Belgium
Country in Northwestern Europe From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Belgium,[lower-alpha 1] officially the Kingdom of Belgium,[lower-alpha 2] 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 the south, and the North Sea to the west. It covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi)[4] and has a population of more than 11.7 million,[7] making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 383/km2 (990/sq mi). Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest metropolitan region is Brussels;[lower-alpha 3] other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.
Kingdom of Belgium | |
|---|---|
| Motto: Eendracht maakt macht (Dutch) L'union fait la force (French) Einigkeit macht stark (German) (English: "Unity makes strength") | |
| Anthem: La Brabançonne Dutch version: French version: | |
.svg)  Location of Belgium (dark green) – in Europe (light green & dark grey) | |
| Capital | City of Brussels 50°51′N 4°21′E |
| Largest city | Brussels-Capital Region |
| Official languages | |
| Ethnic groups (2024)[1] | |
| Religion (2021[2]) |
|
| Demonym(s) | |
| Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy[3] |
• Monarch | Philippe |
| Alexander De Croo | |
| Legislature | Federal Parliament |
| Senate | |
| Chamber of Representatives | |
| Independence from the Holy Roman Empire and Netherlands | |
• Declared | 4 October 1830 |
| 19 April 1839 | |
| 1970 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 30,689[4] km2 (11,849 sq mi) (136th) |
• Water (%) | 0.64 (2022)[5][6] |
| Population | |
• 2024 census |  11,763,650[7] |
• Density | 383/km2 (992.0/sq mi) (22nd) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total |  $803.166 billion[8] (37th) |
• Per capita | $68,079[8] (20th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $655.192 billion[8] (23rd) |
• Per capita | $55,536[8] (16th) |
| Gini (2022) |  24.9[9]low inequality |
| HDI (2022) | 0.942[10] very high (12th) |
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| UTC+2 (CEST) | |
| Drives on | right |
| Calling code | +32 |
| ISO 3166 code | BE |
| Internet TLD | .be and .eu |
| |
Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions:[13] the Flemish Region (Flanders) in the north, the Walloon Region (Wallonia) in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region in the middle.[14] Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region, as well as the richest region in terms of GDP per capita. Belgium is also home to two main linguistic communities: the Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking), which constitutes about 60 percent of the population, and the French Community (French-speaking),[lower-alpha 4] which constitutes about 40 percent of the population. A small German-speaking Community, making up around one percent of the population, exists in the East Cantons. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual in French and Dutch,[16] although French is the majority language and lingua franca.[17] Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its complex system of governance, made up of six different governments.
Since the Middle Ages, Belgium's central location has meant that the area has been relatively prosperous, connected commercially and politically to its bigger neighbours. The country as it exists today was established following the 1830 Belgian Revolution, when it seceded from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had incorporated the Southern Netherlands (which comprised most of modern-day Belgium) after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The name chosen for the new state is derived from the Latin word Belgium, used in Julius Caesar's "Gallic Wars", to describe a nearby region in the period around 55 BCE.[18] Belgium has also been called "the Battlefield of Europe",[19] a reputation reinforced in the 20th century by both world wars.
Belgium was an early participant in the Industrial Revolution,[20][21] and during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies, notably the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi.[22][lower-alpha 5] These colonies gained independence between 1960 and 1962.[24] The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speakers and French-speakers, fueled by differences in political culture and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching state reforms, resulting in the transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement between 1970 and 1993. Despite the reforms, tensions have persisted: there is particularly significant separatist sentiment among the Flemish; language laws such as the municipalities with language facilities have been the source of much controversy;[25] and the government formation period following the 2010 federal election set a world record at 589 days.[26] Unemployment in Wallonia is more than double that of Flanders, which boomed after the Second World War.[27][28]
Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. The country is one of the six founding members of the European Union, and its capital, Brussels, is the de facto capital of the European Union itself, hosting the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Council, as well as one of two seats of the European Parliament (the other being Strasbourg). Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area. Brussels also hosts the headquarters of many major international organizations, such as NATO.[lower-alpha 6]
Antiquity
According to Julius Caesar, the Belgae were the inhabitants of the northernmost part of Gaul. They lived in a region stretching from Paris to the Rhine, which is much bigger than modern Belgium. However, he also specifically used the Latin word "Belgium" to refer to a politically dominant part of that region, which is now in northernmost France.[29] In contrast, modern Belgium, together with neighbouring parts of the Netherlands and Germany, corresponds to the lands of the most northerly Belgae – the Morini, Menapii, Nervii, Germani Cisrhenani, and Aduatuci. Caesar found these peoples particularly warlike and economically undeveloped, and described them as kinsmen of the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine. The area around Arlon in southern Belgium was a part of the country of the powerful Treveri, to whom some of them paid tribute.
After Caesar's conquests, Gallia Belgica first came to be the Latin name of a large Roman province covering most of Northern Gaul, including the Belgae and Treveri. However, areas closer to the lower Rhine frontier, including the eastern part of modern Belgium, subsequently became part of the frontier province of Germania Inferior, which continued to interact with their neighbours outside the empire. At the time when central government collapsed in the Western Roman Empire, the Roman provinces of Belgica and Germania were inhabited by a mix of a Romanized population and Germanic-speaking Franks who came to dominate the military and political class.
Middle Ages
During the 5th century, the area came under the rule of the Frankish Merovingian kings, who initially established a kingdom ruling over the Romanized population in what is now northern France, and then conquered the other Frankish kingdoms. During the 8th century, the empire of the Franks came to be ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, whose centre of power included the area which is now eastern Belgium.[30] Over the centuries, it was divided up in many ways, but the Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms whose borders had a lasting impact on medieval political boundaries. Most of modern Belgium was in the Middle Kingdom, later known as Lotharingia, but the coastal county of Flanders, west of the Scheldt, became the northernmost part of West Francia, the predecessor of France. In 870 in the Treaty of Meerssen, modern Belgium lands all became part of the western kingdom for a period, but in 880 in the Treaty of Ribemont, Lotharingia came under the lasting control of the eastern kingdom, which became the Holy Roman Empire. The lordships and bishoprics along the "March" (frontier) between the two great kingdoms maintained important connections between each other. For example, the county of Flanders expanded over the Scheldt into the empire, and during several periods was ruled by the same lords as the county of Hainaut.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the cloth industry and commerce boomed especially in the County of Flanders and it became one of the richest areas in Europe. This prosperity played a role in conflicts between Flanders and the king of France. Famously, Flemish militias scored a surprise victory at the Battle of the Golden Spurs against a strong force of mounted knig