North Brabant

North Brabant (Dutch: Noord-Brabant [ˌnoːrt ˈbraːbɑnt] ; Brabantian: Broabant [ˈbrɑːban]), also unofficially called Brabant or Dutch Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the west, and Belgium's provinces of Antwerp and Limburg to the south. The northern border follows the Meuse westward to its mouth in the Hollands Diep strait, part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. North Brabant had a population of about 2,626,000 as of January 2023. Major cities in North Brabant are Eindhoven (pop. 231,642), Tilburg (pop. 217,259), Breda (pop. 183,873), its provincial capital 's-Hertogenbosch (pop. 154,205), and Helmond (pop. 94,967). The province has the third-largest economy of all Dutch provinces, after North Holland and South Holland. The agricultural and horticultural sectors are traditionally strong, as is forestry. Rooted in the Duchy of Brabant, the province still possesses a recognizable character today. This is evident in the Brabant dialects and traditions such as Carnival. Catholicism, which was a dominant social force for centuries, has had a significant influence on the development of North Brabant's distinct identity. Both the province and Limburg remained in the Netherlands following the Belgian Revolution when it was decided to adopt the old pre-1790s borders of the Dutch Republic.