51 Facts About Belgium

1. Belgium has some 40 miles of shoreline on the North Sea.

2. Belgium is named after the Belgae, a Celtic people whose territory Julius Caesar conquered in 57 bc and ruled as Gallia Belgica.

3. In 2004, Belgium had the densest railway network in the world, with 3,422 kilometers of track operated by the government-controlled Belgian National Railway Company.

4. Belgium has a total land boundary length of 1,385 kilometers, sharing borders with the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France.

5. The US continues to believe that Belgium could be even more active in sharing the international security burden.

6. Belgium has 25 seats in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

7. Belgium is a strong advocate of strengthening economic and political integration within the EU.

8. On May 1, 1998, Belgium became a first-tier member of the European Monetary Union.

9. In 2006, Belgium sent about 400 peacekeepers to Lebanon in support of the UN mission there.

10. Belgium is a member of the European Economic and Monetary Union.

11. Belgium is located in Western Europe, bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea.

12. Belgium is a member of NATO, and its military forces have been completely integrated into the alliance.

13. Belgium is heavily dependent on trade, mostly with neighboring European countries.

14. Belgium has two major rivers, the Schelde and the Meuse (Maas), both of which originate in France and flow east across Belgium.

15. Belgium is situated at the southern tip of the North Sea.

16. Belgium is one of Europe's smallest and most densely populated countries.

17. Belgium is one of the most densely populated nations in Europe.

18. Belgium is the most cabled country in the world, the Internet is easily accessible.

19. Belgium has its own press agency, Belga Press Agency, which covers both daily national and international news.

20. Belgium is divided into 10 provinces, with executive power in each exercised by a Governor appointed by the King.

21. Belgium is small, about the size of Maryland, with an area of 11,799 square miles.

22. In 1999, Belgium began using the euro, the common currency of the European Union.

23. Belgium is one of the founding members of the European Community.

24. In 1999, Belgium joined the EMU that created a single currency, the euro, for all of the EU nations.

25. Belgium has significant investments in the United States that total $6.7 billion.

26. Belgium is the home to a number of international corporations and has outlets or subsidiaries of many multinational companies such as Ford, Volvo, and Renault.

27. In 1999, Belgium was one of the founding members of the European Monetary Union.

28. Belgium is a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an organization of the world's most highly developed industrialized democracies.

29. Belgium is the traditional crossroads of Europe and its capital, Brussels, serves as the capital of the European Union.

30. In that year, Belgium had 63,220 hotel rooms and 16,368 beds.

31. Belgium has three major tourist regions: the seacoast, the old Flemish cities, and the Ardennes Forest in the southeast.

32. Belgium is the economic as well as the political center of Europe.

33. Belgium is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

34. Belgium is a charter member of the UN, having joined on 27 December 1945, and participates in ECE and all the nonregional specialized agencies.

35. Belgium has an 1,800 active member medical service and a Joint Service force of 1,500 active members (2,200 reservists).

36. Belgium has one of the largest national debts in Western Europe.

37. Belgium is named after the Belgae, a Celtic people whose territory was conquered in 57 bc by Julius Caesar and was organized by him as Gallia Belgica.

38. In 2003, Belgium had 4,793,271 passenger cars and 661,948 commercial vehicles registered for use.

39. Belgium has the lowest salary gap between man and women in the EU.

40. Belgium is the first foreign investors in some developing countries, like Bulgaria.

41. Belgium is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with the population density similar to that of Japan, India, England or the neighouring Netherlands.

42. In 1920, Belgium became the sixth country in the world to host the Olympic Games (in Antwerp).

43. Belgium is the world's 3rd country with the most vehicles per square kilometres after the Netherlands and Japan.

44. Belgium is among the top 10 countries for the highest road and railroad density, although TomTom ranks Brussels as the seventh most congested city in Europe.

45. Belgium is one of the most cabled countries in the world, where some 97 percent of Belgian households receive cable TV.

46. Belgium has a strong reputation in, motocross with the rider Stefan Everts.

47. The largest group of immigrants in Belgium are Moroccans, with 400,000 people.

48. In particular, the Flemish region of Belgium has the highest waste diversion rate in Europe.

49. 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.

50. Between the 16th and early 19th centuries, Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers, earning the moniker the "Battlefield of Europe", a reputation strengthened by both world wars.

51. Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups or Communities: the Dutch-speaking, mostly Flemish Community, which constitutes about 59 percent of the population, and the French-speaking Community, which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians.