The ISRBD is demarcated by means of a decision taken by the governments of the riverain states and regions making up the Scheldt river basin (France, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Walloon Region, the Flemish Region, the Brussels Capital Region, the Netherlands), and its demarcation has been integrated into the Scheldt Treaty signed in Ghent and dated 3rd December 2002.
The Scheldt District covers a surface of 36,416 km², which makes it one of the smaller European river basin districts. Indeed, the European international river basin districts, demarcated so far, have an average surface of 109,479 km².
It is also one of Europe’s most densely populated and most industrialised river basin districts.