Ninove (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈninoːvə] ⓘ) is a city and municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium.

With the arrival of the Franks in the 4th century AD, the settlement grew to a small agricultural town.

Because it lay on the trade route between Flanders and Brabant, the town prospered and grew into a city.

The 15th–17th centuries were a bad time for the city as the region was plagued with war and religious and political strife.

During the 17th century Ninove was crippled under the indemnities laid on it by the warring parties and the town faced a big economic crisis as its cloth industry went into decline.

The population of Ninove has steadily grown and the city has become an attractive centre for commercial, recreational and economical activities in the area, and plays host to a popular annual Volkswagen show every March, specifically for air-cooled vehicles, i.e. Beetles, Camper-vans, Type 3's, 4's etc.

The opening of a shopping mall in the centre of the city, as well as new sport and cultural infrastructure, and the construction of many residential apartment buildings have made Ninove a growing competitor for nearby Aalst and an ideal living-place for many commuters who work in nearby Brussels.

[2] The monks settled on uncultivated lands which had been offered to them by the lord of Ninove which were near the town, on the banks of the river Dender.

The community continued to grow and its financial position soon allowed it to occupy the adjacent parishes.

The 16th and 17th centuries were difficult times because of the political troubles and the effects of the French wars of religion on the Southern Netherlands.

The city council currently has 33 members, and is composed as follows: CD&V and N-VA had allied themselves for the 2000 election, and formed a coalition with the VLD.

After an investigation led by the local chapter of the VLD, it was announced that the person they suspected to be the culprit was Schepen Mariette De Smet.

De Smet announced she would leave the VLD, but would remain in the council of the mayor and aldermen as an independent.

In January 2011 Mariette De Smet announced she would join the Vlaams Belang lead chartel list "Forza Ninove" and left LDD.

Vlaams Belang, under the cartel name "Forza Ninove", won a seat, giving them a total of 9.

N-VA, claiming election irregularities by CD&V and "Forza Ninove", launched and won an administrative appeal.

In the 2024 Belgian local elections, Forza Ninove won an absolute majority in the municipality, leading to Guy d'Haeseleer becoming the first-ever Vlaams Belang mayor.

Hae portae, quamvis possint, vix umquam clauduntur: unde vulgari loco Ninove dicitur antiquissima, audaccissima, sapientissima".Ninove was called the oldest because of the similarity of its name with the ancient Assyrian city Nineveh, the boldest because it waited on the enemy with open gates and the wisest because the city had no jester or town fool, if one was needed a fool from a neighbouring town was lent.

Founded in 2013, Ninofmedia primarily covers news in Ninove and other surrounding areas in the Denderstreek.