Brabant was the name formerly given to an important province of the Low Countries, extending from the left bank of the Waal to the sources of the Dyle, and from the Maas and the plain of Limburg to the Lower Scheldt. In the time of Cæsar, Brabant was inhabited by a mixed race of Germans and Celts; it afterwards came into possession of the Franks; and in the middle ages it formed a duchy by itself, dependent upon Lower Lorraine, with which in 1107 the county of Antwerp was incorporated, and in 1347, for a time, the lordship of Mechlin or Malines, formerly connected with Liège. After many changes, Brabant was made a part of the kingdom of Holland, at the Congress of Vienna; but since the revolution of 1830, the three provinces of Brabant have been divided as follows: (1) North or Dutch Brabant, containing 1980 sq. m. and (1892) 519,022 inhabitants; (2) the Belgian province of Antwerp, which contains 1094 sq. m. and (1892) 726,233 inhabitants; and (3) South Brabant, also Belgian, containing 1268 sq. m. and an extremely dense population of (1892) 1,136,827. The country consists of a plain gently sloping to the north-west, and rising in the south into low hills, which are offsets of those of the Ardennes. In the level northern part are many heathy and fenny tracts; one of them, a morass called the Peel, is over 20 miles in length, and from 2 to 6 broad. In the hilly district of the south is the Forest of Soignies. The Maas and the Scheldt are the principal rivers; but some of their tributaries are also very useful for internal commerce, which is further promoted by canals and railways. The soil is fertile, and grain, vegetables, and hay are extensively grown; also hops, tobacco, and chicory. Farm stock is large. The making of salt, beet-sugar, cigars, thread, woollen cloths, leather, earthenware, and soap, with printing, distilling, and turkey-red dyeing, are the chief industries.
Brabant lace has a certain celebrity. The principal towns are Brussels, the former capital of Brabant, Bois-le-Duc (Hertogenbosch), Tilburg, Breda, and Bergen-op-Zoom. Most of the inhabitants are Catholics; those in the north are Dutch; in the middle district, Flemish; and in the south, of Walloon race. The main boundary between the languages is a few leagues to the south of Brussels, the Walloon French being spoken to the south, and Flemish and Dutch to the north of this line.