Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in
Northwestern Europe
Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically.
Geographic definitions
Geographically, North ...
. The country is bordered by the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
to the north,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
to the east,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
to the southeast,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
to the southwest, and the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
to the northwest. It covers an area of and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the
22nd most densely populated country in the world and the
6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of . Belgium is part of an area known as the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, historically a somewhat larger region than the
Benelux
The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...
group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest city is
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
; other major cities are
Antwerp,
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
,
Charleroi,
Liège,
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.
The area of the whole city a ...
,
Namur, and
Leuven.
Belgium is a
sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined te ...
and a
federal constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
with a
parliamentary system
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...
. Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds. It is divided into three highly
autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
:
[Pateman, Robert and Elliott, Mark (2006). ]
Belgium
'. Benchmark Books. p. 27. the
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and t ...
(Flanders) in the north, the
Walloon Region
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
(Wallonia) in the south, and the
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region, as well as the richest region in terms of
GDP per capita. Belgium is also home to two main linguistic communities: the
Flemish Community, which constitutes about 60 percent of the population, and the
French Community, which constitutes about 40 percent of the population. A small
German-speaking Community, numbering around one percent, exists in the
East Cantons
Eupen-Malmedy is a small, predominantly German-speaking region in eastern Belgium. It consists of three administrative cantons around the towns of Eupen, Malmedy, and Sankt Vith which encompass some . Elsewhere in Belgium, the region is common ...
. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual in French and Dutch,
although French is the dominant language.
*
*
*
* Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its complex system of governance, made up of
six different governments.
Since the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, Belgium's central location near several major rivers has meant that the area has been relatively prosperous, connected commercially and politically to its bigger neighbours. The country as it exists today was established following the 1830
Belgian Revolution, when it seceded from the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...
, which had incorporated the
Southern Netherlands
The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...
(which comprised most of modern-day Belgium) after the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
in 1815. The name chosen for the new state is derived from the Latin word ', used in
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
's "
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homel ...
", to describe a nearby region in the period around 55 BCE.
[C. Julius Caesar, ''De Bello Gallico'', book 8]
chapter 46
Belgium has also been the battleground of European powers, earning the moniker the "Battlefield of Europe",
[—The book reviewer, Haß, attributes the expression in English to James Howell in 1640. Howell's original phrase "the cockpit of ]Christendom
Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
" became modified afterwards, as shown by:
*—and as such coined for Belgium:
* (See also The Nuttall Encyclopaedia) a reputation reinforced in the 20th century by both
world war
A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
s.
Belgium participated in the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
,
and during the course of the 20th century, possessed
a number of colonies in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
Between 1885 and 1908, the
Congo Free State, which was privately owned by King
Leopold II of Belgium
* german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor
, house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
, father = Leopold I of Belgium
, mother = Louise of Orléans
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Brussels, Belgium
, death_date = ...
, was characterized by widespread
atrocities and disease, leading to a population decline of millions; amid public outcry in Europe, Belgium annexed the territory as a colony. The Belgian colonial empire gained independence between 1960 and 1962.
The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking citizens fuelled by differences in language and culture and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This continuing antagonism has led to several
far-reaching state reforms, resulting in the transition from a
unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation
* Unitarity (physics)
* ''E''-unitary inverse semigrou ...
to a
federal arrangement between 1970 and 1993. Despite the reforms, tensions between the groups have remained, if not increased; there is significant separatism particularly
among the Flemish; controversial language laws exist such as the
municipalities with language facilities
There are 27 municipalities with language facilities ( nl, faciliteitengemeenten; french: communes à facilités; german: Fazilitäten-Gemeinden) in Belgium which must offer linguistic services to residents in Dutch, French, or German in additi ...
;
and the formation of a coalition government took 18 months following the
June 2010 federal election, a world record.
Unemployment in Wallonia is more than double that of Flanders, which boomed after the Second World War.
Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, and its capital, Brussels, is also the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' capital of the European Union itself, hosting the official seats of the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
, the
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...
, and the
European Council, as well as one of two seats of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
(the other being
Strasbourg). Belgium is also a founding member of the
Eurozone
The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polici ...
,
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
,
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
, and
WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the
Schengen Area. Brussels also hosts the headquarters of many major international organizations, such as
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
.
Belgium is a
developed country, with an advanced
high-income economy
A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a nation with a gross national income per capita of US$12,696 or more in 2020, calculated using the Atlas method. While the term "high-income" is often used interchangeably with " First Worl ...
. It has very high standards of
living
Living or The Living may refer to:
Common meanings
*Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms
** Living species, one that is not extinct
*Personal life, the course of an individual human's life
* ...
,
quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
,
health care,
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
,
and is categorized as "very high" on the
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, wh ...
.
It also ranks relatively high on the
Global Peace Index
Global Peace Index (GPI) is a report produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) which measures the relative position of nations' and regions' peacefulness. The GPI ranks 163 independent states and territories (collectively accounting ...
.
History
Antiquity
![Map Gallia Tribes Towns](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Map_Gallia_Tribes_Towns.png)
According to
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
, the ''
Belgae'' were the inhabitants of the northernmost part of
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
, which was much bigger than modern Belgium. He also specifically used the Latin word "''
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
''", to refer to a politically dominant part of that larger region, which is now in northernmost France. Modern Belgium corresponds to the lands of the
Morini
The Morini (Gaulish: "sea folk, sailors") were a Belgic coastal tribe dwelling in the modern Pas de Calais region, around present-day Boulogne-sur-Mer, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Morini'' by Caesar ( ...
,
Menapii,
Nervii
The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards into French Hainault. ...
,
Germani Cisrhenani
The ''Germani cisrhenani'' (Latin '' cis- rhenanus'' "on this side of the Rhine", referring to the Roman or western side), or "Left bank ''Germani''", were a group of Germanic peoples who lived west of the Lower Rhine at the time of the Gallic W ...
,
Aduatuci
The Atuatuci (or Aduatuci) were a Gallic- Germanic tribe, dwelling in the eastern part of modern-day Belgium during the Iron Age.
They fought the Roman armies of Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC). In the Battle of the Sabis (57 B ...
, and, around
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...
, a part of the country of the
Treveri
The Trēverī ( Gaulish: *''Trēueroi'') were a Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their displacement by the Franks. Their domain lay within the southern fri ...
. Caesar described these regions as a less economically developed transition zone, which had links to the
Germanic tribes
The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...
over the Rhine.
After Caesar's conquests, ''
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany.
In 50 BC, a ...
'' came to be the Latin name of a large
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
covering most of Northern Gaul, including the Treveri. Areas closer to the lower Rhine frontier, including the eastern part of modern Belgium, eventually became part of the frontier province of ''
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...
'', which continued to interact with their neighbours outside the empire. At the time when central government collapsed in the
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...
, the Roman provinces of Belgica and Germania were inhabited by a mix of a Romanized population and
Germanic-speaking
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
who came to dominate the military and political class.
Middle Ages
During the 5th century, the area came under the rule of the Frankish
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
kings, who established a kingdom ruling over the Romanized population in what is northern France, and then conquered the other Frankish kingdoms. During the 8th century, this kingdom of the Franks came to be ruled by the
Carolingian dynasty
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
, whose centre of power included the area which is now eastern Belgium. Over the centuries, the kingdom was divided up in many ways, but the
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and ...
in 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms whose borders had a lasting impact on medieval political boundaries. Most of modern Belgium was in the
Middle Kingdom, later known as
Lotharingia
Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...
, but the coastal
county of Flanders
The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries.
From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Yp ...
, west of the
Scheldt
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
, became the northernmost part of
West Francia
In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...
, the predecessor of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. In 870 in the
Treaty of Meerssen
The Treaty of Mersen or Meerssen, concluded on 8 August 870, was a treaty to partition the realm of Lothair II, known as Lotharingia, by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of ...
, modern Belgium lands all became part of the western kingdom for a period, but in 880 in the
Treaty of Ribemont
, Participants = Louis the Younger, Louis III of France, Carloman II
, Location = Ribemont
, Date = 880
, Result = All of Lotharingia given to East Francia
The Treaty of Ribemont in 880 was the last treaty on th ...
, Lotharingia returned to the lasting control of the Eastern king, or
Holy Roman Emperor. The lordships and bishoprics along the "March" (frontier) between the two great kingdoms maintained important connections between each other. For example, the county of Flanders expanded over the Scheldt into the empire, and during several periods was ruled by the same lords as the
county of Hainaut.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the cloth industry and commerce boomed especially in the County of Flanders and it became one of the richest areas in Europe. This prosperity played a role in conflicts between Flanders and the king of France. Famously, Flemish militias scored a surprise victory at the
Battle of the Golden Spurs against a strong force of mounted knights in 1302, but France soon regained control of the rebellious province.
Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands
![Karte-Haus-Burgund 4-FR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Karte-Haus-Burgund_4-FR.png)
In the 15th century, the Duke of Burgundy in France took control of Flanders, and from there they
proceeded to unite much of what is now the Benelux, the so-called
Burgundian Netherlands
In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands (french: Pays-Bas bourguignons, nl, Bourgondische Nederlanden, lb, Burgundeschen Nidderlanden, wa, Bas Payis borguignons) or the Burgundian Age is the period between 1384 and ...
.
"Belgium" and "Flanders" were the first two common names used for the Burgundian Netherlands which was the predecessor of the Austrian Netherlands, the predecessor of modern Belgium. The union, technically stretching between two kingdoms, gave the area economic and political stability which led to an even greater prosperity and artistic creation.
Born in Belgium, the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
Emperor
Charles V was heir of the Burgundians, but also of the royal families of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Castile and
Aragon. With the
Pragmatic Sanction of 1549
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 was an edict, promulgated by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, reorganising the Seventeen Provinces of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg into one indivisible territory, while retaining existing custo ...
he gave the
Seventeen Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces were the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 16th century. They roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the French departments of Nord (Fre ...
more legitimacy as a stable entity, rather than just a temporary
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
. He also increased the influence of these Netherlands over the
Prince-Bishopric of Liège
The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as its prince, ...
, which continued to exist as a large semi-independent enclave.
Spanish and Austrian Netherlands
The
Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), was triggered by the Spanish government's policy towards
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, which was becoming popular in the Low Countries. The rebellious northern
United Provinces (''Belgica Foederata'' in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, the "Federated Netherlands") eventually separated from the
Southern Netherlands
The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...
(''Belgica Regia'', the "Royal Netherlands"). The latter were ruled successively by the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
(
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...
) and the
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
s (
Austrian Netherlands
The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The pe ...
) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theatre of several more protracted conflicts during much of the 17th and 18th centuries involving France, including the
Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), the
Nine Years' War (1688–1697), the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
(1701–1714), and part of the
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's ...
(1740–1748).
The French revolution and the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Following the
campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1793 with few immediate changes in the diplomatic situation as France fought the First coalition.
On the Alpine frontier, there was little change, with the French invasion of Piedmont failing. On the ...
, the Low Countriesincluding territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Liègewere annexed by the
French First Republic, ending Austrian rule in the region. A reunification of the Low Countries as the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...
occurred at the dissolution of the
First French Empire
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...
in 1814, after the abdication of Napoleon.
Independent Belgium
In 1830, the
Belgian Revolution led to the separation of the Southern Provinces from the Netherlands and to the establishment of a Catholic and bourgeois, officially French-speaking and neutral, independent Belgium under a
provisional government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...
and a
national congress.
[ ] Since the installation of
Leopold I as king on 1831, now celebrated as Belgium's
National Day, Belgium has been a
constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
and
parliamentary democracy
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
, with a
laicist constitution based on the
Napoleonic code.
Although the franchise was initially restricted,
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...
for men was introduced after the
general strike of 1893 (with
plural voting
Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an election. It is not to be confused with a plurality voting system which does not necessarily involve plural voting. Weighted voting is a generalisation of p ...
until 1919) and for women in 1949.
The main political parties of the 19th century were the
Catholic Party and the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, with the
Belgian Labour Party
The Belgian Labour Party ( nl, Belgische Werkliedenpartij, BWP; french: Parti ouvrier belge, POB) was the first major socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party was officially disbanded in 1940 and superseded by the Belgian Socialist ...
emerging towards the end of the 19th century. French was originally the single official language adopted by the
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
and the
bourgeoisie. It progressively lost its overall importance as Dutch became recognized as well. This recognition became official in 1898, and in 1967, the parliament accepted a Dutch version of the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
.
The
Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, also known as the Congo Conference (, ) or West Africa Conference (, ), regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergenc ...
of 1885 ceded control of the
Congo Free State to
King Leopold II as his private possession. From around 1900 there was growing international concern for the
extreme and savage treatment of the Congolese population under Leopold II, for whom the Congo was primarily a source of revenue from ivory and rubber production.
Many Congolese were killed by Leopold's agents for failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber.
In 1908, this outcry led the Belgian state to assume responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
.
A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo's population was half what it was in 1879.
Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914 as part of the
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on ...
to attack
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, and much of the
Western Front fighting of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
occurred in western parts of the country. The opening months of the war were known as the
Rape of Belgium
The Rape of Belgium was a series of systematic war crimes, especially mass murder and deportation and enslavement, by German troops against Belgian civilians during the invasion and occupation of Belgium in World War I.
The neutrality o ...
due to German excesses. Belgium assumed control of the
German colonies
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
of
Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day
Rwanda and
Burundi) during the war, and in 1924 the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
mandated them to Belgium. In the aftermath of the First World War, Belgium annexed the
Prussian districts of
Eupen and Malmedy in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a German-speaking minority.
German forces again invaded the country in May 1940, and 40,690 Belgians, over half of them Jews, were killed during the subsequent
occupation
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
and
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
. From September 1944 to February 1945
the Allies liberated Belgium. After World War II,
a general strike forced King
Leopold III to abdicate in 1951 in favour of his son,
Prince Baudouin, since
many Belgians felt he had collaborated with Germany during the war.
The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...
;
Ruanda-Urundi followed with its independence two years later. Belgium joined
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
as a founding member and formed the Benelux group of nations with the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Belgium became one of the six founding members of the
European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and of the
European Atomic Energy Community
The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organisation established by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, by developing nucl ...
and
European Economic Community, established in 1957. The latter has now become the European Union, for which Belgium hosts major administrations and institutions, including the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
, the
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...
and the extraordinary and committee sessions of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
.
In the early 1990s, Belgium saw several large corruption scandals notably surrounding
Marc Dutroux
Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester. Initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just thre ...
,
Andre Cools, the
Dioxin Affair,
Agusta Scandal
The Agusta scandal (french: Affaire Agusta, nl, Agustaschandaal), alternatively known as the Agusta–Dassault Case, was a major political scandal which occurred in Belgium during the 1990s, based on allegations that two multinational companies ...
and the murder of
Karel van Noppen.
Geography
![Belgium relief location map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Belgium_relief_location_map.jpg)
Belgium shares borders with
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
(),
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(),
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
() and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
(). Its total surface, including water area, is . Before 2018, its total area was believed to be . However, when the country's statistics were measured in 2018, a new calculation method was used. Unlike previous calculations, this one included the area from the coast to the low-water line, revealing the country to be larger in surface area than previously thought.
Its land area alone is 30,278 km
2.
It lies between latitudes 49°30' and 51°30' N, and longitudes 2°33' and 6°24' E.
[Geografische beschrijving van België – Over Belgie – Portaal Belgische Overheid]
. Belgium.be. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
Belgium has three main geographical regions; the coastal plain in the northwest and the central plateau both belong to the Anglo-Belgian Basin, and the
Ardennes uplands in the southeast to the
Hercynian orogenic belt. The
Paris Basin
The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France. It developed since the Triassic over remnant uplands of the Variscan orogeny (Hercynian orogeny). The sedimentary basin, no longer a single drainage basin, is a large sag in th ...
reaches a small fourth area at Belgium's southernmost tip,
Belgian Lorraine
Belgian Lorraine is the part of Lorraine that lies in the south of the Belgian province of Luxembourg, in Wallonia.
The term is used solely in a geological context, as the region borders the geologically-distinct Ardennes, to the north.
Cultural ...
.
The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and
polders. Further inland lies a smooth, slowly rising landscape irrigated by numerous waterways, with fertile valleys and the northeastern sandy plain of the
Campine (''Kempen''). The thickly forested hills and plateaus of the Ardennes are more rugged and rocky with caves and small
gorges. Extending westward into France, this area is eastwardly connected to the
Eifel in Germany by the
High Fens
The High Fens (german: Hohes Venn; french: Hautes Fagnes; nl, Hoge Venen), which were declared a nature reserve in 1957, are an upland area, a plateau region in Liège Province, in the east of Belgium and adjoining parts of Germany, between the ...
plateau, on which the
Signal de Botrange
Signal de Botrange is the highest point in Wallonia and in Belgium, located in the '' High Fens'' (''Hautes Fagnes'' in French, ''Hohes Venn'' in German, ''Hoge Venen'' in Dutch), at . It is the top of a broad plateau and a road crosses the sum ...
forms the country's highest point at .
The climate is
maritime temperate with significant precipitation in all seasons (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
: ''Cfb''), like most of northwest Europe.
[ ''(direct]
Final Revised Paper
)'' The average temperature is lowest in January at and highest in July at . The average precipitation per month varies between for February and April, to for July.
Averages for the years 2000 to 2006 show daily temperature minimums of and maximums of and monthly rainfall of ; these are about 1 °C and nearly 10 millimetres above last century's normal values, respectively.
Phytogeographically
Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...
, Belgium is shared between the Atlantic European and Central European provinces of the
Circumboreal Region
The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan.
It is the largest floristic region i ...
within the
Boreal Kingdom
The Boreal Kingdom or Holarctic Kingdom (Holarctis) is a floristic kingdom identified by botanist Ronald Good (and later by Armen Takhtajan), which includes the temperate to Arctic portions of North America and Eurasia. Its flora is inherit ...
.
[Takhtajan, Armen, 1986. ''Floristic Regions of the World''. (translated by T.J. Crovello and A. Cronquist). ]University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...
, Berkeley. According to the
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
, the territory of Belgium belongs to the
terrestrial ecoregions
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...
of
Atlantic mixed forests and
Western European broadleaf forests
The Western European broadleaf forests is an ecoregion in Western Europe, and parts of the Alps. It comprises temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, that cover large areas of France, Germany and the Czech Republic and more moderately sized parts ...
.
Belgium had a 2018
Forest Landscape Integrity Index
The Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) is an annual global index of forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification. Created by a team of 48 scientists, the FLII, in its measurement of 300m pixels of forest across the globe ...
mean score of 1.36/10, ranking it 163rd globally out of 172 countries.
Provinces
The territory of Belgium is divided into three Regions, two of which, the
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and t ...
and
Walloon Region
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
, are in turn subdivided into
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
; the third Region, the
Brussels Capital Region
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, is neither a province nor a part of a province.
Politics
![Chart constitution of Belgium EN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Chart_constitution_of_Belgium_EN.svg)
Belgium is a
constitutional
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these prin ...
,
popular monarchy and a
federal parliamentary democracy
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
. The
bicameral federal parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
is composed of a
Senate and a
Chamber of Representatives. The former is made up of 50 senators appointed by the parliaments of the
communities and regions and 10
co-opted senators. Prior to 2014, most of the Senate's members were directly elected. The
Chamber
Chamber or the chamber may refer to:
In government and organizations
* Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests
*Legislative chamber, in politics
* Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...
's 150 representatives are elected under a
proportional voting
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
system from 11
electoral districts
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
. Belgium has
compulsory voting
Compulsory voting, also called mandatory voting, is the requirement in some countries that eligible citizens register and vote in elections. Penalties might be imposed on those who fail to do so without a valid reason. According to the CIA World ...
and thus maintains one of the highest rates of
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...
in the world.
The
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
(currently
Philippe) is the
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
, though with limited
prerogatives. He appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the
Chamber of Representatives to form the
federal government. The Council of Ministers is composed of no more than fifteen members. With the possible exception of the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers is composed of an equal number of Dutch-speaking members and French-speaking members.
The judicial system is based on
civil law and originates from the
Napoleonic code. The
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
is the court of last resort, with the
courts of appeal one level below.
Political culture
Belgium's political institutions are complex;
most political power rests on representation of the main cultural communities.
Since about 1970, the significant national
Belgian political parties have split into distinct components that mainly represent the political and linguistic interests of these communities.
The major parties in each community, though close to the political center, belong to three main groups:
Christian Democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
,
Liberals, and
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
.
Further notable parties came into being well after the middle of last century, mainly to represent
linguistic
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, nationalist, or environmental interests, and recently smaller ones of some specific liberal nature.
![Palais de la Nation Bruxelles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Palais_de_la_Nation_Bruxelles.jpg)
A string of Christian Democrat coalition governments from 1958
was broken in 1999 after the first
dioxin crisis, a major
food contamination scandal.
[ElAmin, Ahmed (31 January 2006]
Belgium, Netherlands meat sectors face dioxin crisis
. foodproductiondaily.com A "rainbow coalition" emerged from six parties: the Flemish and the French-speaking Liberals, Social Democrats and Greens.
Later, a "
purple coalition" of Liberals and Social Democrats formed after the Greens lost most of their seats in the
2003 election.
The government led by Prime Minister
Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 to 2007 achieved a balanced budget, some
tax reform
Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxati ...
s, a labor-market reform, scheduled
nuclear phase-out and instigated legislation allowing more stringent
war crime and more lenient
soft drug usage prosecution. Restrictions on withholding
euthanasia were reduced and
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
legalized. The government promoted active
diplomacy
Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
in Africa
[ The article shows an example of Belgium's recent African policies.] and
opposed the invasion of Iraq.
It is the only country that does not have age restrictions on euthanasia.
Verhofstadt's coalition fared badly in the
June 2007 elections. For more than a year, the country experienced a
political crisis.
This crisis was such that many observers speculated on a possible
partition of Belgium.
From 2007 until 2008 the temporary
Verhofstadt III Government was in office. This was a coalition of the
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
and
Francophone Christian Democrats, the
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
and
Francophone Liberals together with the
Francophone Social Democrats.
On that day a
new government, led by Flemish Christian Democrat
Yves Leterme, the actual winner of the federal elections of , was sworn in by the king. On 2008 Leterme announced the resignation of the cabinet to the king, as no progress in
constitutional reforms had been made.
In December 2008, he once more offered his resignation to the king after a
crisis
A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...
surrounding the sale of
Fortis to
BNP Paribas.
[CNN.com](_blank)
, "Belgium Prime Minister offers resignation over banking deal" At this juncture, his resignation was accepted and
Christian Democratic and Flemish
Christian Democratic and Flemish (, , CD&V) is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism (ACV) and trade associations ( UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001, the party w ...
Herman Van Rompuy
Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician, who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009 and then as the first permanent president of the European Council from 2009 to 2014.
A politicia ...
was sworn in as Prime Minister on 2008.
[Belgian king asks Van Rompuy to form government](_blank)
Reuters.
After Herman Van Rompuy was designated the first permanent
President of the European Council on 2009, he offered the resignation of his government to King Albert II on 2009. A few hours later, the
new government under Prime Minister
Yves Leterme was sworn in. On 2010, Leterme again offered the resignation of his cabinet to the king
after one of the coalition partners, the
OpenVLD, withdrew from the government, and on 2010 King Albert officially accepted the resignation.
The Parliamentary elections in Belgium on 2010 saw the Flemish nationalist
N-VA become the largest party in Flanders, and the Socialist Party PS the largest party in Wallonia.
Until December 2011, Belgium was governed by Leterme's
caretaker government awaiting the end of the deadlocked negotiations for
formation of a new government. By 30 March 2011, this set a new world record for the elapsed time without an official government, previously held by war-torn
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
.
Finally, in December 2011 the
Di Rupo Government
The Di Rupo Government was the federal cabinet of Belgium sworn in on 6 December 2011, after a record-breaking 541 days of negotiations following the June 2010 elections. The government included social democrats ( sp.a/ PS), Christian democrat ...
led by Walloon socialist Prime Minister
Elio Di Rupo
Elio Di Rupo (; born 18 July 1951) is a Belgian politician who has served as the minister-president of Wallonia since 2019. He is affiliated with the Socialist Party. Di Rupo previously served as the prime minister of Belgium from 6 December 201 ...
was sworn in.
The
2014 federal election (coinciding with the
regional elections) resulted in a further electoral gain for the Flemish nationalist N-VA, although the incumbent coalition (composed of Flemish and French-speaking Social Democrats, Liberals, and Christian Democrats) maintains a solid majority in Parliament and in all electoral constituencies. On 22 July 2014, King Philippe nominated
Charles Michel
Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician serving as the president of the European Council since 2019. He previously served as the prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019.
Michel became the minister of Developm ...
(MR) and
Kris Peeters (CD&V) to
lead the formation of a new federal cabinet composed of the Flemish parties N-VA, CD&V, Open Vld and the French-speaking MR, which resulted in the
Michel Government. It was the first time N-VA was part of the federal cabinet, while the French-speaking side was represented only by the MR, which achieved a minority of the public votes in Wallonia.
In May
2019 federal elections in the Flemish-speaking northern region of Flanders far-right
Vlaams Belang
, ideology =
, predecessor = Vlaams Blok
, position =
, europarl = Identity and Democracy
, european = Identity and Democracy Party
, youth_wing = Vlaams Belang Jongeren
, colours = ...
party made major gains. In the French-speaking southern area of Wallonia the Socialists were strong. The moderate Flemish nationalist party the N-VA remained the largest party in parliament.
In July 2019 prime minister
Charles Michel
Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician serving as the president of the European Council since 2019. He previously served as the prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019.
Michel became the minister of Developm ...
was selected to hold the post of President of the
European Council.
His successor
Sophie Wilmès
Sophie Wilmès (; born 15 January 1975) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2019 to 2020. She later served as minister of Foreign Affairs from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Reformist Movement, she is the fir ...
was Belgium's first female prime minister. She led the caretaker government since October 2019.
The Flemish Liberal party politician
Alexander De Croo
Alexander De Croo (born 3 November 1975) is a Belgian politician and businessman who has served as the prime minister of Belgium since October 2020.
De Croo was born in Vilvoorde, Flemish Brabant, and studied business engineering at the Vrij ...
became new prime minister in October 2020. The parties had agreed on federal government 16 months after the elections.
Communities and regions
![Regions of Belgium](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Regions_of_Belgium.svg)
Following a usage which can be traced back to the Burgundian and Habsburg courts,
in the 19th century it was necessary to speak French to belong to the governing upper class, and those who could only speak Dutch were effectively second-class citizens.
Late that century, and continuing into the 20th century,
Flemish movement
The Flemish Movement ( nl, Vlaamse Beweging) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgium, Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought ...
s evolved to counter this situation.
[ Fitzmaurice (1996), p. 31.]
While the people in Southern Belgium spoke French or dialects of French, and
most Brusselers adopted French as their first language, the Flemings refused to do so and succeeded progressively in making Dutch an equal language in the education system.
Following World War II, Belgian politics became increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main linguistic communities.
Intercommunal tensions rose and the constitution was amended to minimize the potential for conflict.
Based on the four language areas defined in 1962–63 (the Dutch, bilingual, French and German language areas), consecutive
revisions of
the country's constitution in 1970, 1980, 1988 and 1993 established a unique form of a federal state with segregated political power into three levels:
# The
federal government, based in Brussels.
# The three language communities:
#* the
Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking);
#* the
French Community (French-speaking);
#* the
German-speaking Community.
# The three regions:
#* the
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and t ...
, subdivided into five
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
;
#* the
Walloon Region
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
, subdivided into five provinces;
#* the
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
The
constitutional language areas determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the empowered institutions for specific matters.
[ Fitzmaurice (1996), p. 121] Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge both.
[ Fitzmaurice (1996), p. 122.] Thus the Flemings just have one single institutional body of parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and specific municipal matters.
The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region (which came into existence nearly a decade after the other regions) is included in both the Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region. Conflicts about jurisdiction between the bodies are resolved by the
Constitutional Court of Belgium
The Constitutional Court (Dutch: , french: Cour constitutionelle, german: Verfassungsgerichtshof) plays a central role within the federal Belgian state. This is a judicial court founded in 1980. Its jurisdiction was augmented in 1988 and 2003.
Hi ...
. The structure is intended as a compromise to allow different cultures to live together peacefully.
Locus of policy jurisdiction
The Federal State's authority includes justice, defense, federal police, social security, nuclear energy, monetary policy and public debt, and other aspects of public finances. State-owned companies include the
Belgian Post Group
Bpost (stylised ''bpost'') also known as the Belgian Post Group, is the Belgian company responsible for the delivery of national and international mail. The Belgian Post Group is one of the largest civilian employers in Belgium. It provides a r ...
and
Belgian Railways. The Federal Government is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs.
The budget—without the debt—controlled by the federal government amounts to about 50% of the national fiscal income. The federal government employs around 12% of the civil servants.
Communities exercise their authority only within linguistically determined geographical boundaries, originally oriented towards the individuals of a Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education and the use of the relevant language. Extensions to personal matters less directly connected with language comprise health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families,
immigrant assistance services, and so on.).
Regions have authority in fields that can be broadly associated with their territory. These include economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit and foreign trade. They supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies.
In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specifics. With education, for instance, the autonomy of the Communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor allows for setting minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters.
Each level of government can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers. The treaty-making power of the Regions' and Communities' Governments is the broadest of all the Federating units of all the Federations all over the world.
Foreign relations
![Belgique - Bruxelles - Schuman - Berlaymont - 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Belgique_-_Bruxelles_-_Schuman_-_Berlaymont_-_01.jpg)
Because of its location at the crossroads of
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
, Belgium has historically been the route of invading armies from its larger neighbors. With virtually defenseless borders, Belgium has traditionally sought to avoid domination by the more powerful nations which surround it through a policy of mediation. The Belgians have been strong advocates of
European integration. The headquarters of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and of several of the institutions of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
are located in Belgium.
Armed forces
The Belgian Armed Forces have about 47,000 active troops. In 2019, Belgium's defense budget totaled €4.303 billion ($4.921 billion) representing .93% of its GDP.
They are organized into one unified structure which consists of four main components:
Land Component or the Army,
Air Component
The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne bel ...
or the Air Force,
Marine Component or the Navy and the
Medical Component. The operational commands of the four components are subordinate to the Staff Department for Operations and Training of the
Ministry of Defense
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
, which is headed by the
Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Training, and to the
Chief of Defense.
The effects of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
made
collective security a priority for
Belgian foreign policy. In March 1948 Belgium signed the
Treaty of Brussels
The Treaty of Brussels, also referred to as the Brussels Pact, was the founding treaty of the Western Union (WU) between 1948 and 1954, when it was amended as the Modified Brussels Treaty (MTB) and served as the founding treaty of the Western Eu ...
and then joined
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
in 1948. However, the integration of the armed forces into NATO did not begin until after the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.
[David Isby and Charles Kamps Jr, 'Armies of NATO's Central Front,' Jane's Publishing Company, 1985, p.59] The Belgians, along with the Luxembourg government, sent a detachment of battalion strength to fight in Korea known as the
Belgian United Nations Command. This mission was the first in a long line of UN missions which the Belgians supported. Currently, the Belgian Marine Component is working closely together with the
Dutch Navy
The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...
under the command of the
Admiral Benelux
The Admiral Benelux (ABNL) is the Commanding Officer of the combined military staff of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces.
The position of ABNL was created together with the combination of the Staffs o ...
.
Economy
![Belgium Product Exports (2019)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Belgium_Product_Exports_%282019%29.svg)
Belgium's strongly globalized economy
[Belgium ranked first in the KOF Globalization Index 2009] and its
transport infrastructure
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world's 15th largest trading nation in 2007.
The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high
GNP
The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...
and high exports per capita.
Belgium's main imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, and oil products. Its main exports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, and foodstuffs.
The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags behind.
One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports an
open economy
An open economy is a type of economy where not only domestic factors but also entities in other countries engage in trade of products (goods and services). Trade can take the form of managerial exchange, technology transfers, and all kinds of goo ...
and the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922, through the
Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market with customs and currency union.
![Ougree 16](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Ougr%C3%A9e_Cokerie.jpg)
Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, in the early 19th century.
Areas in
Liège Province
Liège (; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium.
Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Du ...
and around
Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century in the
Sambre and Meuse valley and made Belgium one of the three most industrialized nations in the world from 1830 to 1910.
However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...
from 1846 to 1850.
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
,
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
and
Antwerp experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and
1979 oil crises sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced a serious decline.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the economic center of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous
Flemish Diamond
The Flemish Diamond ( nl, Vlaamse Ruit) is the Flemish reference to a network of four metropolitan areas in Belgium, three of which are in the central provinces of Flanders, together with the Brussels Capital Region.Note: The Flemish government ...
area.
By the end of the 1980s, Belgian
macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. , the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to 90.30% of GDP.
In 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth rates of 1.5% and 3.0%, respectively, were slightly above the average for the Euro area. Unemployment rates of 8.4% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2006 were close to the area average. By , this had grown to 8.5% compared to an average rate of 9.6% for the European Union as a whole (EU 27).
From 1832 until 2002, Belgium's currency was the
Belgian franc. Belgium switched to the euro in 2002, with the first sets of euro coins being minted in 1999. The standard
Belgian euro coins designated for circulation show the portrait of the monarch (first King Albert II, since 2013 King Philippe).
Despite an 18% decrease observed from 1970 to 1999, Belgium still had in 1999 the highest
rail network
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
density within the European Union with 113.8 km/1 000 km
2. On the other hand, the same period, 1970–1999, has seen a huge growth (+56%) of the
motorway network. In 1999, the density of km motorways per 1000 km
2 and 1000 inhabitants amounted to 55.1 and 16.5 respectively and were significantly superior to the EU's means of 13.7 and 15.9.
![Port cranes at Zeebrügge, Belgium 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Port_cranes_at_Zeebr%C3%BCgge%2C_Belgium_2.JPG)
From a biological resource perspective, Belgium has a low endowment: Belgium's
biocapacity
The biocapacity or biological capacity of an ecosystem is an estimate of its production of certain biological materials such as natural resources, and its absorption and filtering of other materials such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Bio ...
adds up to only 0.8 global hectares in 2016,
just about half of the 1.6 global hectares of biocapacity available per person worldwide.
In contrast, in 2016, Belgians used on average 6.3 global hectares of biocapacity - their
ecological footprint of consumption. This means they required about eight times as much biocapacity as Belgium contains. As a result, Belgium was running a biocapacity deficit of 5.5 global hectares per person in 2016.
Belgium experiences some of the most congested traffic in Europe. In 2010, commuters to the cities of Brussels and Antwerp spent respectively 65 and 64 hours a year in traffic jams.
Like in most small European countries, more than 80% of the airways traffic is handled by a single airport, the
Brussels Airport. The
ports of Antwerp and
Zeebrugge (Bruges) share more than 80% of Belgian maritime traffic, Antwerp being the second European harbor with a gross weight of goods handled of 115 988 000 t in 2000 after a growth of 10.9% over the preceding five years.
[Another comparative study on transportation in Belgium: ] In 2016, the port of Antwerp handled 214 million tons after a year-on-year growth of 2.7%.
There is a large economic gap between
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
and
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
. Wallonia was historically wealthy compared to Flanders, mostly due to its
heavy industries
Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); or ...
, but the decline of the steel industry post-World War II led to the region's rapid decline, whereas Flanders rose swiftly. Since then, Flanders has been prosperous, among the wealthiest regions in Europe, whereas Wallonia has been languishing. As of 2007, the unemployment rate of Wallonia is over double that of Flanders. The divide has played a key part in the tensions between the Flemish and Walloons in addition to the already-existing language divide.
Pro-independence movements have gained high popularity in Flanders as a consequence. The separatist
New Flemish Alliance
The New Flemish Alliance ( nl, Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) is a Flemish nationalist and conservative political party in Belgium. The party was founded in 2001 by the right-leaning fraction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU).
...
(N-VA) party, for instance, is the largest party in Belgium.
Science and technology
![mercator](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Mercator.jpg)
Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country's history. The 16th century
Early Modern flourishing of Western Europe included
cartographer Gerardus Mercator
Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on ...
,
anatomist
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...
Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius (Latinized from Andries van Wezel) () was a 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, ''De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (''On the fabric of the human body'' ' ...
,
herbalist
Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...
Rembert Dodoens
Rembert Dodoens (born Rembert Van Joenckema, 29 June 1517 – 10 March 1585) was a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. He has been called the father of botany.
Life
Dodoens was born Rember ...
[ (*) Free abstract for pay-per-view article by] and
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
Simon Stevin
Simon Stevin (; 1548–1620), sometimes called Stevinus, was a Flemish mathematician, scientist and music theorist. He made various contributions in many areas of science and engineering, both theoretical and practical. He also translated vario ...
among the most influential scientists.
Chemist
Ernest Solvay
Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (; 16 April 1838 – 26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.
Born in Rebecq, he was prevented by his acute pleurisy from going to university. He worked in his uncle's chemical fac ...
and engineer
Zenobe Gramme (École industrielle de Liège)
gave their names to the
Solvay process
The Solvay process or ammonia-soda process is the major industrial process for the production of sodium carbonate (soda ash, Na2CO3). The ammonia-soda process was developed into its modern form by the Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay during the 1860s ...
and the
Gramme dynamo
A Gramme machine, Gramme ring, Gramme magneto, or Gramme dynamo is an electrical generator that produces direct current, named for its Belgian inventor, Zénobe Gramme, and was built as either a dynamo or a magneto. It was the first generator to ...
, respectively, in the 1860s.
Bakelite was developed in 1907–1909 by
Leo Baekeland
Leo Hendrik Baekeland (November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper in 1893, and Bakelite in 1907. He has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry" ...
. Ernest Solvay also acted as a major philanthropist and gave his name to the
Solvay Institute of Sociology
The Solvay Institute of Sociology ''SIS; ''Institut de Sociologie Solvay''assumed its first "definitive form" ( Solvay 1902/1906: 26) on November 16, 1902, when its founder Ernest Solvay, a wealthy Belgian chemist, industrialist, and philanthropi ...
, the
Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management
The Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (abbreviated as SBS-EM and also known as simply Solvay) is a school of economics and management and a Faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles, a French-speaking private research univ ...
and the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry which are now part of the
Université libre de Bruxelles. In 1911, he started a series of conferences, the
Solvay Conference
The Solvay Conferences (french: Conseils Solvay) have been devoted to outstanding preeminent open problems in both physics and chemistry. They began with the historic invitation-only 1911 Solvay Conference on Physics, considered a turning point i ...
s on Physics and Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum physics and chemistry.
A major contribution to fundamental science was also due to a Belgian,
Monsignor
Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...
Georges Lemaître
Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître ( ; ; 17 July 1894 – 20 June 1966) was a Belgian Catholic priest, theoretical physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Louvain. He was the first to t ...
(
Catholic University of Louvain
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
), who is credited with proposing the
Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927.
Three
Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine were awarded to Belgians:
Jules Bordet (Université libre de Bruxelles) in 1919,
Corneille Heymans
Corneille Jean François Heymans (28 March 1892 – 18 July 1968) was a Belgian physiologist. He studied at the Jesuit College of Saint Barbara and then at Ghent University, where he obtained a doctor's degree in 1920.
Heymans won the Nobel Pri ...
(
University of Ghent
Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium.
Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...
) in 1938 and
Albert Claude
Albert Claude (; 24 August 1899 – 22 May 1983) was a Belgian-American cell biologist and medical doctor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 with Christian de Duve and George Emil Palade. His elementary education s ...
(Université libre de Bruxelles) together with
Christian de Duve
Christian René Marie Joseph, Viscount de Duve (2 October 1917 – 4 May 2013) was a Nobel Prize-winning Belgian cytologist and biochemist. He made serendipitous discoveries of two cell organelles, peroxisome and lysosome, for which he shared ...
(
Université catholique de Louvain) in 1974.
François Englert
François, Baron Englert (; born 6 November 1932) is a Belgian theoretical physicist and 2013 Nobel prize laureate.
Englert is professor emeritus at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where he is a member of the Service de Physique Thé ...
(Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
in 2013.
Ilya Prigogine
Viscount Ilya Romanovich Prigogine (; russian: Илья́ Рома́нович Приго́жин; 28 May 2003) was a physical chemist and Nobel laureate noted for his work on dissipative structures, complex systems, and irreversibility.
B ...
(Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
in 1977.
Two Belgian mathematicians have been awarded the
Fields Medal:
Pierre Deligne
Pierre René, Viscount Deligne (; born 3 October 1944) is a Belgian mathematician. He is best known for work on the Weil conjectures, leading to a complete proof in 1973. He is the winner of the 2013 Abel Prize, 2008 Wolf Prize, 1988 Crafoord P ...
in 1978 and
Jean Bourgain
Jean, Baron Bourgain (; – ) was a Belgian mathematician. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1994 in recognition of his work on several core topics of mathematical analysis such as the geometry of Banach spaces, harmonic analysis, ergodic the ...
in 1994.
[ (Retrieved 10 November 2011)][ (Retrieved 10 November 2011)] Belgium was ranked 22nd in the
Global Innovation Index
The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and ''World Business'', a British ma ...
in 2020 and 2021, up from 23rd in 2019.
Demographics
![00 Bruxelles - Mont des Arts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/00_Bruxelles_-_Mont_des_Arts.jpg)
As of 1 January 2020, the total population of Belgium according to its population register was 11,492,641.
The population density of Belgium is as of January 2019, making it the
22nd most densely populated country in the world, and the
6th most densely populated country in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
. The most densely populated province is
Antwerp, the least densely populated province is
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. As of January 2019, the
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and t ...
had a population of 6,589,069 (57.6% of Belgium), its most populous cities being
Antwerp (523,248), Ghent (260,341) and
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.
The area of the whole city a ...
(118,284).
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
had a population of 3,633,795 (31.8% of Belgium) with
Charleroi (201,816),
Liège (197,355) and
Namur (110,939), its most populous cities. The
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
has 1,208,542 inhabitants (10.6% of Belgium) in the
19 municipalities, three of which have over 100,000 residents.
In 2017 the average
total fertility rate
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if:
# she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime
# she were t ...
(TFR) across Belgium was 1.64 children per woman, below the replacement rate of 2.1; it remains considerably below the high of 4.87 children born per woman in 1873.
Belgium subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 41.6 years.
Migration
, nearly 92% of the population had Belgian citizenship,
[This number evolved to 89% in 2011. ] and other European Union member citizens account for around 6%. The prevalent foreign nationals were Italian (171,918), French (125,061), Dutch (116,970),
Moroccan (80,579),
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
(43,509), Spanish (42,765),
Turkish (39,419) and German (37,621).
[De vreemde bevolking](_blank)
ecodata.mineco.fgov.be In 2007, there were 1.38 million foreign-born residents in Belgium, corresponding to 12.9% of the total population. Of these, 685,000 (6.4%) were born outside the EU and 695,000 (6.5%) were born in another EU Member State.
[L'IMMIGRATION EN BELGIQUE. EFFECTIFS, MOUVEMENTS. ET MARCHE DU TRAVAIL](_blank)
. Rapport 2009. Direction générale Emploi et marché du travai
At the beginning of 2012, people of foreign background and their descendants were estimated to have formed around 25% of the total population i.e. 2.8 million ''new Belgians''.
. npdata.be (1 January 2012). Of these new Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000
. npdata.be (7 May 2012). are from non-Western countries (most of them from
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, and the
DR Congo). Since the modification of the
Belgian nationality law
Belgian nationality law provides for the conditions in which a person holds Belgian nationality and is based on a mixture of the principles of ''jus sanguinis'' and ''jus soli''.
Belgian nationality is the status of being a citizen of Belgium. N ...
in 1984 more than
1.3 million migrants have acquired Belgian citizenship. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are
Moroccans
Moroccans (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Kingdom of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers (Amazigh). The term also applies more broadly to any people who are of Moroccan nationality, s ...
.
89.2% of inhabitants of
Turkish origin have been naturalized, as have 88.4% of people of Moroccan background, 75.4% of Italians, 56.2% of the French and 47.8% of Dutch people.
Statbel released figures of the Belgian population in relation to the origin of people in Belgium. According to the data, as of 1 January 2021, 67.3% of the Belgian population was of ethnic Belgian origin and 32.7% were of foreign origin or nationality, with 20.3% of those of a foreign nationality or ethnic group originating from neighbouring countries. The study also found that 74.5% of the
Brussels Capital Region
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
were of non-Belgian origin, of which 13.8% originated from neighbouring countries.
Languages
![Brussels signs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Brussels_signs.jpg)
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. A number of non-official minority languages are spoken as well.
As no census exists, there are no official statistical data regarding the distribution or usage of Belgium's three official languages or their
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
s.
However, various criteria, including the language(s) of parents, of education, or the second-language status of foreign born, may provide suggested figures. An estimated 60% of the Belgian population are native speakers of Dutch (often referred to as
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
), and 40% of the population speaks French natively. French-speaking Belgians are often referred to as Walloons, although the French speakers in Brussels are not Walloons.
The total number of native Dutch speakers is estimated to be about 6.23 million, concentrated in the northern Flanders region, while native French speakers number 3.32 million in Wallonia and an estimated 870,000 (or 85%) in the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.
[—Strictly, the capital is the municipality (City of) Brussels, though the Brussels-Capital Region might be intended because of its name and also its other municipalities housing institutions typical for a capital.] The
German-speaking Community is made up of 73,000 people in the east of the
Walloon Region
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
; around 10,000 German and 60,000 Belgian nationals are speakers of German. Roughly 23,000 more German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community.
[ The (original]
version in German language
(already) mentions 73,000 instead of 71,500 inhabitants.
Both
Belgian Dutch and
Belgian French
Belgian French (french: français de Belgique) is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois, and Lorrain (Gaumais). The Fren ...
have
minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken respectively in the Netherlands and France. Many Flemish people still speak
dialects of Dutch in their local environment.
Walloon, considered either as a dialect of French or a distinct
Romance language
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...
,
[According to ]Le Petit Larousse
''Le Petit Larousse Illustré'', commonly known simply as ''Le Petit Larousse'' (), is a French-language encyclopedic dictionary published by Éditions Larousse. It first appeared in 1905 and was edited by Claude Augé, following Augé's '' Dicti ...
, Walloon is a dialect of the langue d'oïl
Langue is a municipality in the Valle Department, Honduras.
The town is located near the border of El Salvador and is a regional Hammock making center. Most of the town is made up of sharecroppers and day laborers. There are usually Mormon miss ...
. According to the ''Meyers grosses Taschenlexikon'' is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. Walloon is divided into four dialects, which along with those of
Picard,
[Among Belgium native German speakers many are familiar with the local dialect varieties of their region, that include dialects that spill over into neighboring Luxembourg and Germany. (Online version]
Sixteenth edition
) are rarely used in public life and have largely been replaced by French.
Religion
![Basilica of the Sacred Heart-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Basilica_of_the_Sacred_Heart-2.jpg)
Since the country's independence,
Roman Catholicism has had an important role in Belgium's politics.
[See for example ]Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
entry of the Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
However Belgium is largely a
secular country as the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. During the reigns of
Albert I and
Baudouin, the
Belgian royal family
Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary, and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled king or queen of the Belgians ( nl, Koning(in) der Belgen, french: Roi / Reine des Belges}, german: König(in) der Belgier) and serves as the country's he ...
had a reputation of deeply rooted Catholicism.
Roman Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion; being especially strong in Flanders. However, by 2009 Sunday
church attendance
Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday); the Westminster Confession of Faith is held by the Reformed ...
was 5% for Belgium in total; 3% in Brussels,
and 5.4% in Flanders. Church attendance in 2009 in Belgium was roughly half of the Sunday church attendance in 1998 (11% for the total of Belgium in 1998).
[Kerken lopen zeer geleidelijk helemaal leeg – Dutch news article describing church attendance in Flanders](_blank)
. Standaard.be (25 November 2010). Retrieved 26 September 2011. Despite the drop in church attendance, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Belgium's culture.
According to the Eurobarometer 2010,
Eurobarometer Biotechnology report 2010
'' p.381. 37% of Belgian citizens responded that they believe there is a God. 31% answered that they believe there is some sort of spirit or life-force. 27% answered that they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life-force. 5% did not respond. According to the Eurobarometer 2015, 60.7% of the total population of Belgium adhered to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, with
Roman Catholicism being the largest denomination with 52.9%. Protestants comprised 2.1% and Orthodox Christians were the 1.6% of the total. Non-religious people comprised 32.0% of the population and were divided between atheists (14.9%) and agnostics (17.1%). A further 5.2% of the population was Muslim and 2.1% were believers in other religions.
The same survey held in 2012 found that Christianity was the largest religion in Belgium, accounting for 65% of
Belgians
Belgians ( nl, Belgen; french: Belges; german: Belgier) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultur ...
.
Symbolically and materially, the Roman Catholic Church remains in a favorable position.
Belgium officially recognizes three religions: Christianity (Catholic, Protestantism, Orthodox churches and Anglicanism), Islam and Judaism.
![Syna_Bruxelles-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Syna_Bruxelles-2.JPG)
In the early 2000s, there were approximately 42,000 Jews in Belgium. The
Jewish Community of Antwerp (numbering some 18,000) is one of the largest in Europe, and one of the last places in the world where
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
is the primary language of a large Jewish community (mirroring certain Orthodox and Hasidic communities in New York, New Jersey, and Israel). In addition, most Jewish children in Antwerp receive a Jewish education.
[Ghiuzeli, Haim F]
The Jewish Community of Antwerp, Belgium
. Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People There are several Jewish newspapers and more than 45 active synagogues (30 of which are in Antwerp) in the country.
A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered to be a more religious region than Wallonia, showed that 55% considered themselves religious and that 36% believed that God created the universe.
[Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organization for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine 2006 p. 14 monotheistic sense or in some afterlife], or both.] On the other hand, Wallonia has become one of Europe's most secular/least religious regions. Most of the French-speaking region's population does not consider religion an important part of their lives, and as much as 45% of the population identifies as irreligious. This is particularly the case in eastern Wallonia and areas along the French border.
![Brussel 052 Jubelpark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Brussel_052_Jubelpark.JPG)
A 2008 estimate found that approximately 6% of the Belgian population (628,751 people) is
Muslim. Muslims constitute 23.6% of the population of
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, 4.9% of
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
and 5.1% of
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
. The majority of Belgian Muslims live in the major cities, such as
Antwerp, Brussels and
Charleroi. The largest group of immigrants in Belgium are Moroccans, with 400,000 people. The Turks are the third largest group, and the second largest Muslim ethnic group, numbering 220,000.
[Voor het eerst meer Marokkaanse dan Italiaanse migranten](_blank)
. hbvl.be. 2007
Health
![UZA ziekenhuis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/UZA_ziekenhuis.jpg)
The Belgians enjoy good health. According to 2012 estimates, the average life expectancy is 79.65 years.
Since 1960, life expectancy has, in line with the European average, grown by two months per year. Death in Belgium is mainly due to heart and vascular disorders,
neoplasm
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
s, disorders of the respiratory system and unnatural causes of death (accidents, suicide). Non-natural causes of death and cancer are the most common causes of death for females up to age 24 and males up to age 44.
Healthcare in Belgium
Healthcare in Belgium is composed of three parts. Firstly there is a primarily publicly funded healthcare and social security service run by the federal government, which organises and regulates healthcare; independent private/public practition ...
is financed through both social security contributions and taxation. Health insurance is compulsory. Health care is delivered by a mixed public and private system of independent medical practitioners and public, university and semi-private hospitals. Health care service are payable by the patient and reimbursed later by health insurance institutions, but for ineligible categories (of patients and services) so-called 3rd party payment systems exist.
The Belgian health care system is supervised and financed by the federal government, the Flemish and Walloon Regional governments; and the German Community also has (indirect) oversight and responsibilities.
For the first time in Belgian history, the first child was euthanized following the 2-year mark of the removal of the euthanization age restrictions. The child had been euthanized due to an incurable disease that was inflicted upon the child. Although there may have been some support for the euthanization there is a possibility of controversy due to the issue revolving around the subject of assisted suicide.
Excluding assisted suicide, Belgium has the highest suicide rate in Western Europe and one of the
highest suicide rates in the
developed world
A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...
(exceeded only by Lithuania, South Korea, and Latvia).
Education
![2011-09-24 17](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/2011-09-24_17.42_Leuven%2C_universiteitsbibliotheek_ceg74154_foto4.jpg)
Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians.
[ Extracts]
p. 97
p. 105
Among
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
countries in 2002, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in
postsecondary education
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
, at 42%.
Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over
functional illiteracy
Functional illiteracy consists of reading and writing skills that are inadequate "to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level". Those who read and write only in a language other than the predominan ...
.
The
Programme for International Student Assessment
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-yea ...
(PISA), coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Belgium's education as the 19th best in the world, being significantly higher than the OECD average.
Education being organized separately by each, the Flemish Community scores noticeably above the French and German-speaking Communities.
Mirroring the dual structure of the 19th-century Belgian political landscape, characterized by the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and the
Catholic parties, the educational system is segregated within a secular and a religious segment. The secular branch of schooling is controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, while religious, mainly
Catholic branch education, is organized by religious authorities, although subsidized and supervised by the communities.
Culture
Despite its
political and linguistic divisions, the region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence on European art and culture. Nowadays, to a certain extent, cultural life is concentrated within each language Community, and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced.
Since the 1970s, there are no bilingual universities or colleges in the country except the
Royal Military Academy and the
Antwerp Maritime Academy.
[ ]
Fine arts
![eyck](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Eyck.hubert.lamb.750pix.jpg)
Contributions to painting and architecture have been especially rich. The
Mosan art
Mosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although in a broader sense the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque ar ...
, the
Early Netherlandish
Early Netherlandish painting, traditionally known as the Flemish Primitives, refers to the work of artists active in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period. It flourished especiall ...
,
the
Flemish Renaissance
The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders).
Culture in the Low C ...
and
Baroque painting and major examples of
Romanesque,
Gothic,
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
and
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...
[Several examples of major architectural realizations in Belgium belong to ]UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
: are milestones in the history of art. While the 15th century's art in the Low Countries is dominated by the religious paintings of
Jan van Eyck and
Rogier van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...
, the 16th century is characterized by a broader panel of styles such as
Peter Breughel's landscape paintings and
Lambert Lombard's representation of the antique.
Though the Baroque style of
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...
and
Anthony van Dyck flourished in the early 17th century in the Southern Netherlands,
it gradually declined thereafter.
[—A general presentation of the Flemish artistic movement with a list of its artists, linking to their biographies and artworks]
During the 19th and 20th centuries many original
romantic,
expressionist
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
and
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
Belgian painters emerged, including
James Ensor
James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic g ...
and other artists belonging to the
Les XX
''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their ar ...
group,
Constant Permeke
Constant Permeke (; 31 July 1886 – 4 January 1952) was a Belgian painter and sculptor who is considered the leading figure of Flemish expressionism.
Biography
Permeke was born in Antwerp but when he was six years old the family moved to Ost ...
,
Paul Delvaux and
René Magritte
René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bound ...
. The avant-garde
CoBrA movement appeared in the 1950s, while the sculptor
Panamarenko remains a remarkable figure in contemporary art.
[—List of Belgian painters, linking to their biographies and artworks] Multidisciplinary artists
Jan Fabre,
Wim Delvoye
Wim Delvoye (born 1965 in Wervik, West Flanders) is a Belgian neo-conceptual artist known for his inventive and often shocking projects. Much of his work is focused on the body. As the critic Robert Enright wrote in the art magazine ''Border ...
and the painter
Luc Tuymans are other internationally renowned figures on the contemporary art scene.
Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of
Victor Horta
Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. His Hôtel Tassel in Brussels, built in 1892–93, is often ...
and
Henry van de Velde
Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium ...
, who were major initiators of the
Art Nouveau style.
[Brussels, capital of Art Nouveau (page 1)](_blank)
, (for example)
The
vocal music
Vocal music is a type of singing performed by one or more singers, either with instrumental accompaniment, or without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but d ...
of the
Franco-Flemish School
The designation Franco-Flemish School, also called Netherlandish School, Burgundian School, Low Countries School, Flemish School, Dutch School, or Northern School, refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition or ...
developed in the southern part of the Low Countries and was an important contribution to Renaissance culture.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, there was an emergence of major violinists, such as
Henri Vieuxtemps
Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps ( 17 February 18206 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th ce ...
,
Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar".
Legend of the Ysaÿe violin
Eugène Ysa ...
and
Arthur Grumiaux
Baron Arthur Grumiaux (; 21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful t ...
, while
Adolphe Sax
Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 4 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba. He played the f ...
invented the saxophone in 1846. The composer
César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...
was born in Liège in 1822. Contemporary
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
in Belgium is also of repute. Jazz musicians
Django Reinhardt
Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...
and
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans, was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for his chromatic harmonica playing, as well as his guitar and whistl ...
and singer
Jacques Brel have achieved global fame. Nowadays, singer
Stromae
Paul van Haver (; born 12 March 1985), better known by his stage name Stromae (), is a Belgian singer, rapper, songwriter and producer. He is mostly known for his music blending hip hop and electronic music. Stromae came to wide public attenti ...
has been a musical revelation in Europe and beyond, having great success. In rock/pop music,
Telex
The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of sending written messages electroni ...
,
Front 242,
K's Choice
K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are brothers Sam Bettens (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). They are joined by Bart Van Lierde (bass), Tom Lodewyc ...
,
Hooverphonic
Hooverphonic is a Belgian band that formed in October 1995. Though originally categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a singular genre, but rather encompass altern ...
,
Zap Mama
Zap Mama is the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. The worldwide success of Zap Ma ...
,
Soulwax
Soulwax are an electronic band from Ghent, Belgium. Centred around brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, other current members include Igor Cavalera and Stefaan Van Leuven. They were first noticed after the release of their album '' Much Against Ev ...
and
dEUS are well known. In the heavy metal scene, bands like
Machiavel,
Channel Zero and
Enthroned have a worldwide fan-base.
[Two comprehensive discussions of rock and pop music in Belgium since the 1950s:]
Belgium has produced several well-known
authors, including the poets
Emile Verhaeren
Emil or Emile may refer to:
Literature
*'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
* ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life
*'' Emil and the Detecti ...
,
Guido Gezelle
Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle (1 May 1830 – 27 November 1899) was an influential writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium. He is famous for the use of the West Flemish dialect.
Life
Gezelle was born in Bruges in ...
,
Robert Goffin
Robert Goffin (21 May 1898 – 27 June 1984) was a Belgian lawyer, author, and poet, credited with writing the first "serious" book on jazz, ''Aux Frontières du Jazz'' in 1932.Epperson.
Life
Robert Goffin was born in Ohain, Brabant Province i ...
and novelists
Hendrik Conscience
Henri (Hendrik) Conscience (3 December 1812 – 10 September 1883) was a Belgian author. He is considered the pioneer of Dutch-language literature in Flanders, writing at a time when Belgium was dominated by the French language among the upper cl ...
,
Stijn Streuvels
Stijn Streuvels (3 October 1871, Heule, Kortrijk - 15 August 1969, Ingooigem, Anzegem), born Franciscus (Frank) Petrus Maria Lateur, was a Flemish Belgian writer.
Biography
He started writing at a very young age. He was inspired by his uncle, ...
,
Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret.
Early life and education ...
, Suzanne Lilar, Hugo Claus and Amélie Nothomb. The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1911. ''The Adventures of Tintin'' by Hergé is the best known of Franco-Belgian comics, but many other major authors, including Peyo (''The Smurfs''), André Franquin (''Gaston Lagaffe''), Dupa (''Cubitus''), Morris (comics), Morris (''Lucky Luke''), Greg (comics), Greg (''Achille Talon''), Lambil (''Les Tuniques Bleues''), Edgar P. Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry a worldwide fame.
Additionally, famous crime author Agatha Christie created the character Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective, who has served as a protagonist in a number of her acclaimed mystery novels.
Cinema of Belgium, Belgian cinema has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life on-screen. Other Belgian directors include André Delvaux, Stijn Coninx, Luc Dardenne, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; well-known actors include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jan Decleir and Marie Gillain; and successful films include ''Bullhead (film), Bullhead, Man Bites Dog (film), Man Bites Dog'' and ''The Alzheimer Affair''.
[A review of the Belgian cinema till about 2000 can be found at]
Belgium is also home to a number of successful fashion designers :Belgian fashion designers.
Folklore
![Binche - Les Gilles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Binche_-_Les_Gilles.jpg)
Folklore plays a major role in Belgium's cultural life; the country has a comparatively high number of processions, cavalcades, parades, ommegangs, ducasses, kermesse (festival), kermesses, and other local festivals, nearly always with an originally religious or mythology of the Low Countries, mythological background. The three-day Carnival of Binche, near Mons, with its famous Gilles (men dressed in high, plumed hats and bright costumes) is held just before Lent (the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter). Together with the 'Processional Giants and Dragons' of Ath, Brussels, Dendermonde, Mechelen and Mons, it is recognized by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Other examples are the three-day Carnival of Aalst in February or March; the still very religious processions of procession of the Holy Blood, the Holy Blood taking place in
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.
The area of the whole city a ...
in May, the Virga Jesse Basilica, Virga Jesse procession held every seven years in Hasselt, the Basilica of Our Lady of Hanswijk, annual procession of Hanswijk in Mechelen, the 15 August festivities in
Liège, and the Walloon festival in
Namur. Originated in 1832 and revived in the 1960s, the Gentse Feesten (a music and theatre festival organised in Ghent around Belgian National Day, on 21 July) have become a modern tradition. Several of these festivals include sporting competitions, such as cycle sport, cycling, and many fall under the category of kermesses.
A major non-official holiday (which is however not an official public holiday) is Saint Nicholas Day (Dutch: ''Sinterklaas'', French: ''la Saint-Nicolas''), a festivity for children, and in Liège, for students.
It takes place each year on 6 December and is a sort of early Christmas. On the evening of 5 December, before going to bed, children put their shoes by the hearth with water or wine and a carrot for Saint Nicholas's horse or donkey. According to tradition, Saint Nicholas comes at night and travels down the chimney. He then takes the food and water or wine, leaves presents, goes back up, feeds his horse or donkey, and continues on his course. He also knows whether children have been good or bad. This holiday is especially loved by children in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dutch immigrants imported the tradition into the United States, where Saint Nicholas is now known as Santa Claus.
Cuisine
![Moules Frites](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Moules_Frites.jpg)
Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and French fries. The national dishes are "Steak frites, steak and fries", and "moules-frites, mussels with fries".
[ Republished from][ Republished from] Many highly ranked Belgian restaurants can be found in the most influential restaurant guides, such as the Michelin Guide.
One of the many beers with the high prestige is that of the Trappists, Trappist monks. Technically, it is an ale and traditionally each abbey's beer is served in its own glass (the forms, heights and widths are different). There are only eleven breweries (six of them are Belgian) that are allowed to brew Trappist beer.
Although Belgian gastronomy is connected to French cuisine, some recipes were reputedly invented there, such as French fries (despite the name, although their exact place of origin is uncertain), Flemish Stew (a beef stew with beer, mustard and bay laurel), speculaas (or ''speculoos'' in French, a sort of cinnamon and ginger-flavoured shortcrust pastry, shortcrust biscuit), Brussels waffles (and their variant, Liège waffles), waterzooi (a broth made with chicken or fish, cream and vegetables), endive with bechamel sauce, Brussels sprouts, Belgian pralines (Belgium has some of the most renowned chocolate houses), ''charcuterie'' (deli meats) and ''Paling in 't groen'' (river eels in a sauce of green herbs).
Brands of Belgian chocolate and pralines, like Côte d'Or (brand), Côte d'Or, Chocolatier Neuhaus, Neuhaus, Leonidas (chocolate maker), Leonidas and Godiva Chocolatier, Godiva are famous, as well as independent producers such as Burie and Del Rey in Antwerp and Mary's in Brussels.
Belgium produces over Belgian beer, 1100 varieties of beer.
The Trappist beer of the Westvleteren Brewery, Abbey of Westvleteren has repeatedly been rated the world's best beer.
The biggest brewer in the world by volume is Anheuser-Busch InBev, based in
Leuven.
Sports
![Eddy Merckx Molteni 1973](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Eddy_Merckx_Molteni_1973.jpg)
Since the 1970s, sports clubs and federations are organized separately within each Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, language community.
The (ADEPS) is responsible for recognising the various French-speaking sports federations and also runs three sports centres in the Brussels-Capital Region. Its Dutch-speaking counterpart is (formerly called Bloso, BLOSO).
Association football is the most popular sport in both parts of Belgium; also very popular are cycling, tennis, swimming, judo
and basketball.
The Belgium national football team has been on the top spot of the FIFA World Rankings ever since September 2018 (it reached this rank for the first time in November 2015).
Since the 1990s, the team has been the world's number one for the most years in history, only behind the records of Brazil National Football Team, Brazil and Spain National Football Team, Spain.
''Team of the Year Award 2010''
on the FIFA website The team's golden generations with the world class players in the squad, namely Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Jan Ceulemans achieved the bronze medals at 2018 FIFA World Cup, World Cup 2018, and silver medals at UEFA Euro 1980, Euro 1980. Belgium hosted the UEFA Euro 1972, Euro 1972, and co-hosted the UEFA Euro 2000, Euro 2000 with the Netherlands.
Belgians hold List of Tour de France winners, the most Tour de France victories of any country except France. They have also the most victories on the UCI Road World Championships. With five victories in the Tour de France and numerous other cycling records, Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx is regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time. Philippe Gilbert is the 2012 world champion. Another well-known Belgian cyclist is Tom Boonen.
Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both were WTA Awards, Player of the Year in the Women's Tennis Association as they were ranked the number one female tennis player.
The Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit hosts the Formula One World Championship Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian driver, Jacky Ickx, won eight Grands Prix and six 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished twice as runner-up in the Formula One World Championship. Belgium also has a strong reputation in, motocross with the riders Joël Robert, Roger De Coster, Georges Jobé, Eric Geboers and Stefan Everts, among others.
Sporting events annually held in Belgium include the Memorial Van Damme athletics competition, the Belgian Grand Prix Formula One, and a number of classic cycle races such as the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The 1920 Summer Olympics were held in Antwerp. The 1977 European Basketball Championship was held in Liège and Ostend.
See also
* Index of Belgium-related articles
* Outline of Belgium
Footnotes
References
Online sources
*
* (mentioning other original sources)
*
Belgium
''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 7 June 2007.
*
*
*
*
*
*
* —Reflections on nations and nation-state developments regarding Belgium
Bibliography
*
*
*
[Also editions [1913], London, ; (1921) D. Unwin and Co., New York also published (1921) as ''Belgium from the Roman invasion to the present day'', The Story of the nations, 67, T. Fisher Unwin, London, ]
* Facsimile reprint of a 1902 edition by the author, London
Facsimile reprint of a 1909 edition by the author, London
*
*
(Several editions in English, incl. (1997) 7th ed.)
External links
Government
Official site of the Belgian monarchy
Official site of the Belgian federal government
General
Belgium
''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
Belgium
at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
Belgium
information from the United States Department of State
*
Portals to the World
from the United States Library of Congress
Belgium profile
from the BBC News
FAO Country Profiles: Belgium
Statistical Profile of Belgium at the Association of Religion Data Archives
*
Key Development Forecasts for Belgium
from International Futures
Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope
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