The largest town in Belgium's Waasland area (between Gent and Antwerp) is Sint-Niklaas, with a population of 68,000. Its market square is one of the largest in Belgium, hosting a market every thursday since the sixteenth century. Immediately off the market square is a marvelous church, pieces of which date back to the 13th century, and a smattering of other edifices of interest: a former prison, the town hall, old townhouse residential dwellings. The Mercator Museum is dedicated to the the famous geographer whose name it bears.
The E17 roadway passes through Sint Niklaas from east to west.
Belsele, Nieuwkerken-Waas and Sinaai are boroughs within the municipal district of Sint-Niklaas.