Saint-Ghislain | |||
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Municipality | |||
Saint-Ghislain: the former town hall (1752), the new church, and the tower of the old church (16th century)
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Location in Belgium | |||
Coordinates: 50°27′N 03°49′E / 50.450°N 3.817°ECoordinates: 50°27′N 03°49′E / 50.450°N 3.817°E | |||
Country | Belgium | ||
Community | French Community | ||
Region | Wallonia | ||
Province | Hainaut | ||
Arrondissement | Mons | ||
Government | |||
• Mayor | Daniel Olivier | ||
• Governing party/ies | PS | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 70.18 km2 (27.10 sq mi) | ||
Population (1 January 2016) | |||
• Total | 23,085 | ||
• Density | 330/km2 (850/sq mi) | ||
Postal codes | 7330-7334 | ||
Area codes | 065 | ||
Website | www.saint-ghislain.be |
Saint-Ghislain (Picard: Sint-Guilin) is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 22,466 inhabitants. The total area is 70.18 km², giving a population density of 320 inhabitants per km².
The town is named after Saint Ghislain. In the 7th century, with two unknown disciples Ghislain made a clearing in the vicinity of Castrilocus (now Mons), later taking up his abode at a place called Ursidongus, where he built an oratory or chapel dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. Ursidongus was later named after him.
Google chose Saint-Ghislain in 2007 to host its new major European datacenter. Google currently has 12 people employed full-time as of 13 October 2011.