If you look at a map of Belgium, it would seem that Belgium's capital of Brussels dominates the province of Vlaams-Brabant (Flemish Brabant in English) -- however, Brussels is officially an independent entity, and not a part of the province which surrounds it on all sides, so Vlaams-Brabant has a large hole carved out of its center. The provincial capital of Vlaams-Brabant is not Brussels, it is the university town of Leuven. The area around Brussels is heavily urbanised. To its northeast lie the gentle rolling hills of the Hageland. In the southeast, the Hageland gives way to the farming region of the Haspengouw. In the southwest are the plateaus of the Pajottenland. The Ijse River rises near Brussels and flows through Leuven on its way north.
