Mespelare

Dendermonde
Municipality
Dendermonde City Hall and Belfry
Flag Coat of arms
Dendermonde Location in Belgium
Location of Dendermonde in East Flanders
Coordinates: 51°02′N 04°06′E / 51.033°N 4.100°E / 51.033; 4.100Coordinates: 51°02′N 04°06′E / 51.033°N 4.100°E / 51.033; 4.100
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community
Region	Flemish Region
Province	East Flanders
Arrondissement	Dendermonde
Government
• Mayor	Piet Buyse (CD&V/N-VA)
• Governing party/ies	CD&V/N-VA, SP.A-Spirit
Area
• Total	55.67 km2 (21.49 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2016)
• Total	45,367
• Density	810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Postal codes	9200
Area codes	052
Website	www.dendermonde.be

Dendermonde (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌdɛndərˈmɔndə], French: Termonde) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde proper and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde. Dendermonde is located at the mouth of the river Dender, where it flows into the Scheldt. The town has a long-standing (folkloric) feud with Aalst (situated south along the same river), which dates back from the Middle Ages.

The city is an administrative, commercial, educational, and medical centre for the surrounding region. The current Mayor of Dendermonde is Piet Buyse (Christian Democratic and Flemish).

Some interesting La-Tène artifacts were found in Appels, proof that this region of the Scheldt was inhabited in prehistory. Grave sites from the 2nd and 6th century also attest to dense settlement in Gallo-Roman and Merovingian times. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun placed Dendermonde in Lotharingia. After the Norman invasions of 883, however, Baldwin II took over the region and incorporated it into the German part of the newly founded County of Flanders.