Coordinates: 50°50′N 4°00′E / 50.833°N 4.000°E /
50.833; 4.000
Kingdom of Belgium
Koninkrijk België (Dutch)
Royaume de Belgique (French)
Königreich Belgien (German)
Flag
Coat of arms
Motto: "Eendracht maakt macht" (Dutch)
"L'union fait la force" (French)
"Einigkeit macht stark" (German)
"Unity makes Strength"
Anthem: "La Brabançonne"
"The Brabantian"
Location of Belgium (dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (green)
Capital
and largest city
Brussels
50°51′N 4°21′E / 50.850°N 4.350°E / 50.850; 4.350
Official languages
Dutch
French
German
Ethnic groups
see Demographics
Religion (2015[1])
60.7% Christianity
32.0% No religion
5.2% Islam
2.1% Other religions
Demonym
Belgian
Government
Federal parliamentary
constitutional monarchy[2]
• Monarch
Philippe
• Prime Minister
Charles Michel
Legislature
Federal Parliament
• Upper house
Senate
• Lower house
Chamber of Representatives
Independence (from the Netherlands)
• Declared
4 October 1830
• Recognised
19 April 1839
Area
• Total
30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) (136th)
• Water (%)
6.4
Population
• 1 January 2018 census
11,358,357 [3] (75th)
• Density
372.06/km2 (963.6/sq mi) (36th)
GDP (PPP)
2016 estimate
• Total
$508.598 billion[4] (38th)
• Per capita
$44,881[4] (20th)
GDP (nominal)
2016 estimate
• Total
$470.179 billion[4] (23rd)
• Per capita
$41,491[4] (17th)
Gini (2011)
26.3[5]
low
HDI (2014)
0.890[6]
very high · 21st
Currency
Euro
Euro (€) (EUR)
Time zone
CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)
CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the
right
Calling code
+32
ISO 3166 code
BE
Internet TLD
.be
The flag's official proportions of 13:15 are rarely seen; proportions
of 2:3 or similar are more common.
The
Brussels
Brussels region is the de facto capital, but the City of Brussels
municipality is the de jure capital.[7]
The
.eu
.eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union
member states.
Belgium
.jpg/440px-Belgium-6015_-_Most_Photographed_Dog_in_Burges_(13902076955).jpg)
Belgium (/ˈbɛldʒəm/ ( listen)),[A] officially the
Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western
Europe
Europe bordered by France,
the Netherlands,
Germany
Germany and Luxembourg. A small and densely populated
country, it covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres
(11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than
11 million. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and
Latin
Latin Europe,
Belgium
Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups: the
Dutch-speaking, mostly Flemish community, which constitutes about 59
percent of the population, and the French-speaking, mostly Walloon
population, which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians.
Additionally, there is a small ~1 percent group of German speakers who
live in the East Cantons.
Historically,
Belgium
Belgium lay in the area known as the Low Countries, a
somewhat larger area than the current
Benelux
Benelux group of states that
also included parts of Northern
France
France and Western Germany. The region
was called Belgica in Latin, after the
Roman province
Roman province of Gallia
Belgica. From the end of the
Middle Ages
Middle Ages until the 17th century, the
area of
Belgium
Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce
and culture. From the 16th century until the
Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution in
1830, when
Belgium
Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, the area of Belgium
served as the battleground between many European powers, causing it to
be dubbed the "Battlefield of Europe",[8] a reputation strengthened by
both world wars.
Belgium
Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
system of governance. It is divided into three highly autonomous
regions[9] and three communities, that exist next to each other. Its
two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of
Flanders
.jpg/500px-Flanders_automobile_advertisement_(from_Netherlands).jpg)
Flanders in the
north and the mostly French-speaking southern part of the Wallonia
region. The
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels-Capital Region is an officially bilingual (French
and Dutch) enclave within the Flemish Region.[10] A German-speaking
Community exists in eastern Wallonia.[11][12] Belgium's linguistic
diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its
political history and complex system of governance, made up of six
different governments.[13][14]
Belgium
Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution[15][16] and, during
the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in
Africa.[17] The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising
tensions between the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking citizens
fueled by differences in language and culture and the unequal economic
development of
Flanders
Flanders and Wallonia. This continuing antagonism has
led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a
unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 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;[18] and the formation of a coalition
government took 18 months following the June 2010 federal election, a
world record.[19] Unemployment in
Wallonia
Wallonia is more than double that of
Flanders, which boomed after the war.[20]
Belgium
Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the
European Union
European Union and
hosts the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of
the European Union, and the European Council, as well as a seat of the
European Parliament
European Parliament in the country's capital, Brussels.
Belgium
Belgium is
also a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO, and a
part of the trilateral
Benelux
Benelux Union and the Schengen Area. Brussels
hosts several of the EU's official seats as well as the headquarters
of many major international organizations such as NATO.[B]
Belgium
Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy.
The country achieves very high standards of living, life quality,[21]
healthcare,[22] education,[23] and is categorized as "very high" in
the Human Development Index.[24] It also ranks as one of the safest or
most peaceful countries in the world.[25]
Contents
1 History
1.1 Pre-independent Belgium
1.2 Independent Belgium
2 Geography
2.1 Provinces
3 Politics
3.1 Political culture
3.2 Communities and regions
3.3 Locus of policy jurisdiction
3.4 Foreign relations
3.5 Armed forces
4 Economy
4.1 Science and technology
5 Demographics
5.1 Migration
5.2 Functional urban areas[137]
5.3 Languages
5.4 Religion
5.5 Health
5.6 Education
6 Culture
6.1 Fine arts
6.2 Folklore
6.3 Cuisine
6.4 Sports
7 See also
8 Footnotes
9 References
10 External links
History
Main article: History of Belgium
Pre-independent Belgium
Gaul
Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the
Belgae
Belgae inhabit, the
Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in
ours Gauls, the third. (...) Of all these, the
Belgae
Belgae are the
strongest (...) .
“
”
— Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico,
Book
Book I, Ch. 1
The name "Belgium" is derived from Gallia Belgica, a
Roman province
Roman province in
the northernmost part of
Gaul
Gaul that before Roman invasion in
100 BC, was inhabited by the Belgae, a mix of Celtic and Germanic
peoples.[26][C] A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes
during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the
Merovingian
Merovingian kings. A gradual shift of power during the 8th century led
the kingdom of the
Franks
Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire.[27]
The
Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the region into Middle and West
Francia and therefore into a set of more or less independent fiefdoms
which, during the Middle Ages, were vassals either of the King of
France
France or of the Holy Roman Emperor.[27]
Many of these fiefdoms were united in the
Burgundian Netherlands
Burgundian Netherlands of
the 14th and 15th centuries.[28] Emperor Charles V extended the
personal union of the
Seventeen Provinces
Seventeen Provinces in the 1540s, making it far
more than a personal union by the
Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 and
increased his influence over the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.[29]
The
Eighty Years' War
Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) divided the
Low Countries
Low Countries into the
northern United Provinces (Belgica Foederata in Latin, the "Federated
Netherlands") and the
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands (Belgica Regia, the "Royal
Netherlands"). The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish
(Spanish Netherlands) and the Austrian Habsburgs (Austrian
Netherlands) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the
theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the
17th and 18th centuries.
Following the campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the
Low Countries—including territories that were never nominally under
Habsburg
Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Liège—were annexed
by the French First Republic, ending Austrian rule in the region. The
reunification of the
Low Countries
Low Countries as the
United Kingdom
United Kingdom of the
Netherlands
.jpg/300px-Intelsat_111_Atlas_Centaur_(14392777565).jpg)
Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the
First French Empire
.svg/250px-Flag_of_France_(1794-1815).svg.png)
First French Empire in
1815, after the defeat of Napoleon.
Independent Belgium
Episode of the
Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution of 1830 (1834), by Gustaf Wappers
In 1830, the
Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution led to the separation of the Southern
Provinces from the
Netherlands
Netherlands and to the establishment of a Catholic
and bourgeois, officially French-speaking and neutral, independent
Belgium
Belgium under a provisional government and a national
congress.[30][31] Since the installation of Leopold I as king on
21 July 1831, now celebrated as Belgium's National Day,
Belgium
Belgium has
been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a
laicist constitution based on the Napoleonic code.[32] Although the
franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was
introduced after the general strike of 1893 (with plural voting until
1919) and for women in 1949.
The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party
and the Liberal Party, with the
Belgian Labour Party
Belgian Labour Party emerging towards
the end of the 19th century. French was originally the single official
language adopted by the nobility 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.[33]
The
Berlin Conference
Berlin Conference of 1885 ceded control of the
Congo Free State
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.[34] Many Congolese were killed by Leopold's agents for
failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber.[35] It is
estimated that nearly 10 million were killed during the Leopold
period. In 1908, this outcry led the Belgian state to assume
responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the
Belgian Congo.[36] A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo's
population was half what it was in 1879.[35]
Germany
Germany invaded
Belgium
Belgium in August 1914 as part of the Schlieffen Plan
to attack France, and much of the Western Front fighting of World War
I occurred in western parts of the country. The opening months of the
war were known as the
Rape of Belgium
Rape of Belgium due to German excesses. Belgium
assumed control of the
German colonies
German colonies of
Ruanda-Urundi
Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day
Rwanda
Rwanda and Burundi) during the war, and in 1924 the League of Nations
mandated them to Belgium. In the aftermath of the First World War,
Belgium
Belgium annexed the Prussian districts of Eupen and Malmedy in 1925,
thereby causing the presence of a German-speaking minority.
Cheering crowds greet British troops entering Brussels, 4 September
1944
German forces again invaded the country in May 1940, and 40,690
Belgians, over half of them Jews, were killed during the subsequent
occupation and The Holocaust. 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, since many Belgians
felt he had collaborated with
Germany
Germany during the war.[37] The Belgian
Congo gained independence in 1960 during the Congo Crisis;[38]
Ruanda-Urundi
Ruanda-Urundi followed with its independence two years later. Belgium
joined
NATO
NATO as a founding member and formed the
Benelux
Benelux group of
nations with the
Netherlands
Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Belgium
Belgium became one of the six founding members of the European Coal
and Steel Community in 1951 and of the European Atomic Energy
Community and European Economic Community, established in 1957. The
latter has now become the European Union, for which
Belgium
Belgium hosts
major administrations and institutions, including the European
Commission, the Council of the
European Union
European Union and the extraordinary
and committee sessions of the European Parliament.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Belgium
A relief map of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium shares borders with
France
France (620 km), Germany
(167 km),
Luxembourg
Luxembourg (148 km) and the Netherlands
(450 km). Its total surface, including water area, is 30,528
square kilometres from which land area alone 30,278 km2.[39] It
lies between latitudes 49°30 and 51°30 N, and longitudes 2°33 and
6°24 E.[40]
Belgium
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
Ardennes uplands in the southeast to the Hercynian
orogenic belt. The
Paris Basin
Paris Basin reaches a small fourth area at
Belgium's southernmost tip, Belgian Lorraine.[41]
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
Campine (Kempen). The thickly forested hills and plateaux of the
Ardennes
Ardennes are more rugged and rocky with caves and small gorges.
Extending westward into France, this area is eastwardly connected to
the
Eifel
Eifel in
Germany
Germany by the
High Fens plateau, on which the Signal de
Botrange forms the country's highest point at 694 metres
(2,277 ft).[42][43]
The climate is maritime temperate with significant precipitation in
all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb), like most of
northwest Europe.[44] The average temperature is lowest in January at
3 °C (37.4 °F) and highest in July at 18 °C
(64.4 °F). The average precipitation per month varies between 54
millimetres (2.1 in) for February and April, to 78 mm
(3.1 in) for July.[45] Averages for the years 2000 to 2006 show
daily temperature minimums of 7 °C (44.6 °F) and maximums
of 14 °C (57.2 °F) and monthly rainfall of 74 mm
(2.9 in); these are about 1 °C and nearly 10 millimetres
above last century's normal values, respectively.[46]
Phytogeographically,
Belgium
Belgium is shared between the Atlantic European
and Central European provinces of the
Circumboreal Region
.png/440px-Floristic_regions_in_Europe_(english).png)
Circumboreal Region within the
Boreal Kingdom.[47] According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the
territory of
Belgium
Belgium belongs to the ecoregion of Atlantic mixed
forests.[48] Because of its high population density, industrialization
and its location in the centre of Western Europe,
Belgium
Belgium still faces
some environmental problems. However, due to consistent efforts by the
various levels of government in Belgium, the state of the environment
in
Belgium
Belgium is gradually improving. This led to
Belgium
Belgium being ranked as
one of the top 10 countries (9 out of 132) in terms of environmental
protection trends, and to
Belgium
Belgium being ranked in 2012 as the 24th
country out of 132 for environmental protection.
Belgium
Belgium moreover has
one of Europe's highest waste recycling rates. In particular, the
Flemish region of
Belgium
Belgium has the highest waste diversion rate in
Europe. Almost 75 percent of the residential waste produced there is
reused, recycled, or composted.
Polders along the
Yser
Yser river
Campine
Campine landscape
The
Meuse
Meuse river between
Dinant
Dinant and Hastière
High Fens landscape near the German border
Provinces
Antwerp
East
Flanders
Flemish
Brabant
Hainaut
Liège
Limburg
Luxembourg
Namur
Walloon Brabant
West
Flanders
Flanders
Wallonia
Brussels
Main article: Provinces of Belgium
The territory of
Belgium
Belgium is divided into three Regions, two of which,
the
Flemish Region
Flemish Region and Walloon Region, are in turn subdivided into
provinces; the third Region, the
Brussels
Brussels Capital Region, is neither a
province nor a part of a province.
Province
Dutch name
French name
German name
Capital
Largest city
Area
(km2)
Population
(1 January 2016)
Antwerp
Antwerpen
Anvers
Antwerpen
Antwerp
(Dutch: Antwerpen)
(French: Anvers)
Antwerp
(Dutch: Antwerpen)
(French: Anvers)
2,860
1,824,136
East Flanders
Oost-Vlaanderen
Flandre-Orientale
Ostflandern
Ghent
(Dutch: Gent)
(French: Gand)
Ghent
(Dutch: Gent)
(French: Gand)
2,982
1,486,722
Flemish Brabant
Vlaams-Brabant
Brabant flamand
Flämisch Brabant
Leuven
(French: Louvain)
(German: Löwen)
Leuven
(French: Louvain)
2,106
1,121,693
Hainaut
Henegouwen
Hainaut
Hennegau
Mons
(Dutch: Bergen)
Charleroi
3,800
1,337,157
Liège
Luik
Liège
Lüttich
Liège
(Dutch: Luik)
(German: Lüttich)
Liège
(Dutch: Luik)
(German: Lüttich)
3,844
1,098,688
Limburg
Limburg
Limbourg
Limburg
Hasselt
Hasselt
2,414
863,425
Luxembourg
Luxemburg
Luxembourg
Luxemburg
Arlon
(Dutch: Aarlen)
(German: Arel)
Arlon
(Dutch: Aarlen)
(German: Arel)
4,443
280,327
Namur
Namen
Namur
Namur
Namur
(Dutch: Namen)
Namur
(Dutch: Namen)
3,664
489,204
Walloon Brabant
Waals-Brabant
Brabant wallon
Wallonisch Brabant
Wavre
(Dutch: Waver)
Braine-l'Alleud
(Dutch: Eigenbrakel)
1,093
396,840
West Flanders
West-Vlaanderen
Flandre-Occidentale
Westflandern
Bruges
(Dutch: Brugge)
(French: Bruges)
(German: Brügge)
Bruges
(Dutch: Brugge)
(French: Bruges)
(German: Brügge)
3,151
1,181,828
Politics
Main articles:
Politics of Belgium
Politics of Belgium and Belgian federal government
Philippe
King of the
Belgians
Belgians since 2013
Charles Michel
Prime Minister since 2014
Belgium
Belgium is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a federal
parliamentary democracy. The bicameral federal parliament 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's 150 representatives are
elected under a proportional voting system from 11 electoral
districts.
Belgium
Belgium has compulsory voting and thus maintains one of the
highest rates of voter turnout in the world.[49]
The King (currently Philippe) is the head of state, 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.[50] The
judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the
Napoleonic code. The Court of Cassation is the court of last resort,
with the Court of Appeal one level below.[51]
Political culture
Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power is
organized around the need to represent the main cultural
communities.[52] 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.[53] The major parties in each community, though close to
the political centre, belong to three main groups: Christian
Democrats, Liberals, and Social Democrats.[54] Further notable parties
came into being well after the middle of last century, mainly around
linguistic, nationalist, or environmental themes and recently smaller
ones of some specific liberal nature.[53]
The
Belgian Federal Parliament
Belgian Federal Parliament in Brussels, one of six different
governments of the country
A string of Christian Democrat coalition governments from 1958 was
broken in 1999 after the first dioxin crisis, a major food
contamination scandal.[55][56][57] A "rainbow coalition" emerged from
six parties: the Flemish and the French-speaking Liberals, Social
Democrats and Greens.[58] Later, a "purple coalition" of Liberals and
Social Democrats formed after the Greens lost most of their seats in
the 2003 election.[59]
The government led by Prime Minister
Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 to 2007
achieved a balanced budget, some tax reforms, a labour-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 legalized. The government promoted active diplomacy in
Africa[60] and opposed the invasion of Iraq.[61] It is the only
country that does not have age restrictions on euthanasia.[62]
Verhofstadt's coalition fared badly in the June 2007 elections. For
more than a year, the country experienced a political crisis.[63] This
crisis was such that many observers speculated on a possible partition
of Belgium.[64][65][66] From 21 December 2007 until 20 March 2008 the
temporary Verhofstadt III Government was in office. This
coalition of the Flemish and Francophone Christian Democrats, the
Flemish and Francophone Liberals together with the Francophone Social
Democrats was an interim government until 20 March 2008.[67]
On that day a new government, led by Flemish Christian Democrat Yves
Leterme, the actual winner of the federal elections of June 2007, was
sworn in by the king. On 15 July 2008 Leterme announced the
resignation of the cabinet to the king, as no progress in
constitutional reforms had been made.[67] In December 2008 he once
more offered his resignation to the king after a crisis surrounding
the sale of Fortis to BNP Paribas.[68] At this juncture, his
resignation was accepted and Christian Democratic and Flemish Herman
Van Rompuy was sworn in as Prime Minister on 30 December 2008.[69]
After
Herman Van Rompuy
Herman Van Rompuy was designated the first permanent President
of the
European Council
European Council on 19 November 2009, he offered the
resignation of his government to King Albert II on 25 November
2009. A few hours later, the new government under Prime Minister Yves
Leterme was sworn in. On 22 April 2010, Leterme again offered the
resignation of his cabinet to the king[70] after one of the coalition
partners, the OpenVLD, withdrew from the government, and on 26 April
2010 King Albert officially accepted the resignation.[71]
The Parliamentary elections in
Belgium
Belgium on 13 June 2010 saw the Flemish
nationalist N-VA become the largest party in Flanders, and the
Socialist Party PS the largest party in Wallonia.[72] Until December
2011,
Belgium
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.[73] Finally, in December 2011 the Di Rupo Government
led by Walloon socialist Prime Minister
Elio Di Rupo
Elio Di Rupo 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 (MR) and
Kris Peeters
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 is the first time N-VA is part of the federal cabinet,
while the French-speaking side is represented only by the MR, which
achieved a minority of the public votes in Wallonia.
Communities and regions
Main article: Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
Communities:
Flemish Community
Flemish Community /
Dutch language
Dutch language area
Flemish & French Community / bilingual language area
French Community /
French language
French language area
German-speaking Community /
German language
German language area
Regions:
Flemish Region
Flemish Region /
Dutch language
Dutch language area
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels-Capital Region / bilingual area
Walloon Region
Walloon Region / French and
German language
German language areas
Following a usage which can be traced back to the Burgundian and
Habsburg
Habsburg courts,[74] 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.[75] Late that
century, and continuing into the 20th century, Flemish movements
evolved to counter this situation.[76]
While the people in Southern
Belgium
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.[76] Following World
War II, Belgian politics became increasingly dominated by the
autonomy of its two main linguistic communities.[77] Intercommunal
tensions rose and the constitution was amended to minimise the
potential for conflict.[77]
Based on the four language areas defined in 1962–63 (the Dutch,
bilingual, French and
German language
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:[78][79]
The federal government, based in Brussels.
The three language communities:
the
Flemish Community
Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking);
the French Community (French-speaking);
the German-speaking Community.
The three regions:
the Flemish Region, subdivided into five provinces;
the Walloon Region, subdivided into five provinces;
the Brussels-Capital Region.
The constitutional language areas determine the official languages in
their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the
empowered institutions for specific matters.[80] Although this would
allow for seven parliaments and governments, when the Communities and
Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge
both.[81] Thus the Flemings just have one single institutional body of
parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and
specific municipal matters.[D]
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 structure is
intended as a compromise to allow different cultures to live together
peacefully.[15]
Locus of policy jurisdiction
The Federal State's authority includes justice, defence, 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
Belgian Post Group and Belgian Railways. The Federal
Government is responsible for the obligations of
Belgium
Belgium and its
federalized institutions towards the
European Union
European Union and NATO. It
controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign
affairs.[82] 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.[83]
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.).[84]
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.[85]
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.[82] 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.[86][87][88]
Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Belgium
Because of its location at the crossroads of Western Europe, Belgium
has historically been the route of invading armies from its larger
neighbours. With virtually defenceless borders,
Belgium
Belgium has
traditionally sought to avoid domination by the more powerful nations
which surround it through a policy of mediation. The
Belgians
Belgians have
been strong advocates of European integration. Both the European Union
and
NATO
NATO are headquartered in Belgium.
Armed forces
Main article: Belgian Armed Forces
The
Belgian Armed Forces
Belgian Armed Forces have about 47,000 active troops. In 2010,
Belgium's defence budget totaled €3.95 billion (representing
1.12% of its GDP).[89] They are organized into one unified structure
which consists of four main components: Land Component, or the Army;
Air Component, or the Air Force; Naval Component, or the Navy; Medical
Component. The operational commands of the four components are
subordinate to the Staff Department for Operations and Training of the
Ministry of Defence, which is headed by the Assistant Chief of Staff
Operations and Training, and to the Chief of Defence.[90]
The effects of the
Second World War
Second World War made collective security a
priority for Belgian foreign policy. In March 1948
Belgium
Belgium signed the
Treaty of Brussels, and then joined
NATO
NATO in 1948. However the
integration of the armed forces into
NATO
NATO did not begin until after
the Korean War.[91] 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
Belgians supported.
Currently, the
Belgian Naval Component
Belgian Naval Component is working closely together
with the
Dutch Navy
Dutch Navy under the command of the Admiral Benelux.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue), and of
the EU single market
Belgium's strongly globalized economy[92] and its transport
infrastructure 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.[93][94] The economy is
characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP and high
exports per capita.[95] 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.[39]
The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual
nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags
behind.[15][96][E] One of the founding members of the European Union,
Belgium
Belgium strongly supports an open economy and the extension of the
powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922,
through the Belgium-
Luxembourg
Luxembourg Economic Union,
Belgium
Belgium and Luxembourg
have been a single trade market with customs and currency union.[97]
Steelmaking along the
Meuse
Meuse River at Ougrée, near Liège
Belgium
Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the
Industrial Revolution, in the early 19th century.[98]
Liège
Liège and
Charleroi
Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished
until the mid-20th century in the Sambre and
Meuse
Meuse valley and made
Belgium
Belgium among one of the three most industrialized nations in the
world from 1830 to 1910.[99][100] However, by the 1840s the textile
industry of
Flanders
Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced
famine from 1846 to 1850.[101][102]
After World War II,
Ghent
Ghent and
Antwerp
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 serious decline.[103] In the 1980s and 1990s, the economic
centre of the country continued to shift northwards and is now
concentrated in the populous
Flemish Diamond
Flemish Diamond area.[104]
By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted
in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. As of
2006[update], the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to
90.30% of GDP.[105] 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 October 2010, this had grown to 8.5% compared
to an average rate of 9.6% for the
European Union
European Union as a whole (EU
27).[106][107] From 1832 until 2002, Belgium's currency was the
Belgian franc.
Belgium
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
Belgium still had
in 1999 the highest rail network density within the European Union
with 113.8 km/1 000 km2. On the other hand, the same period
of time, 1970–1999, has seen a huge growth (+56%) of the motorway
network. In 1999, the density of km motorways per 1000 km2 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.[108]
Port of Zeebrugge
Belgium
Belgium experiences some of the most congested traffic in Europe. In
2010, commuters to the cities of
Brussels
Brussels and
Antwerp
Antwerp spent
respectively 65 and 64 hours a year in traffic jams.[109] Like in most
small European countries, more than 80% of the airways traffic is
handled by a single airport, the
Brussels
Brussels Airport. The ports of
Antwerp
Antwerp and Zeebrugge (Bruges) share more than 80% of Belgian maritime
traffic,
Antwerp
Antwerp being the second European harbour 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.[108][110] In 2016, the port of Antwerp
handled 214 million tons after a year-on-year growth of 2.7%.[111]
There is a large economic gap between
Flanders
Flanders and Wallonia. Wallonia
was historically wealthy compared to Flanders, mostly due to its heavy
industries, but the decline of the steel industry post-World War II
led to the region's rapid decline, whereas
Flanders
Flanders rose swiftly.
Since then,
Flanders
Flanders has been prosperous, among the wealthiest regions
in Europe, whereas
Wallonia
Wallonia has been languishing. As of 2007, the
unemployment rate of
Wallonia
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
Flanders as
a consequence. The separatist
New Flemish Alliance
New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party for
instance is the largest party in Belgium.[112][113][114]
Science and technology
Further information: Science and technology in Brussels, Science and
technology in Flanders, and Science and technology in Wallonia
Gerardus Mercator
Contributions to the development of science and technology have
appeared throughout the country's history. The 16th century Early
Modern flourishing of Western
Europe
Europe included cartographer Gerardus
Mercator, anatomist Andreas Vesalius, herbalist Rembert
Dodoens[115][116][117][118] and mathematician
Simon Stevin
Simon Stevin among the
most influential scientists.[119]
Chemist Ernest Solvay[120] and engineer
Zenobe Gramme
Zenobe Gramme (École
Industrielle de Liège)[121] gave their names to the Solvay process
and the Gramme dynamo, respectively, in the 1860s.
Bakelite
Bakelite was
developed in 1907–1909 by Leo Baekeland.
Ernest Solvay
Ernest Solvay also acted as
a major philanthropist and gave its name to the Solvay Institute of
Sociology, the Solvay
Brussels
Brussels School of Economics and Management 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 Conferences on Physics and
Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum
physics and chemistry.[122] A major contribution to fundamental
science was also due to a Belgian,
Monsignor
Monsignor Georges Lemaître
(Catholic University of Leuven), who is credited with proposing the
Big Bang
Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927.[123]
Three Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine were awarded to Belgians:
Jules Bordet
Jules Bordet (Université libre de Bruxelles) in 1919, Corneille
Heymans (University of Ghent) in 1938 and
Albert Claude
Albert Claude (Université
Libre de Bruxelles) together with
Christian de Duve
Christian de Duve (Université
Catholique de Louvain) in 1974.
François Englert
François Englert (Université Libre
de Bruxelles) was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013. Ilya
Prigogine (Université Libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize
in Chemistry in 1977.[124] Two Belgian mathematicians have been
awarded the Fields Medal:
Pierre Deligne
Pierre Deligne in 1978 and
Jean Bourgain
Jean Bourgain in
1994.[125][126]
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Belgium
Brussels, the capital city and largest metropolitan area of Belgium
As of 1 January 2015[update], the total population of
Belgium
Belgium according to its population register was 11,190,845.[3] Almost
all of the population is urban, at 97% in 2004.[127] The population
density of
Belgium
Belgium is 365 per square kilometre (952 per square mile)
as of March 2013. The most densely inhabited area is Flanders.[128]
The
Ardennes
Ardennes have the lowest density. As of
1 January 2015[update], the
Flemish Region
Flemish Region had a population
of 6,437,680, its most populous cities being
Antwerp
Antwerp (511,771), Ghent
(252,274) and
Bruges
Bruges (117,787).
Wallonia
Wallonia had 3,585,214 with Charleroi
(202,021),
Liège
Liège (194,937) and Namur (110,447), its most populous
cities.
Brussels
Brussels has 1,167,951 inhabitants in the Capital Region's 19
municipalities, three of which have over 100,000 residents.[3]
Migration
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to
reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2017)
As of 2007[update], nearly 92% of the population had Belgian
citizenship,[129] and other
European Union
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
(43,509), Spanish (42,765), Turkish (39,419) and German
(37,621).[130][131] 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.[132][133]
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.[134] Of these new
Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000[135] are
from non-Western countries (most of them from Morocco, Turkey, and the
DR Congo). Since the modification of the
Belgian nationality law
Belgian nationality law in
1984 more than 1.3 million migrants have acquired Belgian
citizenship. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in
Belgium
Belgium are Moroccans.[136] 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.[135]
v
t
e
Largest cities or towns in Belgium
Numbers according to the NIS, table 3 (01/01/2014)
Rank
Name
Region
Pop.
Rank
Name
Region
Pop.
Antwerp
Ghent
1
Antwerp
Flanders
510,610
11
Mons
Wallonia
95,047
Charleroi
Liège
2
Ghent
Flanders
251,133
12
Sint-Jans-Molenbeek / Molenbeek-Saint-Jean
Brussels
94,854
3
Charleroi
Wallonia
202,730
13
Aalst
Flanders
83,347
4
Liège
Wallonia
196,291
14
Elsene / Ixelles
Brussels
83,332
5
City of Brussels
Brussels
170,407
15
Mechelen
Flanders
83,194
6
Schaarbeek / Schaerbeek
Brussels
131,604
16
Ukkel / Uccle
Brussels
81,089
7
Bruges
Flanders
117,377
17
La Louvière
Wallonia
80,172
8
Anderlecht
Brussels
115,178
18
Hasselt
Flanders
75,991
9
Namur
Wallonia
110,665
19
Kortrijk
Flanders
75,128
10
Leuven
Flanders
98,292
20
Sint-Niklaas
Flanders
73,716
Bruges, historical city centre,
UNESCO
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Functional urban areas[137]
Functional urban areas
Population
2011
Brussels
2,608,000
Antwerp
1,091,000
Liège
744,000
Ghent
591,000
Charleroi
488,000
Languages
Main article: Languages of Belgium
Distribution of languages of Belgium
Dutch
59%
French
40%
German
1%
Bilingual
Bilingual signs in Brussels
Belgium
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. A
number of non-official minority languages are spoken as well.[138] As
no census exists, there are no official statistical data regarding the
distribution or usage of Belgium's three official languages or their
dialects.[139] 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 speaks Dutch (often referred to as Flemish), and 40% of the
population speaks French. French-speaking
Belgians
Belgians are often referred
to as Walloons, although the French speakers in
Brussels
Brussels are not
Walloons.[F]
Total Dutch speakers are 6.23 million, concentrated in the
northern
Flanders
Flanders region, while French speakers number
3.32 million in
Wallonia
Wallonia and an estimated 870,000 (or 85%) in the
officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.[G][140] The
German-speaking Community is made up of 73,000 people in the east of
the Walloon Region; 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.[12][141][142][143]
Both
Belgian Dutch
Belgian Dutch and
Belgian French
Belgian French have minor differences in
vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken respectively
in the
Netherlands
Netherlands and France. Many
Flemish people
.jpg/440px-Pieter_Brueghel_de_Jonge_-_De_bruiloft_dans_(1625).jpg)
Flemish people still speak
dialects of Dutch in their local environment. Walloon, considered
either as a dialect of French or a distinct Romance
language,[144][145] is now only understood and spoken occasionally,
mostly by elderly people. Walloon is the name collectively given to
four French dialects spoken in Belgium. Wallonia's dialects, along
with those of Picard,[146] are not used in public life and have been
replaced by French.
Religion
Main article: Religion in Belgium
National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg, Brussels
Since the country's independence, Roman Catholicism, counterbalanced
by strong freethought movements, has had an important role in
Belgium's politics.[147] However
Belgium
Belgium is largely a secular country
as the laicist constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the
government generally respects this right in practice. During the
reigns of Albert I and Baudouin, the monarchy had a reputation of
deeply rooted Catholicism.[148]
Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion;
being especially strong in Flanders. However, by 2009 Sunday church
attendance was 5% for
Belgium
Belgium in total; 3% in Brussels,[149] and 5.4%
in Flanders.
Church attendance
.jpg/700px-Complete-church-midnight-mass_(3135957575).jpg)
Church attendance in 2009 in
Belgium
Belgium was roughly half of
the Sunday church attendance in 1998 (11% for the total of
Belgium
Belgium in
1998).[150] Despite the drop in church attendance, Catholic identity
nevertheless remains an important part of Belgium's culture.[148]
According to the
Eurobarometer 2010,[151] 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
Belgium adhered to Christianity, 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 the 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.[1] The same survey held in 2012 found that
Christianity
Christianity was
the largest religion in
Belgium
Belgium accounting 65% of Belgians.[152]
Symbolically and materially, the Roman Catholic Church remains in a
favourable position.[148]
Belgium
Belgium officially recognises three
religions:
Christianity
Christianity (Catholic, Protestantism, Orthodox churches
and Anglicanism),
Islam
Islam and Judaism.[153]
Interior of the Great Synagogue of Brussels
In the early 2000s there were approximately 42,000 Jews in Belgium.
The Jewish Community of
Antwerp
Antwerp (numbering some 18,000) is one of the
largest in Europe, and one of the last places in the world where
Yiddish
Yiddish 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
Antwerp receive a Jewish
education.[154] 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.[155] On the other hand,
Wallonia
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
Wallonia and areas along the French border.
The Great Mosque of
Brussels
Brussels is the seat of the Islamic and Cultural
Centre of Belgium
A 2008 estimate found that approximately 6% of the Belgian population
(628,751 people) is Muslim.[156] Muslims constitute 23.6% of the
population of Brussels, 4.9% of
Wallonia
Wallonia and 5.1% of Flanders. The
majority of Belgian Muslims live in the major cities, such as Antwerp,
Brussels
Brussels and Charleroi. The largest group of immigrants in
Belgium
Belgium are
Moroccans, with 400,000 people. The Turks are the third largest group,
and the second largest Muslim ethnic group, numbering
220,000.[136][157]
Health
Main article: Healthcare in Belgium
University Hospital of Antwerp
The
Belgians
Belgians enjoy good health. According to 2012 estimates, the
average life expectancy is 79.65 years.[39] Since 1960, life
expectancy has, in line with the European average, grown by two months
per year. Death in
Belgium
Belgium is mainly due to heart and vascular
disorders, neoplasms, 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.[158]
Healthcare in Belgium
Healthcare in Belgium 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
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.[158] 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.[158]
For the first time in
Belgium
Belgium 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.[159][160]
Education
Main article:
Education
Education in Belgium
The Central Library of the KU
Leuven
Leuven University
Education
Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians.[161]
Among
OECD
OECD countries in 2002,
Belgium
Belgium had the third highest proportion
of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education, at
42%.[162] Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate,
concern is rising over functional illiteracy.[146][163] The Programme
for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by the OECD,
currently ranks Belgium's education as the 19th best in the world,
being significantly higher than the
OECD
OECD average.[164]
Education
Education being
organized separately by each, the
Flemish Community
Flemish Community scores noticeably
above the French and German-speaking Communities.[165]
Mirroring the dual structure of the 19th-century Belgian political
landscape, characterized by the Liberal 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.[166]
Culture
Main article: Culture of Belgium
Despite its political and linguistic divisions, the region
corresponding to today's
Belgium
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.[15][167][168]
Since the 1970s, there are no bilingual universities or colleges in
the country except the Royal Military Academy and the
Antwerp
Antwerp Maritime
Academy, no common media[169] and no single large cultural or
scientific organization in which both main communities are
represented.[170]
Fine arts
See also: List of Belgian painters, Architecture of Belgium, and Music
of Belgium
The
Ghent
Ghent Altarpiece: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (interior
view), painted 1432 by van Eyck
Contributions to painting and architecture have been especially rich.
The Mosan art, the Early Netherlandish,[171] the Flemish Renaissance
and Baroque painting[172] and major examples of Romanesque, Gothic,
Renaissance and Baroque architecture[173] are milestones in the
history of art. While the 15th century's art in the
Low Countries
Low Countries is
dominated by the religious paintings of
Jan van Eyck
_with_frame.jpg/560px-Portrait_of_a_Man_in_a_Turban_(Jan_van_Eyck)_with_frame.jpg)
Jan van Eyck and Rogier van
der Weyden, 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.[174] Though the Baroque style
of
Peter Paul Rubens
Peter Paul Rubens and
Anthony van Dyck
Anthony van Dyck flourished in the early 17th
century in the Southern Netherlands,[175] it gradually declined
thereafter.[176][177]
During the 19th and 20th centuries many original romantic,
expressionist and surrealist Belgian painters emerged, including James
Ensor and other artists belonging to the
Les XX
Les XX group, Constant
Permeke,
Paul Delvaux
Paul Delvaux and René Magritte. The avant-garde CoBrA
movement appeared in the 1950s, while the sculptor
Panamarenko
Panamarenko remains
a remarkable figure in contemporary art.[178][179] Multidisciplinary
artists Jan Fabre,
Wim Delvoye
Wim Delvoye and the painters Guy Huygens and 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
.jpg)
Victor Horta and Henry van de
Velde, who were major initiators of the
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau style.[180][181]
Jacques Brel, 1963
The vocal music of the
Franco-Flemish School developed in the southern
part of the
Low Countries
Low Countries and was an important contribution to
Renaissance culture.[182] In the 19th and 20th centuries, there was an
emergence of major violinists, such as Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène
Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux, while
Adolphe Sax
Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone
in 1846. The composer
César Franck
César Franck was born in
Liège
Liège in 1822.
Contemporary popular music in
Belgium
Belgium is also of repute. Jazz musician
Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans and singer
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel have achieved global fame.
Nowadays, singer
Stromae
Stromae has been a musical revelation in
Europe
Europe and
beyond, having great success. In rock/pop music, Telex, Front 242, K's
Choice, Hooverphonic, Zap Mama,
Soulwax
Soulwax and dEUS are well known. In
the heavy metal scene, bands like Machiavel, Channel Zero and
Enthroned
Enthroned have a worldwide fan-base.[183]
Belgium
Belgium has produced several well-known authors, including the poets
Emile Verhaeren,
Robert Goffin
Robert Goffin and novelists Hendrik Conscience,
Georges Simenon, Suzanne Lilar, Hugo Claus, Joseph Weterings and
Amélie Nothomb. The poet and playwright
Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Maeterlinck won the
Nobel Prize in literature
Nobel Prize in literature in 1911.
The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé
is the best known of Franco-Belgian comics, but many other major
authors, including
Peyo
Peyo (The Smurfs),
André Franquin
André Franquin (Gaston
Lagaffe),
Dupa (Cubitus), Morris (Lucky Luke), Greg (Achille Talon),
Lambil
Lambil (Les Tuniques Bleues),
Edgar P. Jacobs
Edgar P. Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen
brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry a worldwide fame.[184]
Belgian cinema has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life
on-screen.[H] Other Belgian directors include André Delvaux, Stijn
Coninx, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; well-known actors include
Jean-Claude Van Damme,
Jan Decleir
Jan Decleir and Marie Gillain; and successful
films include Bullhead, Man Bites Dog and The Alzheimer Affair.[185]
In the 1980s, Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts produced important
fashion trendsetters, known as the
Antwerp
Antwerp Six.[186]
Folklore
Further information: Folklore of Belgium
The
Gilles
Gilles of Binche, in costume, wearing wax masks
Folklore plays a major role in Belgium's cultural life: the country
has a comparatively high number of processions, cavalcades, parades,
'ommegangs' and 'ducasses',[I] 'kermesse' and other local festivals,
nearly always with an originally religious or mythological background.
The Carnival of
Binche
Binche with its famous
Gilles
Gilles and the 'Processional
Giants and Dragons' of Ath, Brussels, Dendermonde,
Mechelen
Mechelen and Mons
are recognized by
UNESCO
UNESCO as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity.[187]
Other examples are the Carnival of Aalst; the still very religious
processions of the Holy Blood in Bruges,
Virga Jesse Basilica
Virga Jesse Basilica in
Hasselt
Hasselt and
Basilica of Our Lady of Hanswijk
Basilica of Our Lady of Hanswijk in Mechelen; 15 August
festival in Liège; and the Walloon festival in Namur. Originated in
1832 and revived in the 1960s, the
Gentse Feesten
Gentse Feesten have become a modern
tradition. A major non-official holiday is the Saint Nicholas Day, a
festivity for children and, in Liège, for students.[188]
Cuisine
Main article: Belgian cuisine
Moules-frites
Moules-frites / mosselen met friet is the national dish of Belgium
Many highly ranked Belgian restaurants can be found in the most
influential restaurant guides, such as the Michelin Guide.[189]
Belgium
Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and french fries with
mayonnaise. Contrary to their name, french fries are claimed to have
originated in Belgium, although their exact place of origin is
uncertain. The national dishes are "steak and fries with salad", and
"mussels with fries".[190][191][192][J]
Brands of Belgian chocolate and pralines, like Côte d'Or, Neuhaus,
Leonidas and Godiva are famous, as well as independent producers such
as Burie and Del Rey in
Antwerp
Antwerp and Mary's in Brussels.[193] Belgium
produces over 1100 varieties of beer.[194][195] The
Trappist beer
Trappist beer of
the Abbey of Westvleteren has repeatedly been rated the world's best
beer.[196][197][198] The biggest brewer in the world by volume is
Anheuser-Busch InBev, based in Leuven.[199]
Sports
Eddy Merckx, regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time
Main article: Sport in Belgium
Since the 1970s, sports clubs and federations are organized separately
within each language community.[200]
Association football
Association football is the most
popular sport in both parts of Belgium; also very popular are cycling,
tennis, swimming, judo[201] and basketball.[202]
Belgians
Belgians hold the most Tour de
France
France victories of any country except
France. They have also the most victories on the UCI Road World
Championships.
Philippe Gilbert
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Tour_de_France_2017,_Stage_2_(34867855333)_(cropped).jpg)
Philippe Gilbert is the 2012 world champion. Another
modern well-known Belgian cyclist is Tom Boonen. With five victories
in the Tour de
France
France and numerous other cycling records, Belgian
cyclist
Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx is regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all
time.[203] Jean-Marie Pfaff, a former Belgian goalkeeper, is
considered one of the greatest in the history of association
football.[204]
Belgium
Belgium hosted the 1972 European Football Championships, and co-hosted
the 2000 European Championships with the Netherlands. The Belgium
national football team reached first place in the FIFA World Rankings
for the first time in November 2015.[205]
Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters and
Justine Henin
Justine Henin both were Player of the Year in the
Women's Tennis Association
Women's Tennis Association as they were ranked the number one female
tennis player. The
Spa-Francorchamps
Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit hosts the
Formula One World Championship
Formula One World Championship Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian driver,
Jacky Ickx, won eight Grands Prix and six
24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans and
finished twice as runner-up in the Formula One World Championship.
Belgium
Belgium also has a strong reputation in, motocross with the rider
Stefan Everts.[206] Sporting events annually held in
Belgium
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
Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The
1920 Summer Olympics
1920 Summer Olympics were
held in Antwerp. The
1977 European Basketball Championship
1977 European Basketball Championship was held in
Liège
Liège and Ostend.
See also
Belgium
Belgium portal
Brussels
Brussels portal
Book: Belgium
Index of Belgium-related articles
Outline of Belgium
Footnotes
^ Dutch: België [ˈbɛlɣijə] ( listen); French: Belgique
[bɛlʒik] ( listen); German: Belgien
[ˈbɛlɡi̯ən] ( listen)
^
Belgium
Belgium is a member of, or affiliated to, many international
organizations, including ACCT, AfDB, AsDB,
Australia
Australia Group, Benelux,
BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-10, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF,
IMO, IMSO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU,
MONUC
MONUC (observers),
NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNECE, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WADB
(non-regional), WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC.
^ The Celtic and/or Germanic influences on and origin(s) of the Belgae
remains disputed. Further reading: Witt, Constanze Maria (May 1997).
"Ethnic and Cultural Identity". Barbarians on the Greek
Periphery?—Origins of Celtic Art. Institute for Advanced Technology
in the Humanities, University of Virginia. Retrieved 6 June
2007.
^ The Constitution set out seven institutions each of which can have a
parliament, government and administration. In fact there are only six
such bodies because the
Flemish Region
Flemish Region merged into the Flemish
Community. This single Flemish body thus exercises powers about
Community matters in the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital and in the
Dutch language
Dutch language area, while about Regional matters only in Flanders.
^ The richest (per capita income) of Belgium's three regions is the
Flemish Region, followed by the
Walloon Region
Walloon Region and lastly the
Brussels-Capital Region. The ten municipalities with the highest
reported income are: Laethem-Saint-Martin, Keerbergen, Lasne,
Oud-Heverlee, Hove, De Pinte, Meise, Knokke-Heist, Bierbeek."Où
habitent les Belges les plus riches?". trends.be. 2010. Archived from
the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^ Native speakers of Dutch living in
Wallonia
Wallonia and of French in
Flanders
Flanders are relatively small minorities that furthermore largely
balance one another, hence attributing all inhabitants of each
unilingual area to the area's language can cause only insignificant
inaccuracies (99% can speak the language). Dutch: Flanders'
6.079 million inhabitants and about 15% of Brussels'
1.019 million are 6.23 million or 59.3% of the
10.511 million inhabitants of
Belgium
Belgium (2006); German: 70,400 in
the German-speaking Community (which has language facilities for its
less than 5% French-speakers) and an estimated 20,000–25,000
speakers of German in the
Walloon Region
Walloon Region outside the geographical
boundaries of their official Community, or 0.9%; French: in the latter
area as well as mainly in the rest of
Wallonia
Wallonia (3.321 million)
and 85% of the
Brussels
Brussels inhabitants (0.866 million) thus
4.187 million or 39.8%; together indeed 100%.
^ Flemish Academic Eric Corijn (initiator of Charta 91), at a
colloquium regarding Brussels, on 2001-12-05, states that in Brussels
91% of the population speaks French at home, either alone or with
another language, and about 20% speaks Dutch at home, either alone
(9%) or with French (11%)—After ponderation, the repartition can be
estimated at between 85 and 90% French-speaking, and the remaining are
Dutch-speaking, corresponding to the estimations based on languages
chosen in
Brussels
Brussels by citizens for their official documents (ID,
driving licenses, weddings, birth, sex, and so on); all these
statistics on language are also available at Belgian Department of
Justice (for weddings, birth, sex), Department of Transport (for
Driving licenses), Department of Interior (for IDs), because there are
no means to know precisely the proportions since
Belgium
Belgium has abolished
'official' linguistic censuses, thus official documents on language
choices can only be estimations. For a web source on this topic, see
e.g. General online sources: Janssens, Rudi
^ Notable Belgian films based on works by Flemish authors include: De
Witte (author Ernest Claes) movie by Jan Vanderheyden and Edith Kiel
in 1934, remake as De Witte van Sichem directed by
Robbe De Hert in
1980; De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen (Johan Daisne) André
Delvaux 1965; Mira ('De teleurgang van de Waterhoek' by Stijn
Streuvels)
Fons Rademakers
.jpg/440px-Fons_Rademakers_(1986).jpg)
Fons Rademakers 1971;
Malpertuis (aka The Legend of Doom
House) (Jean Ray [pen name of Flemish author who mainly wrote in
French, or as John
Flanders
Flanders in Dutch])
Harry Kümel
Harry Kümel 1971; De loteling
(Hendrik Conscience) Roland Verhavert 1974; Dood van een non (Maria
Rosseels) Paul Collet and Pierre Drouot 1975; Pallieter (Felix
Timmermans) Roland Verhavert 1976; De komst van Joachim Stiller
(Hubert Lampo)
Harry Kümel
Harry Kümel 1976; De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (Hendrik
Conscience)
Hugo Claus
Hugo Claus (a famous author himself) 1985; Daens ('Pieter
Daens' by Louis Paul Boon)
Stijn Coninx
Stijn Coninx 1992; see also Filmarchief les
DVD!s de la cinémathèque (in Dutch). Retrieved on 7 June 2007.
^ The Dutch word 'ommegang' is here used in the sense of an entirely
or mainly non-religious procession, or the non-religious part
thereof—see also its article on the Dutch-language; the
Processional Giants of Brussels,
Dendermonde
Dendermonde and
Mechelen
Mechelen mentioned in
this paragraph are part of each city's 'ommegang'. The French word
'ducasse' refers also to a procession; the mentioned Processional
Giants of
Ath
Ath and
Mons
Mons are part of each city's 'ducasse'.
^ Contrarily to what the text suggests, the season starts as early as
July and lasts through April.
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das Französische, nicht aber das Niederländische; ein beachtlicher
Teil der am Hofe tätigen Adligen stammte aus Wallonien, das sich ja
eher auf die spanische Seite geschlagen hatte als Flandern und
Brabant. In dieser Situation war es selbstverständlich, dass die
flämischen Adligen, die im Laufe der Zeit immer mehr ebenfalls zu
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als gleichwertig anerkannt werden wollten. [Transl.: The prestigious
language in the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands was clearly French. Spain's
representatives usually mastered French but not Dutch; a notable part
of the nobles at the court came from Wallonia, which had taken party
for the Spanish side to a higher extent than
Flanders
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was used to pay the interests of the public debt. Without including
this post, the share of the federal government budget would be only
48.40% of the fiscal income. There are 87.8% of the civil servants who
are working for the Regions or the Communities and 12.2% for the
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(Transl.:
Belgium
Belgium is thus the only clear example of a transfer of a
part of the "Foreign Affairs" competences to federated units.)
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of international extension of competences.)
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diplomatique (in French). Dans l'organisation de ces autonomies, la
Belgique a réalisé une « première » mondiale: afin
d'éviter la remise en cause, par le biais de la dimension
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fédérées, les communautés et régions se sont vu reconnaître une
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Belgium
Belgium realized a World's First: to avoid a relevant
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"Boordtabel" (in Dutch). Centre for Information, Documentation and
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Brussels
Brussels (BRIO). 2007. Archived from the original on 29
May 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007. (mentioning other original
sources)
"Belgium". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
Retrieved on 7 June 2007.
"The Constitution". Federal Parliament Belgium. 21 January 1997.
Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 7 June
2007.
"Country
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2007.
Fischer, Kathrin (21 July 1999). "Die Stellung und Rolle der
deutschsprachigen Minderheit in Ostbelgien innerhalb des belgischen
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"History of Belgium". World History at KMLA. Korean Minjok Leadership
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2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
Janssens, Rudi (1 June 2001). "Brusselse Thema's in
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een meertalige stad – summary The Use of Languages in
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Leclerc, Jacques (2006). "Belgique • België • Belgien".
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Palgrave Essential Histories (Hardcover 312pp ed.). Palgrave
Macmillan, New York. ISBN 1-4039-4827-5.
Blom, J. C. H.; Lamberts, Emiel, eds. (May 1999). History of the Low
Countries. Translated by Kennedy, James C. (Hardcover 503pp ed.).
Berghahn Books, Oxford/New York. ISBN 1-57181-084-6.
Cammaerts, Émile L. (1921) [1913]. A
History of Belgium
History of Belgium from the
Roman Invasion to the Present Day (357pp ed.). D. Appleton and Co, New
York. ASIN B00085PM0A. OCLC 1525559.
[Also editions [1913], London, OCLC 29072911; (1921) D. Unwin and
Co., New York OCLC 9625246 also published (1921) as
Belgium
Belgium from
the Roman invasion to the present day, The Story of the nations, 67,
T. Fisher Unwin, London, OCLC 2986704]
de Kavanagh Boulger; Demetrius C. (28 June 2001) [1902]. The History
of Belgium: Part 1. Cæsar to Waterloo. Elibron Classics (Paperback
493pp ed.). Adamant Media (Delaware corporation), Boston,
Massachusetts, United States. ISBN 1-4021-6714-8. Facsimile
reprint of a 1902 edition by the author, London
Ib. (June 2001) [1909]. Ib. Part 2. 1815–1865. Waterloo to the Death
of Leopold I. Ib. (Paperback 462pp ed.). Ib.
ISBN 1-4021-6713-X. Facsimile reprint of a 1909 edition by
the author, London
Fitzmaurice, John (1996). The Politics of Belgium: A Unique
Federalism. Nations of the modern world (Paperback 284pp ed.).
Boulder, Colorado, USA: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-2386-X.
OCLC 30112536.
Kossmann-Putto, Johanna A.; Kossmann Ernst H. (January 1993) [1987].
Deleu Jozef H. M., ed. The Low Countries: History of the Northern and
Southern Netherlands. Translated by Fenoulhet Jane. De Lage Landen:
geschiedenis van de Noordelijke en Zuidelijke Nederlanden.
Vlaams-Nederlandse Stichting Ons Erfdeel,
Rekkem
Rekkem (3rd Rev. edition
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