until 2014 when these posts were abolished in accord with the 2011 state reform.

The Brussels-Capital Region is divided into 19 municipalities, of which the City of Brussels is the largest and most populous. See the list of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region.

Governor and vice-governor
The governor exercised most of the few remaining powers elsewhere exercised by a provincial governor, particularly in the field of public order, as far as no (federal) law, (regional) decree, ordonnance or decision states otherwise. The governor was appointed by the government of the Brussels-Capital Region on the unanimous advice of the Federal Council of Ministers. The regional government also appointed the vice-governor, who was required to have a considerable knowledge of both the Dutch French and who had a duty to ensure that the legislation regarding the use of languages was observed in the Brussels region.