coal-mining and industrial region of southwestern Belgium, Hainaut province, southwest of Mons. Borinage's development was based on coal extracted from the area since the Middle Ages. The mines are no longer operative; the principal industries are metallurgy (in the town of Jemappes) and glassmaking (at Boussu). The city and workshops of Grand Hornu constitute a remarkable reconstruction (begun c. 1820) of an ancient mine and its attendant industrial complex.