40 Facts About Belgium

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe.

Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system.

Belgium is home to two main linguistic communities: the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community, which constitutes about 60 percent of the population, and the French-speaking Community, which constitutes about 40 percent of the population.

Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it included parts of northern France.

Belgium has earned the moniker the "Battlefield of Europe", a reputation strengthened in the 20th century by both world wars.

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Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa.

Between 1885 and 1908, the Congo Free State, which was privately owned by King Leopold II of Belgium, was characterized by widespread atrocities and a population decline of millions, leading Belgium to take over the territory as a colony.

Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union and its capital, Brussels, hosts 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 .

Belgium is a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area.

Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy.

Belgium specifically used the Latin word "Belgium", to refer to a politically dominant part of that larger region, which is in northernmost France.

Areas closer to the lower Rhine frontier, including the eastern part of modern Belgium, eventually became part of the frontier province of Germania Inferior, which continued to interact with the their neighbours outside the empire.

Belgium increased the influence of these Netherlands over the Prince-Bishopric of Liege, which continued to exist as a large semi-independent enclave.

Belgium assumed control of the German colonies of Ruanda-Urundi during the war, and in 1924 the League of Nations mandated them to Belgium.

Belgium joined NATO as a founding member and formed the Benelux group of nations with the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

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.

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 uplands in the southeast to the Hercynian orogenic belt.

Phytogeographically, Belgium is shared between the Atlantic European and Central European provinces of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom.

Belgium had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.

Territory of Belgium is divided into three Regions, two of which, the Flemish Region and Walloon Region, are in turn subdivided into provinces; the third Region, the Brussels Capital Region, is neither a province nor a part of a province.

Belgium is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a federal parliamentary democracy.

Belgium has compulsory voting and thus maintains one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world.

Belgium appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government.

Until December 2011, Belgium was governed by Leterme's caretaker government awaiting the end of the deadlocked negotiations for formation of a new government.

In March 1948 Belgium signed the Treaty of Brussels and then joined NATO in 1948.

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Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 19th century.

Belgium switched to the euro in 2002, with the first sets of euro coins being minted in 1999.

From a biological resource perspective, Belgium has a low endowment: Belgium's biocapacity adds up to only 0.

Belgium was ranked 22nd in the Global Innovation Index in 2020 and 2021, up from 23rd in 2019.

Belgium subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 41.

However Belgium is largely a secular country as the constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice.

Church attendance in 2009 in Belgium was roughly half of the Sunday church attendance in 1998 .

Belgium officially recognizes three religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Death in Belgium is mainly due to heart and vascular disorders, neoplasms, disorders of the respiratory system and unnatural causes of death .

Belgium has produced several well-known authors, including the poets Emile Verhaeren, Guido Gezelle, Robert Goffin and novelists Hendrik Conscience, Stijn Streuvels, Georges Simenon, Suzanne Lilar, Hugo Claus and Amelie Nothomb.

Belgium is home to a number of successful fashion designers Category:Belgian fashion designers.

Belgium then takes the food and water or wine, leaves presents, goes back up, feeds his horse or donkey, and continues on his course.

Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and French fries.

Belgium hosted the Euro 1972, and co-hosted the Euro 2000 with the Netherlands.

Belgium has a strong reputation in, motocross with the riders Joel Robert, Roger De Coster, Georges Jobe, Eric Geboers and Stefan Everts, among others.