Meise is a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 located in the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 province of Flemish Brabant

Flemish Brabant

Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven...

. The municipality comprises the towns of Meise proper and Wolvertem (a deelgemeente

Deelgemeente

A deelgemeente is a subdivision of a gemeente in Belgium and the Netherlands.-Belgium:...

), and, several smaller villages like Sint-Brixius-Rode, Oppem, Meusegem, Impde/Imde, Rossem, Westrode and quarters as Bouchout, Nerom and Slozen. As of January 1, 2006 Meise has a total population of 18,464. The total area is 34.82 km² which gives a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 530 inhabitants per km².

Some of Meise's most famous inhabitants are Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx

Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx , better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional cyclist. The French magazine Vélo called him "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known." The American publication, VeloNews, called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all...

, Frank Deboosere, Tony De Pauw

Tony De Pauw

Tony De Pauw is a Belgian businessman. He is Chief Executive Officer of WDP Warehouses De Pauw NV in Wolvertem and with an estimated fortune of 95.2 million euro he is one of the leading businesspeople of Belgium.-Source:* *...

, Kris Wauters

Kris Wauters

Kris Wauters is a Flemish artist, active with the band Clouseau combined with his brother Koen Wauters....

 (from the band Clouseau), and Jean-Pierre Van Rossem

Jean-Pierre Van Rossem

Jean Pierre Van Rossem is a Belgian scholar, socialite and writer.He studied economics at the University of Gent in 1963-1967. With his final term paper he won the International Scholarship of Flanders-prize and was able to study two years of econometrics at Lawrence Klein...

. Also a historical resident, Empress Carlota of Mexico

Charlotte of Belgium

Charlotte of Belgium is remembered today as Carlota of Mexico as empress consort of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, ex-Archduke of Austria.-Princess of Belgium:The only daughter of Leopold I, King of the Belgians by his second wife,...

 (born the first Belgian princess) spent many secluded years at the Castle of Bouchout

Bouchout Castle

Bouchout Castle is a castle in the Flemish town of Meise, Belgium. In the 12th century, this territory of the young Duchy of Brabant was strategically positioned between the County of Flanders and the Berthout family, lords of Grimbergen...

 where she died in 1927.

Meise is also a last name of a few families originating from Germany.

Points of interest

• Wolvertem transmitter, a facility for AM broadcasting
• The National Botanic Garden of Belgium
  National Botanic Garden of Belgium
  The National Botanic Garden of Belgium is located in the grounds of Bouchout Castle near the village of Meise, just north of Brussels. It is one of the largest botanical gardens in the world with an extensive collection of living plants in addition to a herbarium of over 3 million specimens...