Kortrijk

Kortrijk
Municipality
Broel Towers along the river Lys in Kortrijk
Flag Coat of arms
Kortrijk Location in Belgium
Location of Kortrijk in West Flanders
Coordinates: 50°50′N 03°16′E / 50.833°N 3.267°E / 50.833; 3.267Coordinates: 50°50′N 03°16′E / 50.833°N 3.267°E / 50.833; 3.267
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community
Region	Flemish Region
Province	West Flanders
Arrondissement	Kortrijk
Government
• Mayor	Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD)
• Governing party/ies	Open VLD, N-VA, sp.a
Area
• Total	80.02 km2 (30.90 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2016)
• Total	75,506
• Density	940/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Postal codes	85xx (8500, 8501, 8510, 8511)
Area codes	056
Website	www.kortrijk.be

Kortrijk (in English also Courtrai or Courtray; official name in Dutch: Kortrijk, pronounced [ˈkɔrtrɛi̯k]; West Flemish: Kortryk or Kortrik, French: Courtrai, pronounced: [kuʁtʁɛ]; Latin: Cortoriacum) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders.

It is the capital and largest city of the arrondissement of Kortrijk, which is both a judicial and an administrative arrondissement. The wider municipality comprises the city of Kortrijk proper and the villages of Aalbeke, Bellegem, Bissegem, Heule, Kooigem, Marke, and Rollegem. Kortrijk is part of the cross-border Eurometropolis Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai (metropolitan area), which had 2,155,161 residents in 2008.

The city is situated on the Leie, 42 km (26 mi) southwest of Ghent and 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Lille in France. In addition, Mouscron in Wallonia is located just south of Kortrijk. Both Kortrijk and Lille are part of the same transnational Eurodistrict urban agglomeration with around 1,900,000 inhabitants. As the biggest city of southern West Flanders, Kortrijk has many schools, hospitals and shopping streets.