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België
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the south, and the North Sea to the west. Belgium covers an area of and has a population of more than 11.8 million; its population density of ranks 22nd in the world and sixth in Europe. The capital and largest metropolitan region is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven. Belgium is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a complex federal system structured on regional and linguistic grounds. The country is divided into three highly autonomous regions:Pateman, Robert and Elliott, Mark (2006). ''Belgium'. Benchmark Books. p. 27. the Flemish Region (Flanders) in the north, the Walloon Region (Wallonia) in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region in the middle. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country. It is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, and is separate from the Flemish Region (Flanders), within which it forms an enclave, and the Walloon Region (Wallonia), located less than to the south. Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, it has been a major centre for international politics and home to numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants. Brussels is the '' de facto'' capital of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, including i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islam In Belgium
Islam is the second largest religion in Belgium after Christianity in Belgium, Christianity. The exact number of Muslims in Belgium is unknown but various sources estimate that 4.0% to 7.6% of the country's population adheres to Islam. The first registered presence of Islam in Belgium was in 1829, but most Belgian Muslims are first-, second-, or third-generation immigrants that arrived after the 1960s. History The first registered presence of Islam in Belgium was in 1829, a year prior to the Belgian Revolution, country's independence in 1830. In 1964, bilateral labour immigration agreement were signed between Belgium, Turkey, and countries in the Maghreb. Over 10,000 workers from these countries moved to Belgium and mostly worked in low-skilled jobs such as coal mining, steelmaking, the automobile industry, etc. This stopped in 1974 when all foreign manual labour was banned from entry into the country and, in the same year, Islam was officially recognised as a religion in B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Minister Of Belgium
The prime minister of Belgium (; ; ) or the premier of Belgium is the head of the federal government of Belgium, and the most powerful person in Belgian politics. The first head of government in Belgian history was Henri van der Noot in 1790, during the short-lived republic of the United Belgian States. Although Leaders of Government (French: ) had been appointed since the independence of the country, until 1918 the king of the Belgians often presided over the Council of Ministers, so the modern era of the "Premiership" started after World War I with Léon Delacroix. The political importance of the Crown has decreased over time, whereas the position of prime minister has gradually become more important. Bart De Wever, the (former) leader of New-Flemish Alliance, was appointed as new prime minister on 3 February 2025. He is the first Flemish Nationalist to ever become Premier of Belgium. He succeeded Alexander De Croo. History In 1790, the Sovereign Congress of the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bart De Wever
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever (; born 21 December 1970) is a Belgian author, historian and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Belgium since February 2025. From 2004 to 2025, De Wever had been the leader of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), a political party advocating for the transformation of Belgium into a Confederation, confederal state. From January 2013 to February 2025, he was List of mayors of Antwerp, Mayor of Antwerp, following the 2012 Belgian local elections, 2012 municipal elections. De Wever presided over his party's victory in the 2010 Belgian federal election, 2010 federal elections when N-VA became the largest party in both Flanders and in Belgium as a whole. He accomplished this again in the subsequent three elections, eventually being tasked with forming a new government by Philippe of Belgium, King Philippe following the 2024 Belgian federal election, 2024 elections. After more than eight months of negotiations between the parties N-VA, Vooruit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Belgium
For most of its history, what is today Belgium was either a part of a larger territory, such as the medieval Carolingian Empire, or was divided into a number of smaller states which were prominent among them. The pre Belgian states being, the Duchy of Lower Lorraine, the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Flanders, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the County of Namur, the County of Hainaut and the County of Luxembourg. Due to its strategic location as a country in contact between different cultures, Belgium has historically been called the "crossroads of Europe", and for the many armies fighting on its soil, it has also been called the "battlefield of Europe" or the " cockpit of Europe". Today, Belgium's modern shape can be traced back at least as far as the southern core of the medieval Burgundian Netherlands. The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) later led to the split between a northern Dutch Republic and the Southern Netherlands from which Belgium and Luxembourg developed. The ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Brabançonne
"" ( (La Brabançonne); ; ) is the national anthem of Belgium. The originally French title refers to the Duchy of Brabant; the name is usually untranslated in Belgium's other two official languages, Dutch and German. History According to legend, the Belgian national anthem was written in September 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, by a young revolutionary called "Jenneval", who read the lyrics during a meeting at the Aigle d'Or café. Jenneval, a Frenchman whose real name was Alexandre Dechet (sometimes known as Louis-Alexandre Dechet), wrote the Brabançonne. At the time, he was an actor at the theatre where, in August 1830, the revolution started, which led to independence from the Netherlands. Jenneval died in the war of independence. François van Campenhout composed the accompanying score, based on the tune of a French song called "L'Air des lanciers polonais" (" the tune of the Polish Lancers"), written by the French poet Eugène de Pradel, whose tune was itself ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Of Brussels
The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the Flemish Region (from which it is List of capitals outside the territories they serve, separate) and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal Institutions of the European Union, EU institutions in its Brussels and the European Union#European Quarter, European Quarter. Besides the central historic town located within the Pentagon (Brussels), Pentagon, the City of Brussels covers some of the city's immediate outskirts within the greater Brussels-Capital Region, namely the former municipalities of Haren, Belgium, Haren, Laeken, and Neder-Over-Heembeek to the north, as well as the Avenue Louise, Avenue Louise/Louizalaan and the Bois de la Cambre, Bois de la Cambre/ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monarchy Of Belgium
The monarchy of Belgium is the Constitutional monarchy, constitutional and Inheritance, hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the country's head of state and commander-in-chief of the Belgian Armed Forces. There have been seven List of Belgian monarchs, Belgian monarchs since independence in 1830. The incumbent, Philippe of Belgium, Philippe, ascended the throne on 21 July 2013, following the abdication of his father Albert II of Belgium, Albert II. Origins When Belgium gained independence from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1830, the National Congress of Belgium, National Congress chose a constitutional monarchy as the form of government. The Congress voted on the question on 22 November 1830, supporting monarchy by 174 votes to 13. In February 1831, the Congress nominated Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours, Louis, Duke of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provisional Government Of Belgium (1814-1815)
The Provisional Government (; ) was the first iteration of the Belgian state, formed in the midst of the Belgian Revolution. After Dutch forces were expelled from Brussels on 27 September 1830, the recently created Revolutionary Committee transformed into the Provisional Government. The independence of Belgium as a state was officially declared on 4 October. On 7 February 1831, the Constitution of Belgium was proclaimed and Erasme Louis Surlet de Chokier was declared regent. With Belgium now under a constitutional monarchy, the Provisional Government was dissolved. History As the Belgian Revolution raged in Brussels, William I of the Netherlands attempted to forcefully end the revolt. An army under William's son, Prince Frederick, occupied the city on 23 September. A Revolutionary Committee was formed by the Belgians to organize a revolt against the occupying force, and the Dutch began their retreat on the 26th. On 27 September the Revolutionary Committee assumed the title ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamber Of Representatives (Belgium)
The Chamber of Representatives (; ; ) is one of the two chambers in the Bicameralism, bicameral Belgian Federal Parliament, Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate (Belgium), Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament. Members and elections Article 62 of the Constitution of Belgium, Belgian Constitution fixes the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives at 150. There are 11 electoral districts, which correspond with the ten Provinces of regions in Belgium, Provinces (five Dutch- and five French-speaking) and the Brussels-Capital Region. Prior to the sixth Belgian state reform, the province of Flemish Brabant was divided into two electoral districts: one for Leuven Arrondissement, Leuven and the other, named Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV), which encompassed both the 19 bilingual municipalities from the Brussels-Capital Region and the 35 Dutch-speaking municipalities of Arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde, Halle-Vilvoorde in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christianity In Belgium
Christianity is the largest religion in Belgium, with the Catholic Church representing the largest community, though it has experienced a significant decline since the 1950s (when it was the nominal religion of over 80% of the population). Belgium's policy separation of church and state, separates the state from the churches, and freedom of religion in Belgium, freedom of religion of the citizens is guaranteed by the country's Constitution of Belgium, constitution. According to the Eurobarometer poll carried out by the European Commission in 2021, the share of Christians was 49%, with Catholicism being the largest denomination at 44%. Protestants and other Christians comprised 4% and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christians comprised 1%. Non-religious people comprised 41% of the population and were divided between those who primarily identified as atheists (15%) or as agnostics (26%). A further 2% of the population was Muslim, with the remainder belonging to other religious ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
