east flanders (dutch: "oost-vlaanderen" , , ) is a province of belgium. it borders (clockwise from the north) the dutch province of zeeland and the flemish province of antwerp, flemish brabant, hainaut and west flanders. it has an area of , divided into six administrative districts containing 60 municipalities, and a population of 1,515,064 as of january 2019. the capital is ghent, home to the ghent university and the port of ghent.