Middelkerke 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 West Flanders, on the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

, west of Ostend

Ostend

Ostend  is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....

. The municipality comprises the towns of Leffinge, Lombardsijde

Lombardsijde

Lombardsijde, also Lombartzyde, is a region in the Belgian commune of Middelkerke in West Flanders province, in northwestern Belgium near Nieuwpoort.Fighting occurred in and around Lombardsijde during World War I.-References:...

, Mannekensvere

Mannekensvere

Mannekensvere is a small rural village in Belgium, located in the Polder region. Mannekensvere is a part of the seaside municipality of Middelkerke. The village is located along the Yser river....

, Middelkerke proper, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapelle, Slijpe, Westende

Westende

Westende is a town in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West-Flanders. It lies on the Belgian coast, also called Flemish coast. It used to be the far west of the island Testerep which lay along the Belgian coast....

 and Wilskerke

Wilskerke

Wilskerke is a small rural village in Belgium, situated in de Polder region, about 1.5 km from the coastline. In 1977, it became a part of the municipality of Middelkerke....

. On January 1, 2006 Middelkerke had a total population of 17,841. The total area is 75.65 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 236 inhabitants per km².