There has been a significant community of Russians in Belgium since the 19th century.
Migration history
Migration from Russia to Belgium grew in line with increasing commercial relations between the two countries in the late 19th century. By 1910, there were already roughly 7,500 Russians in the country, including many students in universities at Brussels,
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
Liège.
The post-
Russian Revolution community of Russians in
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 ...
comprised mostly Russian military personnel. Former Tsarist officers maintained numerous relations with Belgian anti-communist organisations.
By 1937, there were already about 8,000 Russians in the country, largely concentrated in
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 ...
and the Francophone portions of the country. Belgium was the only country whose
Russian émigré population increased during the 1930s.
Numbers
, official statistics showed 7,176 Russian citizens in Belgium.
Another 3,407 Russian citizens obtained
Belgian nationality between 1992 and 2007.
Overall, 10,244 persons coming from
countries of the former USSR obtained Belgian citizenship between 1990 and 2007.
Notable people
See also
*
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
*
Belgium–Russia relations
*
Demographics of Belgium
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Belgium, including ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. All figures are from the Nat ...
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
*
*
* Bauchpas, F. (1968), L'émigration blanche, Paris
*
External links
Site of the Russian community in Belgium
{{Russian diaspora
Ethnic groups in Belgium
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 ...
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 ...