circle of the province of East Flanders, in Belgium, divided into eight cantons and 119 communes, and containing 156,500 inhabitants. The capital is the city of that name, situated in a fertile valley on the banks of the Scheldt. It is well built, and contains 950 houses, with 5300 inhabitants, who carry on extensive manufactures of fine linen. Lat. 50.50.40. N.