Belgium

Belgium

sovereign state, federation, country

Part of	Benelux
Year dem found am	4 October 1830
Official name	Königreich Belgien, Koninkrijk België, Royaume de Belgique
Native label	Koninkrijk België, Royaume de Belgique, Königreich Belgien
IPA transcription	ˈbɛlʤəm, ˈkɪŋdəm ɒv ˈbɛlʤəm
Dem name after	Belgae, Gallia Belgica
Official language	Dutch, French, German
Anthem	The Brabançonne
Culture	culture of Belgium
Motto	Unity makes strength
Motto text	Eendracht maakt macht, L’union fait la force, Einigkeit macht stark
Continent	Europe
Country	Belgium
Capital	City of Brussels
Located in time zone	UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00
Located in or next to body of water	North Sea
Located in/on physical feature	Western Europe, Low Countries, European Economic Area
Coordinate location	50°38′28″N 4°40′5″E
Coordinates of geographic center	50°38′28″N 4°40′5″E
Coordinates of easternmost point	50°20′9″N 6°24′27″E
Coordinates of northernmost point	51°30′18″N 4°46′26″E
Coordinates of southernmost point	49°29′49″N 5°28′21″E
Coordinates of westernmost point	51°5′22″N 2°32′43″E
Highest point	Signal de Botrange
Lowest point	De Moeren
Government ein basic form	constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy
Office held by head of state	King of the Belgians
State ein head	Philippe of Belgium
Office head of government hold	Prime Minister of Belgium
Government ein head	Bart De Wever
Executive body	Federal Government of Belgium
Legislative body	Belgian Federal Parliament
Highest judicial authority	Constitutional Court of Belgium, Belgian Court of Cassation, Council of State
Central bank	National Bank of Belgium
Currency	euro
Owner of	Memorial interallié de Cointe, Meise Botanic Garden
Dey share bother plus	Germany, Luxembourg, France, Netherlands
Driving side	right
Electrical plug type	Europlug, Type E
Dey replace	United Kingdom of the Netherlands
Significant event	Belgian Revolution, Treaty of London
Dema official website	https://www.belgium.be/
Described at URL	https://baike.sogou.com/v43034.htm
Official jobs URL	https://travaillerpour.be/, https://werkenvoor.be/
Hashtag	Belgium
Top-level Internet domain	.be
Main regulatory text	Constitution of Belgium
Flag	flag of Belgium
Coat of arms	coat of arms of Belgium
Official symbol	Papaver rhoeas
Geography of topic	Geography of Belgium
Get characteristic	free country
History of topic	history of Belgium
Patron saint	Joseph
Represented by	Belgian State
‎most populous urban area	Brussels-Capital Region
Railway traffic side	left
Open data portal	data.gov.be
Economy of topic	economy of Belgium
Demographics of topic	demographics of Belgium
OpenStreetMap zoom level	7
WordLift URL	http://data.thenextweb.com/tnw/entity/belgium
Mobile country code	206
Country calling code	+32
Trunk prefix	0
Emergency phone number	112, 100, 101, 102
GS1 country code	540-549
Licence plate code	B
Maritime identification digits	205
Unicode character	🇧🇪
Category for honorary citizens of entity	Category:Honorary citizens of Belgium
Category for maps or plans	Category:Maps of Belgium

Belgium, officially de Kingdom of Belgium, be a country insyd Northwestern Europe. E dey situate insyd a coastal lowland region dem know as de Low Countries, e be bordered by de Netherlands to de north, Germany to de east, Luxembourg to de southeast, France to de south, den de North Sea to de west. Belgium dey cover an area of 30,689 km² (11,849 sq mi) wey e get a population of more dan 11.8 million; ein population density of 383/km² (990/sq mi) dey rank 22nd insyd de world den sixth insyd Europe. De capital den largest metropolitan region be Brussels; oda major cities be Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, den Leuven.

Belgium be a parliamentary constitutional monarchy plus a complex federal system dem structure on regional den linguistic grounds. Dem divide de country into three highly autonomous regions: de Flemish Region (Flanders) insyd de north, de Walloon Region (Wallonia) insyd de south, den de Brussels-Capital Region insyd de middle. Belgium sanso be home to two main linguistic communities: de Dutch-speaking Flemish Community, wich dey constitute about 60 percent of de population, den de French-speaking French Community, wich dey constitute about 40 percent of de population; a small German-speaking Community, wey dey comprise around one percent of de population, dey exist insyd de East Cantons. Belgium ein linguistic diversity den related political conflicts be reflected insyd ein complex system of governance, wey make up of six different governments. Belgium be a developed country plus an advanced high-income economy. E be one of de six founding members of de European Union, wey ein capital of Brussels dey serve as de de facto capital of de EU, wey dey host de official seats of de European Commission, de Council of the European Union, de European Council, den one of two seats of de European Parliament (de oda be Strasbourg).

Brussels sanso dey host de headquarters of chaw major international organizations, such as NATO. Belgium be a member of, anaa affiliate to, chaw international organizations, wey dey include ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, 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, MONUSCO (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.

Demographics

Largest cities anaa towns insyd Belgium Numbers according to de Belgium's National Register, (1 January 2023)
Rank	Name	Region	Pop.	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.
1	Antwerp	Flanders	536,079	11	Molenbeek-Saint-Jean/Sint-Jans-Molenbeek	Brussels	97,610
2	Ghent	Flanders	267,709	12	Mons	Wallonia	96,055
3	Charleroi	Wallonia	203,245	13	Aalst	Flanders	89,915
4	Liège	Wallonia	194,877	14	Mechelen	Flanders	88,463
5	City of Brussels	Brussels	192,950	15	Ixelles/Elsene	Brussels	88,081
6	Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek	Brussels	130,422	16	Uccle/Ukkel	Brussels	85,706
7	Anderlecht	Brussels	124,353	17	La Louvière	Wallonia	81,293
8	Bruges	Flanders	119,445	18	Sint-Niklaas	Flanders	81,066
9	Namur	Wallonia	113,174	19	Hasselt	Flanders	80,299
10	Leuven	Flanders	102,851	20	Kortrijk	Flanders	78,841

Geography

Provinces

Dem divide de territory of Belgium into three Regions, two of wich, de Flemish Region den Walloon Region, be in turn subdivided into provinces; de third Region, de Brussels-Capital Region, be neither a province nor a part of a province.

Province	Dutch name	French name	German name	Capital	Area	Population (1 January 2024)	Density	ISO 3166-2:BE
Flemish Region
Antwerp	Antwerpen	Anvers	Antwerpen	Antwerp	2,876 km2 (1,110 sq mi)	1,926,522	670/km2 (1,700/sq mi)	VAN
East Flanders	Oost-Vlaanderen	Flandre orientale	Ostflandern	Ghent	3,007 km2 (1,161 sq mi)	1,572,002	520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)	VOV
Flemish Brabant	Vlaams-Brabant	Brabant flamand	Flämisch-Brabant	Leuven	2,118 km2 (818 sq mi)	1,196,773	570/km2 (1,500/sq mi)	VBR
Limburg	Limburg	Limbourg	Limburg	Hasselt	2,427 km2 (937 sq mi)	900,098	370/km2 (960/sq mi)	VLI
West Flanders	West-Vlaanderen	Flandre occidentale	Westflandern	Bruges	3,197 km2 (1,234 sq mi)	1,226,375	380/km2 (980/sq mi)	VWV
Walloon Region
Hainaut	Henegouwen	Hainaut	Hennegau	Mons	3,813 km2 (1,472 sq mi)	1,360,074	360/km2 (930/sq mi)	WHT
Liège	Luik	Liège	Lüttich	Liège	3,857 km2 (1,489 sq mi)	1,119,038	290/km2 (750/sq mi)	WLG
Luxembourg	Luxemburg	Luxembourg	Luxemburg	Arlon	4,459 km2 (1,722 sq mi)	295,146	66/km2 (170/sq mi)	WLX
Namur	Namen	Namur	Namur (Namür)	Namur	3,675 km2 (1,419 sq mi)	503,895	140/km2 (360/sq mi)	WNA
Walloon Brabant	Waals-Brabant	Brabant wallon	Wallonisch-Brabant	Wavre	1,097 km2 (424 sq mi)	414,130	380/km2 (980/sq mi)	WBR
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels-Capital Region	Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest	Région de Bruxelles-Capitale	Region Brüssel-Hauptstadt	Brussels City	162 km2 (63 sq mi)	1,249,597	7,700/km2 (20,000/sq mi)	BBR
Total	België	Belgique	Belgien	Brussels City	30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi)	11,763,650	383/km2 (990/sq mi)

References

Online sources

• "Belgium". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Archived from the original on 28 April 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
• "Boordtabel" (in Dutch). Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels (BRIO). 2007. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007. (mentioning other original sources)
• "The Constitution". Federal Parliament Belgium. 21 January 1997. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
• "Country Portal – Europe—Belgium". Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy—Directorate-general Statistics Belgium. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
• Fischer, Kathrin (21 July 1999). "Die Stellung und Rolle der deutschsprachigen Minderheit in Ostbelgien innerhalb des belgischen Nationalstaats". Kleiner Geländekurs in die Euregio Maas-Rhein (in German). Geographical Institute of the University of Göttingen (Department Culture and Social Geography), Göttingen, Germany. Archived from the original on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
• "History of Belgium". World History at KMLA. Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (KMLA). 30 May 2007. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
• Janssens, Rudi (1 June 2001). Brusselse Thema's in Brussel—Taalverhoudingen, taalverschuivingen en taalindentiteit in een meertalige stad – summary The Use of Languages in Brussels (PDF) (in Dutch). Vrije Universiteit Brussel Press, Brussels. pp. 227–250. ISBN 978-90-5487-293-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 June 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
• Leclerc, Jacques (2006). "Belgique • België • Belgien". L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde (in French). Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec. Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
• Mnookin, Robert; Verbeke, Alain (20 December 2006). "Bye bye Belgium?". International Herald Tribune, republished by Harvard Law School. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.—Reflections on nations and nation-state developments regarding Belgium

Bibliography

• Arblaster, Paul (23 December 2005). A History of the Low Countries. Palgrave Essential Histories (Hardcover 312pp ed.). Palgrave Macmillan, New York. ISBN 978-1-4039-4827-4.
• 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 978-1-57181-084-7.
• Cammaerts, Émile L. (1921) [1913]. A 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 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 978-1-4021-6714-0. 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 (Paperback 462pp ed.). Ib. ISBN 978-1-4021-6713-3. 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, US: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-2386-2. 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 (3rd Rev. edition Paperback 64pp ed.). Flemish-Netherlands Foundation Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem, Belgium. ISBN 978-90-70831-20-2.

(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 Archived 26 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• Statistical Profile of Belgium at the Association of Religion Data Archives Archived 28 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
• Key Development Forecasts for Belgium from International Futures
• Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope