:en:Belgium

{{Main|History of Belgium}}

{{For timeline|Timeline of Belgian history}}

{{More sources|section|date=April 2025}}

File: Map Gallia Tribes Towns.png at the time of Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in 54 BCE]]

According to Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, the Belgae inhabited the northernmost part of Gaul, a region extending from the Seine and Marne rivers to the Rhine. This area was larger than present-day Belgium and included parts of modern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. Caesar noted that the Belgae were the bravest among the Gauls due to their distance from the civilization and refinement of the Roman Province, minimal contact with merchants importing luxury goods, and their continual warfare with the neighboring Germanic tribes across the Rhine.{{Cite web |title=Works of Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars Book 1 (58 B.C.E.) |url=https://sacred-texts.com/cla/jcsr/dbg1.htm |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=sacred-texts.com}}{{Cite journal |last=Allen-Hornblower |first=Emily |date= 2014|title=BEASTS AND BARBARIANS IN CAESar's BELLUM GALLICUM 6.21–8 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/beasts-and-barbarians-in-caesars-bellum-gallicum-6218/0207CEA01853E9B516FD766E92FB2676 |journal=The Classical Quarterly |language=en |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=682–693 |doi=10.1017/S0009838814000044 |issn=0009-8388}} Within this broad region, Caesar referred to a specific area as "Belgium," which was politically dominant and located in what is now northern France.Caesar, Gallic War, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0002:book=8:chapter=46&highlight=belgio%2Cbelgium 8.46] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811110505/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0002:book=8:chapter=46&highlight=belgio%2Cbelgium |date=11 August 2023 }} "quattuor legiones in Belgio collocavit", "his confectis rebus ad legiones in Belgium se recipit hibernatque Nemetocennae". (In online English translations the second part is often included in the next paragraph [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Commentaries_on_the_Gallic_War/Book_8#47 8.47] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621075642/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Commentaries_on_the_Gallic_War/Book_8#47 |date=21 June 2023 }}. {{citation|first=Edith|last=Wightman|title=Gallia Belgica|page=12|url={{GBurl|id=aEyS54uSj88C|p=12}}|year=1985|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-05297-0}}. {{citation|last1=González Villaescusa|last2= Jacquemin|year=2011|title= Gallia Belgica: An Entity with No National Claim|journal= Études rurales|volume= 2|issue=2|pages=93–111|doi=10.4000/etudesrurales.9499|doi-access=free}} Modern Belgium, along with neighboring regions of the Netherlands and Germany, corresponds to the territories of the northernmost Belgae tribes, including the Morini, Menapii, Nervii, Germani Cisrhenani, and Aduatuci. Julius Caesar described these tribes as particularly warlike and economically undeveloped, noting their kinship with the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine. Additionally, the area around Arlon in southern Belgium was part of the territory of the powerful Treveri tribe, whose lands extended into present-day Luxembourg and adjacent regions of France and Germany.

Following Caesar's conquests, Gallia Belgica became the Latin name for a large Roman province encompassing most of Northern Gaul, including the lands of the Belgae and Treveri. Subsequently, areas closer to the lower Rhine frontier, such as the eastern part of modern Belgium, were incorporated into the frontier province of Germania Inferior.{{Cite web |title=Germania Inferior {{!}} Roman province, Europe {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Germania-Inferior |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Germania Inferior (1) - Livius |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/place/germania-inferior/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.livius.org}} As the central government of the Western Roman Empire collapsed, the provinces of Belgica and Germania were inhabited by a mix of Romanized populations and Germanic-speaking Franks, who came to dominate the military and political spheres.Hamerow, Theodore S., Leyser, K.J., Geary, Patrick J., Wallace-Hadrill, John Michael, Barkin, Kenneth, Berentsen, William H., Duggan, Lawrence G., Schleunes, Karl A., Sheehan, James J., Kirby, George Hall, Bayley, Charles Calvert, Turner, Henry Ashby, Heather, Peter John, Elkins, Thomas Henry, Strauss, Gerald. "Germany". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany. Accessed 5 April 2025

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.{{citation|first=Matthias|last=Werner|title=Der Lütticher Raum in frühkarolingischer Zeit : Untersuchungen zur Geschichte einer karolingischen Stammlandschaft|year=1980}} 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 knights in 1302, but France soon regained control of the rebellious province.

File:Karte-Haus-Burgund 4-FR.png of Charles the Bold in the 15th century]]

In the 15th century, the Duke of Burgundy in France took control of Flanders, and from there proceeded to unite much of what is now the Benelux, the so-called Burgundian Netherlands.{{cite web|title=Chapter I: The Burgundian Netherlands.|work=History of Holland|author=Edmundson, George|publisher=The University Press, Cambridge. Republished: Authorama|year=1922|url=http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-3.html|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428094602/http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-3.html|archive-date=28 April 2011|url-status=live}} "Burgundy" and "Flanders" were the first two common names used for the Burgundian Netherlands which was the predecessor of the Austrian Netherlands, the predecessor of modern Belgium.{{citation|last=Van Der Essen|first=Leon|title=Notre nom national|journal=Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire|volume=4|issue=1|year=1925|pages=121–131|doi=10.3406/rbph.1925.6335|url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_1925_num_4_1_6335|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=20 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320145715/https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_1925_num_4_1_6335|url-status=live}} The union, technically stretching between two kingdoms, gave the area economic and political stability which led to an even greater prosperity and artistic creation.

Born in Belgium, the Habsburg Emperor Charles V was heir of the Burgundians, but also of the royal families of Austria, Castile and Aragon. With the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 he gave the Seventeen Provinces more legitimacy as a stable entity, rather than just a temporary personal union. He also increased the influence of these Netherlands over the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, which continued to exist as a large semi-independent enclave.{{cite web|title=Chapter II: Habsburg Rule in the Netherlands|work=History of Holland|author=Edmundson, George|publisher=The University Press, Cambridge. Republished: Authorama|year=1922|url=http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-4.html|access-date=9 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926224357/http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-4.html|archive-date=26 September 2007|url-status=live}}

The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) was triggered by the Spanish government's policy towards Protestantism, which was becoming popular in the Low Countries. The rebellious northern United Provinces (Belgica Foederata in Latin, the "Federated Netherlands") eventually separated from the Southern Netherlands (Belgica Regia, the "Royal Netherlands"). The southern part continued to be ruled successively by the Spanish (Spanish Netherlands) and the Austrian House of Habsburgs (Austrian Netherlands) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theatre of several more protracted conflicts during much of the 17th and 18th centuries involving France, including the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), and part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748).

Following the campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countries{{snd}}including territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Liège{{snd}}were annexed by the French First Republic, ending Austrian rule in the region. After the dissolution of the First French Empire and the abdication of Napoleon following his defeat on the battlefield of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15 created the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. This buffer state, located between the major European powers, united the former territories of the Dutch Republic, the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, under King William I of Orange.

File:Gustave Wappers - Episode of the September Days 1830, on the Grand Place of Brussels - Google Art Project.jpg of 1830, Gustaf Wappers, 1834]]

In 1830, the Belgian Revolution led to the re-separation of the Southern Provinces from the Netherlands and to the establishment of a Catholic and bourgeois, officially French-speaking and neutral, independent Belgium under a provisional government and a national congress.{{cite journal|title = From Pillar to Postmodernity: The Changing Situation of Religion in Belgium|journal = Sociological Analysis|volume = 51|pages = S1–S13|year = 1990|author = Dobbelaere, Karel|author2 = Voyé, Liliane|doi = 10.2307/3711670|jstor = 3711670|df = dmy-all|author-link = Karel Dobbelaere}} {{cite book|url = https://www.questia.com/read/3461234|title = Belgium and the February Revolution|author = Gooch, Brison Dowling|publisher = Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, Netherlands|year = 1963|page = 112|access-date = 18 October 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110628222235/http://www.questia.com/read/3461234|archive-date = 28 June 2011|url-status=live|df = dmy-all|author-link = Brison D. Gooch}} Since the installation of Leopold I as king on {{nowrap|21 July}} 1831, now celebrated as Belgium's National Day, Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a laicist constitution based on the Napoleonic code.{{cite web|url=http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/country/belgium_in_nutshell/symbols/national_holiday/|title=National Day and feast days of Communities and Regions|publisher=Belgian Federal Government|access-date=20 July 2011|archive-date=24 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724132628/http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/country/belgium_in_nutshell/symbols/national_holiday/|date=3 October 2010}} Although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 (with plural voting until 1919) and for women in 1949.

File:MapBelg1832-1724.jpg

The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party and the Liberal Party, with the Belgian Labour Party emerging towards the end of the 19th century. French was originally the official language used by the nobility and the bourgeoisie, especially after the rejection of the Dutch monarchy. French progressively lost its dominance as Dutch began to recover its status. This recognition became official in 1898, and in 1967, the parliament accepted a Dutch version of the Constitution.{{cite web|title=Ethnic structure, inequality and governance of the public sector in Belgium|last=Deschouwer|first=Kris|publisher=United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)|date=January 2004|url=http://www.unrisd.org/UNRISD/website/document.nsf/ab82a6805797760f80256b4f005da1ab/ec506a59176be044c1256e9e003077c3/$FILE/Deschou.pdf|access-date=22 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614025223/http://www.unrisd.org/UNRISD/website/document.nsf/ab82a6805797760f80256b4f005da1ab/ec506a59176be044c1256e9e003077c3/%24FILE/Deschou.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2007}}

The Berlin Conference of 1885 ceded control of the Congo Free State to King Leopold II as his private possession. From around 1900 there was growing international concern for the extreme and savage treatment of the Congolese population under Leopold II, for whom the Congo was primarily a source of revenue from ivory and rubber production.{{cite book|title=The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration and Exploitation of the World's Most Dramatic Rivers|publisher=Harper & Row|year=1977|isbn=978-0-06-122490-4|last=Forbath|first=Peter|page=278|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UtgwAQAAIAAJ&q=The%2BRiver%2BCongo%3A%2BThe%2BDiscovery%2C%2BExploration%2Band%2BExploitation%2Bof%2Bthe%2BWorld%27s%2BMost%2BDramatic%2BRivers|url-access=subscription|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=23 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123070716/https://books.google.com/books?id=UtgwAQAAIAAJ&q=The+River+Congo%3A+The+Discovery%2C+Exploration+and+Exploitation+of+the+World%27s+Most+Dramatic+Rivers|url-status=live}} Many Congolese were killed by Leopold's agents for failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/21/arts/belgium-confronts-its-heart-darkness-unsavory-colonial-behavior-congo-will-be.html|newspaper=nytimes.com|title=Belgium Confronts Its Heart of Darkness; Unsavory Colonial Behavior in the Congo Will Be Tackled by a New Study – The New York Times|date=21 September 2002 |access-date=6 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224172454/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/21/arts/belgium-confronts-its-heart-darkness-unsavory-colonial-behavior-congo-will-be.html|archive-date=24 December 2016|url-status=live|last1=Riding |first1=Alan }} In 1908, this outcry led the Belgian state to assume responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo.{{cite book|last=Meredith|first=Martin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNZ6srograIC&q=congo%2Bfree%2Bstate|title=The State of Africa|publisher=Jonathan Ball|year=2005|isbn=978-1-86842-220-3|pages=95–96(?)|url-access=subscription|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=25 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925082012/https://books.google.com/books?id=jNZ6srograIC&q=congo%2Bfree%2Bstate|url-status=live}} A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo's population was half what it was in 1879.

File:Cheering crowds greet British troops entering Brussels, 4 September 1944. BU483.jpg, 4 September 1944.]]

Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914 as part of the Schlieffen Plan to attack France, and much of the Western Front fighting of World War I occurred in western parts of the country. The opening months of the war were known as the Rape of Belgium due to German excesses. Belgium assumed control of the German colonies of Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Rwanda and Burundi) during the war, and in 1924 the League of Nations mandated them to Belgium. In the aftermath of the First World War, Belgium annexed the Prussian districts of Eupen and Malmedy in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a German-speaking minority.

German forces again invaded the country in May 1940, and 40,690 Belgians, over half of them Jews, were killed during the subsequent occupation and the Holocaust. From September 1944 to February 1945 the Allies liberated Belgium. After World War II, a general strike forced King Leopold III to abdicate in 1951 in favour of his son, Prince Baudouin, since many Belgians thought he had collaborated with Germany during the war.{{cite book|first=Ramon|last=Arango|title=Leopold III and the Belgian Royal Question|publisher=The Johns Hopkins Press|location=Baltimore|year=1961|url-access=subscription|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLzkugAACAAJ|isbn=978-0-8018-0040-5|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=15 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215075435/https://books.google.com/books?id=yLzkugAACAAJ|url-status=live}} The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the Congo Crisis;{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1304803|title=The Congolese Civil War 1960–1964|work=BBC News|date=14 October 2003 |access-date=29 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524174128/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1304803|archive-date=24 May 2010|url-status=live}} Ruanda-Urundi followed with its independence two years later. 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. The latter has now become the European Union, for which Belgium hosts major administrations and institutions, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the extraordinary and committee sessions of the European Parliament.

In the early 1990s, Belgium saw several large corruption scandals notably surrounding Marc Dutroux, Andre Cools, the Dioxin Affair, Agusta Scandal and the murder of Karel van Noppen.{{cite web |title=Policy Failure and Corruption in Belgium: Is Federalism to Blame? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228177797 |website=researchgate.net}}

{{Main|Geography of Belgium}}

File:Belgium relief location map.jpg

Belgium shares borders with France ({{nowrap|620 km}}), Germany ({{nowrap|162/167 km}}), Luxembourg ({{nowrap|148 km}}), and the Netherlands ({{nowrap|450 km}}). Its total surface, including water area, is {{convert|30689|km2|abbr=on}}. Before 2018, its total area was believed to be {{convert|30528|km2|abbr=on}}. However, when the country's statistics were measured in 2018, a new calculation method was used. Unlike previous calculations, this one included the area from the coast to the low-water line, revealing the country to be {{convert|160|km2|abbr=on}} larger in surface area than previously thought.{{cite web|title=New data on land use|url=https://statbel.fgov.be/en/news/new-data-land-use|website=Statbel|access-date=17 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319065916/https://statbel.fgov.be/en/news/new-data-land-use|archive-date=19 March 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=België is 160 km² groter dan gedacht|url=https://www.hln.be/nieuws/binnenland/belgie-is-160-km-groter-dan-gedacht~a3d8d378/|access-date=17 February 2019|work=Het Laatste Nieuws|date=10 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217142226/https://www.hln.be/nieuws/binnenland/belgie-is-160-km-groter-dan-gedacht~a3d8d378/|archive-date=17 February 2019|url-status=live}} Its land area alone is 30,494 square kilometers. It lies between latitudes 49°30' and 51°30' N, and longitudes 2°33' and 6°24' E.{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.belgium.be/nl/over_belgie/land/geografie/ Geografische beschrijving van België – Over Belgie – Portaal Belgische Overheid] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819004400/http://www.belgium.be/nl/over_belgie/land/geografie/|date=19 August 2013}}. Belgium.be. Retrieved 12 August 2013.

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. The Paris Basin reaches a small fourth area at Belgium's southernmost tip, Belgian Lorraine.{{cite encyclopedia|title = Belgium—The land—Relief|encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica|year = 2007|publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, Illinois, US|url = https://edit.britannica.com/getEditableToc?tocId=24981|access-date = 3 July 2007|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131217183818/https://edit.britannica.com/getEditableToc?tocId=24981|archive-date = 17 December 2013|df = dmy-all}}

The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Further inland lies a smooth, slowly rising landscape irrigated by numerous waterways, with fertile valleys and the northeastern sandy plain of the Campine (Kempen). The thickly forested hills and plateaus of the Ardennes are more rugged and rocky with caves and small gorges. Extending westward into France, this area is eastwardly connected to the Eifel in Germany by the High Fens plateau, on which the Signal de Botrange forms the country's highest point at {{convert|694|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|title=Geography of Belgium|publisher=123independenceday.com|url=http://www.123independenceday.com/belgium/geography.html|access-date=10 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912093214/http://www.123independenceday.com/belgium/geography.html|archive-date=12 September 2007|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Life—Nature|year=2005|publisher=Office for Official Publications of the European Communities|url=http://kp.org.pl/n2k/pdf/15.pdf|access-date=10 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925221250/http://kp.org.pl/n2k/pdf/15.pdf|archive-date=25 September 2007|url-status=live}}

The climate is maritime temperate with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb), like most of northwest Europe.{{cite journal|last1=Peel|first1=Murray C.|last2=Finlayson|first2=Bryan L.|last3=McMahon|first3=T. A.|name-list-style=amp|year=2007|title=Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification|journal=Hydrology and Earth System Sciences|volume=11|pages=1633–1644|url=http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html|issn=1027-5606|doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007|issue=5|bibcode=2007HESS...11.1633P|access-date=10 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210144308/http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html|archive-date=10 February 2017|url-status=live|doi-access=free}} (direct: [http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf Final Revised Paper] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229181440/http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf|date=29 February 2012}}) The average temperature is lowest in January at {{convert|3|°C|°F|1}} and highest in July at {{convert|18|°C|°F|1}}. The average precipitation per month varies between {{convert|54|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} for February and April, to {{convert|78|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} for July.{{cite web|title=Climate averages—Brussels|publisher=EuroWEATHER/EuroMETEO, Nautica Editrice Srl, Rome, Italy|url=http://www.euroweather.net/english/climate/city_EBBR/id_GT/meteo_brussels%20belgium|access-date=27 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021221109/http://www.euroweather.net/english/climate/city_EBBR/id_GT/meteo_brussels%20belgium|archive-date=21 October 2007|url-status=live}} Averages for the years 2000 to 2006 show daily temperature minimums of {{convert|7|°C|°F|1}} and maximums of {{convert|14|°C|°F|1}} and monthly rainfall of {{convert|74|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}; these are about 1 °C and nearly 10 millimeters above last century's normal values, respectively.{{cite web |url=http://statbel.fgov.be/pub/d0/p007y2006_nl.pdf |title=Kerncijfers 2006 – Statistisch overzicht van België |pages=9–10 |language=nl |publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy—Directorate-general Statistics Belgium|access-date =8 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605012645/http://statbel.fgov.be/pub/d0/p007y2006_nl.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2007}}

File:Show Your Stripes change in temperature graphic for All of Belgium with bars with labels.png

Climate change in Belgium has caused temperatures rises and more frequent and intense heatwaves, increases in winter rainfall and decreases in snowfall.{{Cite web |last=IEA |date=2023-05-15 |title=Belgium Climate Resilience Policy Indicator |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/belgium-climate-resilience-policy-indicator |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=IEA |language=en-GB}} By 2100, sea levels along the Belgian coast are projected to rise by 60 to 90 cm with a maximum potential increase of up to 200 cm in the worst-case scenario.{{Cite web |last=Climate Risk Assessment Center |title=Main risks for Belgium |url=https://www.cerac.be/en/themes/main-risks-belgium |access-date=11 December 2024 |website=CERAC}} The costs of climate change are estimated to amount to €9.5 billion a year in 2050 (2% of Belgian GDP), mainly due to extreme heat, drought and flooding, while economics gains due to milder winters amount to approximately €3 billion a year (0.65% of GDP). In 2023, Belgium emitted 106.82 million tonnes of greenhouse gases (around 0.2% of the global total emissions), equivalent to 9.12 tonnes per person.{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Matthew W. |last2=Peters |first2=Glen P. |last3=Gasser |first3=Thomas |last4=Andrew |first4=Robbie M. |last5=Schwingshackl |first5=Clemens |last6=Gütschow |first6=Johannes |last7=Houghton |first7=Richard A. |last8=Friedlingstein |first8=Pierre |last9=Pongratz |first9=Julia |last10=Le Quéré |first10=Corinne |date=2023-03-29 |title=National contributions to climate change due to historical emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide since 1850 |url=https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02041-1 |journal=Scientific Data |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=155 |doi=10.1038/s41597-023-02041-1 |pmid=36991071 |issn=2052-4463|pmc=10060593 |bibcode=2023NatSD..10..155J }}{{Cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |last2=Rosado |first2=Pablo |last3=Roser |first3=Max |date=2024-01-05 |title=Greenhouse gas emissions |url=https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions |journal=Our World in Data |language=en |access-date=2023-12-20}} The country has committed to net zero by 2050.{{Cite web |last=Climate Watch |title=Belgium |url=https://www.climatewatchdata.org/countries/BEL?end_year=2021&start_year=1990 |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=www.climatewatchdata.org}}

Phytogeographically, Belgium is shared between the Atlantic European and Central European provinces of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom.Takhtajan, Armen, 1986. Floristic Regions of the World. (translated by T.J. Crovello and A. Cronquist). University of California Press, Berkeley. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the territory of Belgium belongs to the terrestrial ecoregions of Atlantic mixed forests and Western European broadleaf forests.{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}}{{WWF ecoregion|id=pa0402|name=Atlantic mixed forests}} Belgium had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.36/10, ranking it 163rd globally out of 172 countries.{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity - Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G }} In Belgium forest cover is around 23% of the total land area, equivalent to 689,300 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 677,400 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 251,200 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 438,200 hectares (ha). For the year 2015, 47% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership, 53% private ownership and 0% with ownership listed as other or unknown.{{Cite book |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a6e225da-4a31-4e06-818d-ca3aeadfd635/content |title=Terms and Definitions FRA 2025 Forest Resources Assessment, Working Paper 194 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2023}}{{Cite web |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Belgium |url=https://fra-data.fao.org/assessments/fra/2020/BEL/home/overview |website=Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}}

{{Belgian provinces labelled map}}

{{Main|Provinces of Belgium}}

The 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.

{{Main|Politics of Belgium|Belgian federal government}}

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King of the Belgians
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Prime Minister of Belgium
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File:Chart constitution of Belgium EN.svg

Belgium is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a federal parliamentary democracy. The bicameral federal parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. The former is made up of 50 senators appointed by the parliaments of the communities and regions and 10 co-opted senators. Prior to 2014, most of the Senate's members were directly elected. The Chamber's 150 representatives are elected under a proportional voting system from 11 electoral districts. Belgium has compulsory voting and thus maintains one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world.{{cite web|title=Voter Turnout Rates from a Comparative Perspective|year=2002|last1=López Pintor|first1=Rafael|last2=Gratschew|first2=Maria|publisher=IDEA|url=http://www.idea.int/publications/vt/upload/Voter%20turnout.pdf|access-date=22 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121050252/http://www.idea.int/publications/vt/upload/Voter%20turnout.pdf|archive-date=21 November 2011|url-status=live}}

The King (currently Philippe) is the head of state, though with limited prerogatives. He appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government. The Council of Ministers is composed of no more than fifteen members. With the possible exception of the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers is composed of an equal number of Dutch-speaking members and French-speaking members.{{cite web|title=The Belgian Constitution – Article 99|publisher=Belgian House of Representatives|date=January 2009|url=http://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/publications/constitution/grondwetEN.pdf|access-date=26 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706134014/http://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/publications/constitution/grondwetEN.pdf|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}

The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Napoleonic code. The Court of Cassation is the court of last resort, with the courts of appeal one level below.{{cite web|title=Belgium 1831 (rev. 2012)|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Belgium_2012?lang=en|website=Constitute|access-date=30 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223145044/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Belgium_2012?lang=en|archive-date=23 February 2015|url-status=live}}

Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power rests on representation of the main cultural communities.{{cite web|title=Belgium, a federal state|publisher=Belgium.be|url=http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federale_staat/|access-date=26 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112080611/http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federale_staat/|archive-date=12 November 2010|url-status=live}}

Since about 1970, the significant national Belgian political parties have split into distinct components that mainly represent the political and linguistic interests of these communities.{{cite web|title=Background Note: Belgium|publisher=U.S. Department of States|date=29 April 2010|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm|access-date=26 November 2010|archive-date=21 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121042120/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm|url-status=live}}

The major parties in each community, though close to the political center, belong to three main groups: Christian Democrats, Liberals, and Social Democrats.{{cite web|title=Belgium – Political parties|work=European Election Database|url=http://www.nsd.uib.no/european_election_database/country/belgium/parties.html|publisher=Norwegian Social Science Data Services|year=2010|access-date=10 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427100052/http://www.nsd.uib.no/european_election_database/country/belgium/parties.html|archive-date=27 April 2011|url-status=live}}

Further notable parties came into being well after the middle of last century, mainly to represent linguistic, nationalist, or environmental interests, and recently smaller ones of some specific liberal nature.

File:Palais de la Nation (DSC01812).jpg in Brussels, one of six different governments of the country]]

A string of Christian Democrat coalition governments from 1958 was broken in 1999 after the first dioxin crisis, a major food contamination scandal.{{cite web|title=Dioxin contamination scandal hits Belgium: Effects spread through European Union and beyond|work=World Socialist Web Site (WSWS)|publisher=International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)|author=Tyler, Richard |date=8 June 1999|url=http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1999/06/belg-j08.html|access-date=16 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801062114/http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1999/06/belg-j08.html|archive-date=1 August 2016|url-status=live}}ElAmin, Ahmed (31 January 2006) [http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?id=65481-belgium-netherlands-dioxin Belgium, Netherlands meat sectors face dioxin crisis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914150715/http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?id=65481-belgium-netherlands-dioxin|date=14 September 2007}}. foodproductiondaily.com{{cite news|title=Food Law News—EU : Contaminants—Commission Press Release (IP/99/399) Preliminary results of EU-inspection to Belgium|author=European Commission|publisher=School of Food Biosciences, University of Reading, UK|date=16 June 1999|url=http://www.foodlaw.rdg.ac.uk/news/eu-99-40.htm|access-date=29 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927155917/http://www.foodlaw.rdg.ac.uk/news/eu-99-40.htm|archive-date=27 September 2006|url-status=live|author-link=European Commission}} A "rainbow coalition" emerged from six parties: the Flemish and the French-speaking Liberals, Social Democrats and Greens.{{cite news|title=Belgium's "rainbow" coalition sworn in|work=BBC News|date=12 July 1999|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/392004.stm|access-date=20 May 2007}} Later, a "purple coalition" of Liberals and Social Democrats formed after the Greens lost most of their seats in the 2003 election.{{cite web|title=La Chambre des représentants—Composition|trans-title=Composition of the Chamber of Representatives|date=9 March 2006|publisher=The Chamber of Representatives of Belgium|url=http://www.lachambre.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/pri/fiche/10F.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107200900/http://www.lachambre.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/pri/fiche/10F.pdf|archive-date=7 November 2006|access-date=25 May 2007|language=fr|url-status=live}}

The government led by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 to 2007 achieved a balanced budget, some tax reforms, a labor-market reform, scheduled nuclear phase-out and instigated legislation allowing more stringent war crime and more lenient soft drug usage prosecution. Restrictions on euthanasia were reduced. In 2003, Belgium became one of the first countries in the world to legalise same-sex marriage.{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Lauren |title=Belgium celebrates 20 years of same-sex marriage |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/361629/belgium-celebrates-20-years-of-same-sex-marriage |access-date=11 February 2024 |website=The Brussels Times}} The government promoted active diplomacy in Africa{{cite web|url=http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0019846.html|access-date=27 May 2007|title=Rwanda|work=tiscali.reference|publisher=Tiscali UK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924034710/http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0019846.html|archive-date=24 September 2009|url-status=dead}} The article shows an example of Belgium's recent{{when|date=June 2020}} African policies. and opposed the invasion of Iraq.{{cite news|title=Belgian demand halts NATO progress|agency=CNN|date=16 February 2003|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/16/sprj.irq.nato.belgium.ap/|access-date=16 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050116083744/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/16/sprj.irq.nato.belgium.ap/|archive-date=16 January 2005|url-status=dead}} It is the only country that does not have age restrictions on euthanasia.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37395286 |title=Belgium minor first to be granted euthanasia |access-date=6 January 2017|work=BBC News|date=17 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106095903/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37395286|archive-date=6 January 2017|url-status=live}}

Verhofstadt's coalition fared badly in the June 2007 elections. For more than a year, the country experienced a political crisis.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1002141.stm|title=Time-line Belgium|work=BBC News|date=5 January 2009|access-date=16 July 2009|quote=2007 September – Belgium without a government for 100 days.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929235647/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1002141.stm|archive-date=29 September 2009|url-status=live}} This crisis was such that many observers speculated on a possible partition of Belgium.{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/12/MNB6SEM9K.DTL|title=Divisions could lead to a partition in Belgium|last=Bryant|first=Elizabeth|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=28 May 2008|date=12 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429194505/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2007%2F10%2F12%2FMNB6SEM9K.DTL|archive-date=29 April 2011|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7507506.stm|title=Analysis: Where now for Belgium?|last=Hughes|first=Dominic|work=BBC News|date=15 July 2008|access-date=16 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719063736/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7507506.stm|archive-date=19 July 2008|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Fears over 'break up' of Belgium|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/7982892/Fears-over-break-up-of-Belgium.html|last=Banks|first=Martin|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=6 September 2010|access-date=6 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909132726/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/7982892/Fears-over-break-up-of-Belgium.html|archive-date=9 September 2010|url-status=live}} From {{Nowrap|21 December}} 2007 until {{Nowrap|20 March}} 2008 the temporary Verhofstadt III Government was in office. This was a coalition of the Flemish and Francophone Christian Democrats, the Flemish and Francophone Liberals together with the Francophone Social Democrats.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7506640.stm|title=Belgian PM offers his resignation|work=BBC News|date=15 July 2008|access-date=29 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420193751/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7506640.stm|archive-date=20 April 2010|url-status=live}}

On that day, a new government, led by Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme, the actual winner of the federal elections of {{Nowrap|June 2007}}, was sworn in by the King. On {{Nowrap|15 July}} 2008 Leterme offered the resignation of the cabinet to the King, as no progress in constitutional reforms had been made.

In December 2008, Leterme once more offered his resignation after a crisis surrounding the sale of Fortis to BNP Paribas.[http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/19/belgium.government.resignation/index.html CNN.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201143115/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/19/belgium.government.resignation/index.html|date=1 February 2009}}, "Belgium Prime Minister offers resignation over banking deal" At this juncture, his resignation was accepted and Christian Democratic and Flemish Herman Van Rompuy was sworn in as Prime Minister on {{Nowrap|30 December}} 2008.[https://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSLS35202520081228 Belgian king asks Van Rompuy to form government] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204055721/http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSLS35202520081228|date=4 February 2009}} Reuters.

After Herman Van Rompuy was designated the first permanent President of the European Council on {{Nowrap|19 November}} 2009, he offered the resignation of his government to King Albert II on {{Nowrap|25 November}} 2009. A few hours later, the new government under Prime Minister Yves Leterme was sworn in. On {{Nowrap|22 April}} 2010, Leterme again offered the resignation of his cabinet to the King{{cite news|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20100422-belgium-leterme-resigns-vld-liberals-democrats-quit-ruling-coalition|title=Prime Minister Leterme resigns after liberals quit government|date=22 April 2010|publisher=France 24|access-date=22 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426001006/http://www.france24.com/en/20100422-belgium-leterme-resigns-vld-liberals-democrats-quit-ruling-coalition|archive-date=26 April 2010|url-status=live}} after one of the coalition partners, the OpenVLD, withdrew from the government, and on {{Nowrap|26 April}} 2010 King Albert officially accepted the resignation.{{cite web|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20100426-leterme-albert-accepts-resignation-prime-minister-government-collapse-belgium|title=King Albert II accepts resignation of Prime Minister Yves Leterme|publisher=France 24|access-date=29 April 2010|date=26 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429002512/http://www.france24.com/en/20100426-leterme-albert-accepts-resignation-prime-minister-government-collapse-belgium|archive-date=29 April 2010|url-status=live}}

The Parliamentary elections in Belgium on {{Nowrap|13 June}} 2010 saw the Flemish nationalist N-VA become the largest party in Flanders, and the Socialist Party PS the largest party in Wallonia.{{cite web|url=http://electionresources.org/be/chamber.php?election=2010|title=Federal Elections in Belgium – Chamber of Representatives Results|access-date=14 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922111232/http://electionresources.org/be/chamber.php?election=2010|archive-date=22 September 2010|url-status=live}} Until December 2011, Belgium was governed by Leterme's caretaker government awaiting the end of the deadlocked negotiations for formation of a new government. By 30 March 2011, this set a new world record for the elapsed time without an official government, previously held by war-torn Iraq.{{cite web|title=Reality Check: How long can nations go without governments?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32612828|last=Kovacevic|first=Tamara|date=6 May 2015|website=BBC News Online|access-date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013111910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32612828|archive-date=13 October 2015|url-status=live}} Finally, in December 2011 the Di Rupo Government led by Walloon socialist Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was sworn in.{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20111205-political-crisis-nears-end-new-premier-cabinet-named-di-rupo-king-albert-belgium|title=Political crisis nears an end as new PM, cabinet named|date=5 December 2011|website=France 24|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=7 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407040312/https://www.france24.com/en/20111205-political-crisis-nears-end-new-premier-cabinet-named-di-rupo-king-albert-belgium|url-status=live}}

The 2014 federal election (coinciding with the regional elections) resulted in a further electoral gain for the Flemish nationalist N-VA. However, the incumbent coalition (composed of Flemish and French-speaking Social Democrats, Liberals, and Christian Democrats) maintains a solid majority in Parliament and all electoral constituencies. On 22 July 2014, King Philippe nominated Charles Michel (MR) and Kris Peeters (CD&V) to lead the formation of a new federal cabinet composed of the Flemish parties N-VA, CD&V, Open Vld and the French-speaking MR, which resulted in the Michel Government. It was the first time N-VA was part of the federal cabinet, while the French-speaking side was represented only by the MR, which achieved a minority of the public votes in Wallonia.{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/belgium-agrees-to-form-coalition-government/a-17981531|title=Belgium agrees to form coalition government | DW | 07.10.2014|website=dw.com|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811110024/https://www.dw.com/en/belgium-agrees-to-form-coalition-government/a-17981531|url-status=live}}

In May 2019 federal elections in the Flemish-speaking northern region of Flanders, the far-right Vlaams Belang party made major gains. In the French-speaking southern area of Wallonia, the Socialists were strong. The moderate Flemish nationalist party, the N-VA, remained the largest party in parliament.{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/no-coalition-in-sight-after-fractured-belgium-election/a-48894848|title=No coalition in sight after fractured Belgium election | DW | 27.05.2019|website=dw.com|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811110245/https://www.dw.com/en/no-coalition-in-sight-after-fractured-belgium-election/a-48894848|url-status=live}}

In July 2019, Prime Minister Charles Michel was selected to hold the post of President of the European Council.{{cite web|url=https://www.thenewfederalist.eu/who-is-charles-michel-the-next-president-of-the-european-council|title=Who is Charles Michel, the next President of the European Council?|first1=Timothée|last1=Houzel|date=1 April 2021|website=The New Federalist|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811110207/https://www.thenewfederalist.eu/who-is-charles-michel-the-next-president-of-the-european-council|url-status=live}} His successor Sophie Wilmès was Belgium's first female prime minister. She led the caretaker government since October 2019.{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/belgium-first-female-pm-sophie-wilmes|title=Belgium gets first female PM as Sophie Wilmès takes office|date=28 October 2019|website=The Guardian|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518143714/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/belgium-first-female-pm-sophie-wilmes|url-status=live}} The Flemish Liberal party politician Alexander De Croo became new prime minister in October 2020. The parties had agreed on the federal government 16 months after the elections.{{cite web|url=https://www.neweurope.eu/article/belgium-agrees-on-federal-government-de-croo-to-become-pm/|title=Belgium agrees on federal government, De Croo to become PM|first=Zoi|last=Didili|date=1 October 2020|access-date=3 March 2021|archive-date=11 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111053156/https://www.neweurope.eu/article/belgium-agrees-on-federal-government-de-croo-to-become-pm/|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium}}

File:Communities of Belgium.svg / Dutch language area}}

{{legend striped|#fab274|#f2536b|up=yes|Flemish & French Community / bilingual language area}}

{{legend|#f2536b|French Community / French language area}}{{legend|#40bb6a|German-speaking Community / German language area}}]]

File:Regions of Belgium.svg / Dutch language area}}{{legend|#2385d2|Brussels-Capital Region / bilingual area}}{{legend|#f2536b|Walloon Region / French and German language areas}}]]

Following a usage which can be traced back to the Burgundian and Habsburg courts,{{cite book|title=Zweisprachigkeit in den Benelux-ländern|language=de|author=Kramer, Johannes|quote=Zur prestige Sprache wurde in den Spanischen Niederlanden ganz eindeutig das Französische. Die Vertreter Spaniens beherrschten normalerweise das Französische, nicht aber das Niederländische; ein beachtlicher Teil der am Hofe tätigen Adligen stammte aus Wallonien, das sich ja eher auf die spanische Seite geschlagen hatte als Flandern und Brabant. In dieser Situation war es selbstverständlich, dass die flämischen Adligen, die im Laufe der Zeit immer mehr ebenfalls zu Hofbeamten wurden, sich des Französischen bedienen mussten, wenn sie als gleichwertig anerkannt werden wollten. [Transl.: The prestigious language in the Spanish Netherlands was clearly French. Spain's representatives usually mastered French but not Dutch; a notable part of the nobles at the court came from Wallonia, which had taken party for the Spanish side to a higher extent than Flanders and Brabant. It was therefore evident within this context that the Flemish nobility, of which a progressively larger number became servants of the court, had to use French, if it wanted to get acknowledged as well.]|publisher=Buske Verlag|year=1984|page=69|isbn=978-3-87118-597-7}} in the 19th century it was necessary to speak French to belong to the governing upper class, and those who could only speak Dutch were effectively second-class citizens.{{cite book|title=Political History of Belgium: From 1830 Onwards|author1=Witte, Els|author2=Craeybeckx, Jan|author3=Meynen, Alain|name-list-style=amp|publisher=Academic and Scientific Publishers|location=Brussels|year=2009|page=56}} Late that century, and continuing into the 20th century, Flemish movements evolved to counter this situation.Fitzmaurice (1996), p. 31.

While the people in Southern Belgium spoke French or dialects of French, and most Brusselers adopted French as their first language, the Flemings refused to do so and succeeded progressively in making Dutch an equal language in the education system. Following World War II, Belgian politics became increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main linguistic communities.{{cite web|url=http://www.nsd.uib.no/european_election_database/country/belgium/background.html|title=Belgium|work=European Election Database|publisher=Norwegian Social Science Data Services|year=2010|access-date=8 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429005023/http://www.nsd.uib.no/european_election_database/country/belgium/background.html|archive-date=29 April 2011|url-status=live}} Intercommunal tensions rose and the constitution was amended to minimize the potential for conflict.

Based on the four language areas defined in 1962–63 (the Dutch, bilingual, French and German language areas), consecutive revisions of the country's constitution in 1970, 1980, 1988 and 1993 established a unique form of a federal state with segregated political power into three levels:{{cite journal|title=The Dutch-French Language Border in Belgium|journal=Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development|volume=23|issue=1&2|year=2002|pages=36–49|author=Willemyns, Roland|url=http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/023/0036/jmmd0230036.pdf|access-date=22 June 2007|doi=10.1080/01434630208666453|s2cid=143809695|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626185804/http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/023/0036/jmmd0230036.pdf|archive-date=26 June 2007}}{{cite web|title=The Belgian Constitution – Article 4|publisher=Belgian House of Representatives|date=January 2009|access-date=26 June 2011|url=http://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/publications/constitution/grondwetEN.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706134014/http://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/publications/constitution/grondwetEN.pdf|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}

1. The federal government, based in Brussels.
2. The three language communities:
3. * the Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking);
4. * the French Community (French-speaking);{{efn|Since 2011, the French Community has used the name "Wallonia-Brussels Federation" ({{langx|fr|Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles|link=no}}), which is controversial because its name in the Belgian Constitution has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-30 |title=La nouvelle Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles défraye la chronique |url=https://www.lalibre.be/regions/bruxelles/2011/05/25/la-nouvelle-federation-wallonie-bruxelles-defraye-la-chronique-2T2TN7FK7JETVHQP74NJ62TO44/ |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=La Libre.be |language=fr}}{{Cite web |date=2024-09-30 |title=Une Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles |url=https://www.dhnet.be/archives-journal/2011/04/05/une-federation-wallonie-bruxelles-QGB7F434AZHEJLEGBGW4DC2C44/ |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=DHnet |language=fr}}}}
5. * the German-speaking Community.
6. The three regions:
7. * the Flemish Region, subdivided into five provinces;
8. * the Walloon Region, subdivided into five provinces;
9. * the Brussels-Capital Region.

The constitutional language areas determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the empowered institutions for specific matters.Fitzmaurice (1996), p. 121 Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge both.Fitzmaurice (1996), p. 122. Thus the Flemings just have one single institutional body of parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and specific municipal matters.{{efn|The Constitution set out seven institutions each of which can have a parliament, government and administration. In fact, there are only six such bodies because the Flemish Region merged into the Flemish Community. This single Flemish body thus exercises powers about Community matters in the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital and in the Dutch language area, while about Regional matters only in Flanders.}}

The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region (which came into existence nearly a decade after the other regions) is included in both the Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region. Conflicts about jurisdiction between the bodies are resolved by the Constitutional Court of Belgium. The structure is intended as a compromise to allow different cultures to live together peacefully.

The Federal State's authority includes justice, defense, federal police, social security, nuclear energy, monetary policy and public debt, and other aspects of public finances. State-owned companies include the Belgian Post Group and Belgian Railways. The Federal Government is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs.{{cite web|title=The Federal Government's Powers|work=.be Portal|publisher=Belgian Federal Government|url=http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federal_authorities/competence_federal_government/|access-date=4 February 2011|date=3 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216052602/http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federal_authorities/competence_federal_government/|archive-date=16 December 2010|url-status=live}} The budget—without the debt—controlled by the federal government amounts to about 50% of the national fiscal income. The federal government employs around 12% of the civil servants.{{cite book|quote=In 2002, 58.92% of the fiscal income was going to the budget of the federal government, but more than one-third was used to pay the interests of the public debt. Without including this post, the share of the federal government budget would be only 48.40% of the fiscal income. There are 87.8% of the civil servants who are working for the Regions or the Communities and 12.2% for the Federal State.|author=Lagasse, Charles-Etienne|title=Les nouvelles institutions politiques de la Belgique et de l'Europe|publisher=Erasme|location=Namur|year=2003|isbn=978-2-87127-783-5|page=289}}

Communities exercise their authority only within linguistically determined geographical boundaries, originally oriented towards the individuals of a Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education and the use of the relevant language. Extensions to personal matters less directly connected with language comprise health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, and so on.).{{cite web|title=The Communities|work=.be Portal|publisher=Belgian Federal Government|url=http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/communities/|access-date=26 June 2011|date=3 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615153816/http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/communities/|archive-date=15 June 2011|url-status=live}}

Regions have authority in fields that can be broadly associated with their territory. These include economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit and foreign trade. They supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies.{{cite web|title=The Regions|work=.be Portal|publisher=Belgian Federal Government|url=http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/regions/|access-date=26 June 2011|date=3 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615153938/http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/regions/|archive-date=15 June 2011|url-status=live}}

In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specifics. With education, for instance, the autonomy of the Communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor allows for setting minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters. Each level of government can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers. The treaty-making power of the Regions' and Communities' Governments is the broadest of all the Federating units of all the Federations all over the world.{{cite web|url=http://www.kazanfed.ru/en/actions/konfer8/6/|title=Federalism in Russia, Canada and Belgium: experience of comparative research|language=fr|quote=La Belgique constitue ainsi le seul exemple clair du transfert d'une partie de la compétence " affaires étrangères " à des entités fédérées. (Transl.: Belgium is thus the only clear example of a transfer of a part of the "Foreign Affairs" competences to federated units.)|author=Lagasse, Charles-Etienne|date=18 May 2004|publisher=Kazan Institute of Federalism|access-date=5 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620120400/http://www.kazanfed.ru/en/actions/konfer8/6/|archive-date=20 June 2010|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Les nouvelles institutions de la Belgique et de l'Europe|language=fr|quote=[Le fédéralisme belge] repose sur une combinaison unique d'équipollence, d'exclusivité et de prolongement international des compétences. ([Belgian federalism] is based on a unique combination of equipollence, of exclusivity, and of international extension of competences.)|author=Lagasse, Charles-Etienne|page=603}}{{cite web|url=http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2000/10/SUINEN/14406.html|title=Une Première mondiale|work=Le Monde diplomatique|language=fr|quote=Dans l'organisation de ces autonomies, la Belgique a réalisé une " première " mondiale: afin d'éviter la remise en cause, par le biais de la dimension internationale, de compétences exclusives transférées aux entités fédérées, les communautés et régions se sont vu reconnaître une capacité et des pouvoirs internationaux. (In organizing its autonomies, Belgium realized a World's First: to avoid a relevant stalemate, international consequences caused transfers of exclusive competences to federal, community and regional entities that are recognized to have become internationally enabled and empowered.)|author=Suinen, Philippe|date=October 2000|access-date=5 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001117170500/http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2000/10/SUINEN/14406.html|archive-date=17 November 2000|url-status=live}}

File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Schuman - Berlaymont - 01.jpg in Brussels, seat of the European Commission]]

{{Main|Foreign relations of Belgium}}

Because of its location at the crossroads of Western Europe, Belgium has historically been the route of invading armies from its larger neighbors. With virtually defenseless borders, Belgium has traditionally sought to avoid domination by the more powerful nations which surround it through a policy of mediation. The Belgians have been strong advocates of European integration. The headquarters of NATO and of several of the institutions of the European Union are located in Belgium.

{{Main|Belgian Armed Forces}}

File:FA-109 (50064453591).jpg of the Belgian Air Component]]

The Belgian Armed Forces had 23,200 active personnel in 2023, including 8,500 in the Land Component, 1,400 in the Naval Component, 4,900 in the Air Component, 1,450 in the Medical Component, and 6,950 in joint service, in addition to 5,900 reserve personnel.{{Cite book |author=IISS |author-link=International Institute for Strategic Studies |date=2023 |title=The Military Balance 2023 |publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies |page=75 }} In 2019, Belgium's defense budget totaled €4.303 billion ($4.921 billion) representing .93% of its GDP.{{cite web|url=http://www.eda.europa.eu/DefenceData/Belgium?DDYear=2010|title=Defence Data of Belgium in 2010|publisher=European Defence Agency|access-date=9 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924153002/http://www.eda.europa.eu/DefenceData/Belgium?DDYear=2010|archive-date=24 September 2012|url-status=live}} The operational commands of the four components are subordinate to the Staff Department for Operations and Training of the Ministry of Defense, which is headed by the Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Training, and to the Chief of Defense.{{cite web|url=http://www.mil.be/def/index.asp|title=Defensie La Défense|access-date=15 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614214307/http://www.mil.be/def/index.asp|archive-date=14 June 2011|url-status=live}} The Belgian military consists of volunteers (conscription was abolished in 1995), and citizens of other EU states, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, or Lichtenstein are also able to join. Belgium has troops deployed in several African countries as part of UN or EU missions, in Iraq for the war against the Islamic State, and in eastern Europe for the NATO presence there.[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/#military-and-security Belgium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109104644/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/#military-and-security |date=9 January 2021 }}. CIA World Factbook. Accessed 10 February 2024.

The effects of the Second World War made collective security a priority for Belgian foreign policy. In March 1948 Belgium signed the Treaty of Brussels and then joined NATO in 1948. However, the integration of the armed forces into NATO did not begin until after the Korean War.David Isby and Charles Kamps Jr, 'Armies of NATO's Central Front,' Jane's Publishing Company, 1985, p.59 The Belgians, along with the Luxembourg government, sent a detachment of battalion strength to fight in Korea known as the Belgian United Nations Command. This mission was the first in a long line of UN missions which the Belgians supported. Currently, the Belgian Marine Component is working closely together with the Dutch Navy under the command of the Admiral Benelux.

According to the 2024 Global Peace Index, Belgium is the 16th most peaceful country in the world.{{Cite web |title=2024 Global Peace Index |url=https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf}}

{{Main|Economy of Belgium}}

Belgium's strongly globalized economyBelgium ranked first in the KOF Globalization Index 2009{{cite web|url=http://globalization.kof.ethz.ch/|title=KOF Index of Globalization|editor=ETH Zürich|editor-link=ETH Zürich|access-date=2 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531222435/http://globalization.kof.ethz.ch/|archive-date=31 May 2012|url-status=live}} and its transport infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world's 15th largest trading nation in 2007.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html|title=Rank Order – Exports|work=CIA – The 2008 world factbook|quote=15[th]: Belgium $322,200,000,000 (2007 est.)|access-date=5 October 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081004073036/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook//rankorder/2078rank.html|archive-date= 4 October 2008|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2087rank.html|title=Rank Order – Imports|work=CIA – The 2008 world factbook|quote=15[th]: Belgium $323,200,000,000 (2007 est.)|access-date=5 October 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081004070323/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook//rankorder/2087rank.html|archive-date= 4 October 2008|url-status=dead}} The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP and high exports per capita.{{cite web|title=Belgian economy|work=Belgium|publisher=Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation|url=http://www.diplomatie.be/en/belgium/belgiumdetail.asp?TEXTID=49019|access-date=12 June 2009|quote=Belgium is the world leader in terms of export per capita and can justifiably call itself the 'world's largest exporter'.|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090615182722/http://www.diplomatie.be/en/belgium/belgiumdetail.asp?TEXTID=49019|archive-date= 15 June 2009|url-status=live}} Belgium's main imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, and oil products. Its main exports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, and foodstuffs.{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Belgium|date=23 September 2021|year=2021}}

The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags behind.{{cite web|title=Wallonia in 'decline' thanks to politicians|publisher=Expatica Communications BV|date=9 March 2005|url=http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=17824|access-date=16 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103007/http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=17824|archive-date=29 September 2007|url-status=dead}}{{efn|The richest (per capita income) of Belgium's three regions is the Flemish Region, followed by the Walloon Region and lastly the Brussels-Capital Region. The ten municipalities with the highest reported income are: Laethem-Saint-Martin, Keerbergen, Lasne, Oud-Heverlee, Hove, De Pinte, Meise, Knokke-Heist, Bierbeek.{{cite web

|title = Où habitent les Belges les plus riches?

|publisher = trends.be

|year = 2010

|url = http://trends.rnews.be/fr/economie/actualite/politique-economique/ou-habitent-les-belges-les-plus-riches/article-1194966031033.htm

|access-date = 15 July 2011

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110827090211/http://trends.rnews.be/fr/economie/actualite/politique-economique/ou-habitent-les-belges-les-plus-riches/article-1194966031033.htm

|archive-date = 27 August 2011

|df = dmy-all

}}}} One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports an open economy and the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922, through the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market with customs and currency union.{{cite web|url=http://www.mae.lu/fr/Site-MAE/Politique-etrangere-et-europeenne/Organisations-Economiques-Regionales/L-Union-economique-belgo-luxembourgeoise|title=L'Union économique belgo-luxembourgeoise|publisher=Luxembourgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=15 June 2011|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930131538/http://www.mae.lu/fr/Site-MAE/Politique-etrangere-et-europeenne/Organisations-Economiques-Regionales/L-Union-economique-belgo-luxembourgeoise|archive-date=30 September 2011}}

File:Ougree 16.jpg at Ougrée, near Liège]]

Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 19th century.{{cite web|title=Industrial History Belgium|publisher=European Route of Industrial Heritage|url=http://en.erih.net/index.php?pageId=114|access-date=8 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731024244/http://en.erih.net/index.php?pageId=114|archive-date=31 July 2013}} Areas in Liège Province and around Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century in the Sambre and Meuse valley and made Belgium one of the three most industrialized nations in the world from 1830 to 1910.{{cite book|author=Rioux, Jean-Pierre|title=La révolution industrielle|language=fr|publisher=Seuil|location=Paris|year=1989|page=105|isbn=978-2-02-000651-4}}{{cite web|url=http://www.erih.net/industrial-history/belgium.html|publisher=European route of industrial heritage|title=Industrial History, Belgium|access-date=15 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731104102/http://www.erih.net/industrial-history/belgium.html|archive-date=31 July 2010|url-status=live}} However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced famine from 1846 to 1850.{{cite conference|url = http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers3/Vanhaute.pdf|title = The European subsistence crisis of 1845–1850: a comparative perspective|author1 = Vanhaute, Eric|author2 = Paping, Richard|author3 = Ó Gráda, Cormac|name-list-style = amp|year = 2006|conference = IEHC|location = Helsinki|access-date = 31 May 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111011200315/http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers3/Vanhaute.pdf|archive-date = 11 October 2011|url-status=live|df = dmy-all}}{{cite book|last1=Vanhaute|first1=Eric|title=When the potato failed. Causes and effects of the 'last' European subsistance crisis, 1845–1850|chapter-format=PDF|access-date=31 May 2011|year=2007|publisher=Brepols|isbn=978-2-503-51985-2|pages=123–148|chapter='So worthy an example to Ireland'. The subsistance and industrial crisis of 1845–1850 in Flanders|chapter-url=http://biblio.ugent.be/input/download?func=downloadFile&fileOId=919187&recordOId=359578|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722225255/http://biblio.ugent.be/input/download?func=downloadFile&fileOId=919187&recordOId=359578|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 July 2011}}

After World War II, Ghent and Antwerp experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and 1979 oil crises sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced a serious decline.{{cite web|title=Background Note: Belgium|publisher=US Department of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs|date=April 2007|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm|access-date=8 May 2007|archive-date=21 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121042120/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm|url-status=live}} In the 1980s and 1990s, the economic center of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous Flemish Diamond area.{{cite web|title=Het belang van de Vlaamse Ruit vanuit economisch perspectief The importance of the Flemish Diamond from an economical perspective|language=nl|author=Vanhaverbeke, Wim|url=http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264|publisher=Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research, University of Maastricht|access-date=19 May 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070314033239/http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264|archive-date = 14 March 2007}}

By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. {{As of|2006}}, the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to 90.30% of GDP.{{cite web|title=The World Factbook—(Rank Order—Public debt)|date=17 April 2007|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html|publisher=CIA|access-date=8 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613005546/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html|archive-date=13 June 2007|url-status=dead}} In 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth rates of 1.5% and 3.0%, respectively, were slightly above the average for the Euro area. Unemployment rates of 8.4% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2006 were close to the area average. By {{Nowrap|October 2010}}, this had grown to 8.5% compared to an average rate of 9.6% for the European Union as a whole (EU 27).{{cite web|title=Key figures|publisher=National Bank of Belgium|url=http://www.nbb.be/pub/00_00_00_00_02/?l=en&t=ho|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430165049/http://www.nbb.be/pub/00_00_00_00_02/?l=en&t=ho|archive-date=30 April 2007|access-date=19 May 2007}}{{cite web|title=EurActiv|url=http://www.euractiv.com/en/regional-policy/belgium-makes-place-urban-enterprises-news-500878|work=Belgium makes place for urban enterprises|publisher=EurActiv|access-date=19 March 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110430045610/http://www.euractiv.com/en/regional-policy/belgium-makes-place-urban-enterprises-news-500878|archive-date= 30 April 2011|url-status=live}} From 1832 until 2002, Belgium's currency was the Belgian franc. Belgium switched to the euro in 2002, with the first sets of euro coins being minted in 1999. The standard Belgian euro coins designated for circulation show the portrait of the monarch (first King Albert II, since 2013 King Philippe).

Despite an 18% decrease observed from 1970 to 1999, Belgium still had in 1999 the highest rail network density within the European Union with 113.8 km/1 000 km². On the other hand, the same period, 1970–1999, has seen a huge growth (+56%) of the motorway network. In 1999, the density of km motorways per 1000 km² and 1000 inhabitants amounted to 55.1 and 16.5 respectively and were significantly superior to the EU's means of 13.7 and 15.9.{{cite book|title=Panorama of Transport|publisher=Office for Official Publications of the European Communities|year=2003|isbn=978-92-894-4845-1|url=http://www.uni-mannheim.de/edz/pdf/eurostat/02/KS-DA-02-001-EN-N-EN.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807053511/http://www.uni-mannheim.de/edz/pdf/eurostat/02/KS-DA-02-001-EN-N-EN.pdf|archive-date=7 August 2011}}

File:Port cranes at Zeebrügge, Belgium 2.JPG]]

From a biological resource perspective, Belgium has a low endowment: Belgium's biocapacity adds up to only 0.8 global hectares in 2016,{{cite web|url=http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/countryTrends?cn=255&type=BCpc,EFCpc|title=Country Trends|publisher=Global Footprint Network|access-date=15 November 2019|archive-date=8 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808050235/http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/countryTrends?cn=255&type=BCpc,EFCpc|url-status=live}} just about half of the 1.6 global hectares of biocapacity available per person worldwide.{{Cite journal|last1=Lin|first1=David|last2=Hanscom|first2=Laurel|last3=Murthy|first3=Adeline|last4=Galli|first4=Alessandro|last5=Evans|first5=Mikel|last6=Neill|first6=Evan|last7=Mancini|first7=Maria Serena|last8=Martindill|first8=Jon|last9=Medouar|first9=Fatime-Zahra|last10=Huang|first10=Shiyu|last11=Wackernagel|first11=Mathis|date=2018|title=Ecological Footprint Accounting for Countries: Updates and Results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012–2018|journal=Resources|language=en|volume=7|issue=3|page=58|doi=10.3390/resources7030058|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018Resou...7...58L }} In contrast, in 2016, Belgians used on average 6.3 global hectares of biocapacity - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they required about eight times as much biocapacity as Belgium contains. As a result, Belgium was running a biocapacity deficit of 5.5 global hectares per person in 2016.

Belgium experiences some of the most congested traffic in Europe. In 2010, commuters to the cities of Brussels and Antwerp spent respectively 65 and 64 hours a year in traffic jams.{{cite web|work=The Wall Street Journal|author=Fidler, Stephen|date=3 November 2010|access-date=21 June 2011|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2010/11/03/europes-traffic-jam-capitals/|title=Europe's Top Traffic Jam Capitals|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119085745/http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2010/11/03/europes-traffic-jam-capitals/|archive-date=19 January 2012|url-status=live}} Like in most small European countries, more than 80% of the airways traffic is handled by a single airport, the Brussels Airport. The ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge (Bruges) share more than 80% of Belgian maritime traffic, Antwerp being the second European harbor with a gross weight of goods handled of 115 988 000 t in 2000 after a growth of 10.9% over the preceding five years.Another comparative study on transportation in Belgium: {{cite book|title=OECD environmental performance reviews: Belgium|publisher=OECD|year=2007|isbn=978-92-64-03111-1}} In 2016, the port of Antwerp handled 214 million tons after a year-on-year growth of 2.7%.{{cite web|url=http://www.portofantwerp.com/en/news/port-antwerp-finishes-2016-growth-27-definitive-figure|title=Double record for freight volume|work=port of Antwerp|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223213915/http://www.portofantwerp.com/en/news/port-antwerp-finishes-2016-growth-27-definitive-figure|archive-date=23 February 2017|url-status=live}}

There is a large economic gap between Flanders and Wallonia. Wallonia was historically wealthy compared to Flanders, mostly due to its heavy industries, but the decline of the steel industry post-World War II led to the region's rapid decline, whereas Flanders rose swiftly. Since then, Flanders has been prosperous, among the wealthiest regions in Europe, whereas Wallonia has been languishing. As of 2007, the unemployment rate of Wallonia is over double that of Flanders. The divide has played a key part in the tensions between the Flemish and Walloons in addition to the already-existing language divide. Pro-independence movements have gained high popularity in Flanders as a consequence. The separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, for instance, is the largest party in Belgium.{{cite web|title=The Belgian Crisis|url=https://sites.google.com/site/thebelgiancrisis/the-crisis|access-date=5 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911185958/https://sites.google.com/site/thebelgiancrisis/the-crisis|archive-date=11 September 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Belgium: A nation divided|work=Independent|author=John Lichfield|year=2007|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-a-nation-divided-765752.html|access-date=5 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531090436/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-a-nation-divided-765752.html|archive-date=31 May 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Belgium: A History|author=Cook, B.A.|date=2002|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-5824-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p9gGAU3InGUC&pg=PA139|page=139|access-date=6 January 2017|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518143714/https://books.google.com/books?id=p9gGAU3InGUC&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

{{further|Science and technology in Brussels|Science and technology in Flanders|Science and technology in Wallonia}}

File:mercator.jpg]]

Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country's history. The 16th century Early Modern flourishing of Western Europe included cartographer Gerardus Mercator, anatomist Andreas Vesalius, herbalist Rembert Dodoens{{cite web|title=Rembert Dodoens: iets over zijn leven en werk—Dodoens' werken|date=20 December 2005|work=Plantaardigheden—Project Rembert Dodoens (Rembertus Dodonaeus)|language=nl|quote=het Cruijdeboeck, dat in 1554 verscheen. Dit meesterwerk was na de bijbel in die tijd het meest vertaalde boek. Het werd gedurende meer dan een eeuw steeds weer heruitgegeven en gedurende meer dan twee eeuwen was het het meest gebruikte handboek over kruiden in West-Europa. Het is een werk van wereldfaam en grote wetenschappelijke waarde. De nieuwe gedachten die Dodoens erin neerlegde, werden de bouwstenen voor de botanici en medici van latere generaties. (... the Cruijdeboeck, published in 1554. This masterpiece was, after the Bible, the most translated book in that time. It continued to be republished for more than a century and for more than two centuries it was the mostly used referential about herbs. It is a work with world fame and great scientific value. The new thoughts written down by Dodoens, became the building bricks for botanists and physicians of later generations.)|publisher=Stichting Kruidenhoeve/Plantaardigheden|location=Balkbrug|url=http://plantaardigheden.nl/dodoens/over_dodoens/leven_en_werk.htm#dodoens|access-date=17 May 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070610070835/http://www.plantaardigheden.nl/dodoens/over_dodoens/leven_en_werk.htm|archive-date= 10 June 2007|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Simon Stevin|last1=O'Connor|first1=J. J.|last2=Robertson|first2=E. F.|website=MacTutor History of Mathematics|publisher=School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland|year=2004|url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Stevin.html|quote=Although he did not invent decimals (they had been used by the Arabs and the Chinese long before Stevin's time) he did introduce their use in mathematics in Europe.|access-date=11 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609192011/http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Stevin.html|archive-date=9 June 2007|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal|title=Abstract (*)|journal=American Journal of Nephrology|volume=19|issue=2|pages=282–289|quote=The importance of A. Vesalius' publication 'de humani corporis fabrica libri septem' cannot be overestimated.|doi=10.1159/000013462|pmid=10213829|year=1999|last1=De Broe|first1=Marc E.|last2=De Weerdt|first2=Dirk L.|last3=Ysebaert|first3=Dirk K.|last4=Vercauteren|first4=Sven R.|last5=De Greef|first5=Kathleen E.|last6=De Broe|first6=Luc C.|doi-access=free}} (*) Free abstract for pay-per-view article by{{cite journal|title=The Low Countries – 16th/17th century|last1=De Broe|first1=Marc E.|last2=De Weerdt|first2=Dirk L.|last3=Ysebaert|first3=Dirk K.|last4=Vercauteren|first4=Sven R.|last5=De Greef|first5=Kathleen E.|last6=De Broe|first6=Luc C.|journal=American Journal of Nephrology|year=1999|volume=19|issue=2|pages=282–9|pmid=10213829|doi=10.1159/000013462|doi-access=free}}{{cite web|title='A Day Without Yesterday': Georges Lemaitre & the Big Bang|date=24 March 2000|pages=18–19|author=Midbon, Mark|publisher=Commonweal, republished: Catholic Education Resource Center (CERC)|url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0022.html|access-date=7 June 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070706021420/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0022.html|archive-date= 6 July 2007|url-status=live}} and mathematician Simon Stevin among the most influential scientists.{{cite book|title=The Fair Face of Flanders|author=Carson, Patricia|page=136|isbn=978-90-209-4385-6|publisher=Lannoo Uitgeverij|year=1969}}

Chemist Ernest Solvay{{cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424|url-access=registration|page=1135|author=Day, Lance|editor1=Lance Day|editor2=Ian McNeil|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn=978-0-203-02829-2}} and engineer Zenobe Gramme (École industrielle de Liège){{cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424/page/523 523]|author=Woodward, Gordon|editor1=Lance Day|editor2=Ian McNeil|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn=978-0-203-02829-2}} gave their names to the Solvay process and the Gramme dynamo, respectively, in the 1860s. Bakelite was developed in 1907–1909 by Leo Baekeland. Ernest Solvay also acted as a major philanthropist and gave his name to the Solvay Institute of Sociology, the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry which are now part of the Université libre de Bruxelles. In 1911, he started a series of conferences, the Solvay Conferences on Physics and Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum physics and chemistry.{{cite book|title=Cultures of Creativity: the Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize|author=Larsson, Ulf|page=211|isbn=978-0-88135-288-7|publisher=Science History Publications|year=2001}} A major contribution to fundamental science was also due to a Belgian, Monsignor Georges Lemaître (Catholic University of Louvain), who is credited with proposing the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927.{{cite web|title=Georges Lemaître, Father of the Big Bang|url=http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html|publisher=American Museum of Natural History|year=2000|access-date=9 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117044852/http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html|archive-date=17 January 2013}}

Three Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine were awarded to Belgians: Jules Bordet (Université libre de Bruxelles) in 1919, Corneille Heymans (University of Ghent) in 1938 and Albert Claude (Université libre de Bruxelles) together with Christian de Duve (Université catholique de Louvain) in 1974. François Englert (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013. Ilya Prigogine (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977.{{cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1977|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1977/|publisher=Nobelprize.org|access-date=9 December 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101203102528/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1977/|archive-date= 3 December 2010|url-status=live}} Two Belgian mathematicians have been awarded the Fields Medal: Pierre Deligne in 1978 and Jean Bourgain in 1994.{{MacTutor Biography|id=Deligne|title=Pierre Deligne}} (Retrieved 10 November 2011){{MacTutor Biography|id=Bourgain|title=Jean Bourgain}} (Retrieved 10 November 2011) Belgium was ranked 24th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.{{Cite book |author=World Intellectual Property Organization |year=2024 |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=www.wipo.int |page=18 |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.50062 |isbn=978-92-805-3681-2}}

{{Main|Demographics of Belgium|Belgians}}

File:Population density in Belgium.png]]

File:00 Bruxelles - Mont des Arts.jpg

As of 1 January 2024, the total population of Belgium according to its population register was 11,763,650. The population density of Belgium is {{convert|383|/km2|abbr=on}} as of January 2024, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world, and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe. The most densely populated province is Antwerp, the least densely populated province is Luxembourg. As of January 2024, the Flemish Region (Flanders) had a population of 6,821,770 (58.0% of Belgium), its most populous cities being Antwerp (545,000), Ghent (270,000), and Bruges (120,000). The Walloon Region (Wallonia) had a population of 3,692,283 (31.4% of Belgium), its most populous cities being Charleroi (204,000), Liège (196,000), and Namur (114,000). The Brussels-Capital Region (Brussels) had a population of 1,249,597 (10.6% of Belgium), existing of 19 municipalities, its most populous cities being the City of Brussels (197,000), Schaerbeek (130,000), and Anderlecht (127,000).

In 2017 the average total fertility rate (TFR) across Belgium was 1.64 children per woman, below the replacement rate of 2.1; it remains considerably below the high of 4.87 children born per woman in 1873.{{citation|url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=BEL|title=Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last two centuries|author=Max Roser|date=2014|work=Our World In Data, Gapminder Foundation|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811110505/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=BEL|url-status=live}} Belgium subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 41.6 years.{{citation|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/|title=World Factbook Europe: Belgium|work=The World Factbook|date=3 February 2021|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109104644/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/|url-status=live}}

{{As of|2007}}, nearly 92% of the population had Belgian citizenship,This number evolved to 89% in 2011. {{cite web|title=Population par sexe et nationalité pour la Belgique et les régions, 2001 et 2011|language=fr|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/structure/natact/beletr/|author=Belgian Federal Government|access-date=31 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031222719/http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/structure/natact/beletr/|archive-date=31 October 2012}} and other European Union member citizens account for around 6%. The prevalent foreign nationals were Italian (171,918), French (125,061), Dutch (116,970), Moroccan (80,579), Portuguese (43,509), Spanish (42,765), Turkish (39,419) and German (37,621).{{cite web|title=European Migration Network—Annual Statistical Report on migration and asylum in Belgium (Reference year 2003)—section A. 1) b) Population by citizenship & c) Third country nationals, 1 January 2004|date=April 2006|author=Perrin, Nicolas|others=Study Group of Applied Demographics (Gédap)|pages= 5–9|publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Interior—Immigration Office|url=http://www.dofi.fgov.be/nl/statistieken/belgian%20migration%20point/punt%208%20Belgian%20Statistical%20Report%20on%20Asylum%20and%20Migration%202003.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614025224/http://www.dofi.fgov.be/nl/statistieken/belgian%20migration%20point/punt%208%20Belgian%20Statistical%20Report%20on%20Asylum%20and%20Migration%202003.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 June 2007|access-date=28 May 2007}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20021008133014/http://ecodata.mineco.fgov.be/mdn/Vreemde_bevolking.jsp De vreemde bevolking]. ecodata.mineco.fgov.be In 2007, there were 1.38 million foreign-born residents in Belgium, corresponding to 12.9% of the total population. Of these, 685,000 (6.4%) were born outside the EU, and 695,000 (6.5%) were born in another EU Member State.[http://www.emploi.belgique.be/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=28772 L'immigration en Belgique. Effectifs, mouvements et marche du travail] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331120203/http://www.emploi.belgique.be/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=28772|date=31 March 2012}}. Rapport 2009. Direction générale Emploi et marché du travai{{cite web|title=Structure de la population selon le pays de naissance|language=fr|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/structure/paysnaiss/|author=Belgian Federal Government|access-date=31 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825030522/http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/structure/paysnaiss/|archive-date=25 August 2012}}

At the beginning of 2012, people of foreign background and their descendants were estimated to have formed around 25% of the total population i.e. 2.8 million new Belgians.[http://www.npdata.be/BuG/155-Vreemde-afkomst/Vreemde-afkomst.htm BuG 155 – Bericht uit het Gewisse – 01 januari 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120908042303/http://www.npdata.be/BuG/155-Vreemde-afkomst/Vreemde-afkomst.htm|date=8 September 2012}}. npdata.be (1 January 2012). Of these new Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000[http://www.npdata.be/BuG/159-Verkiezingen-2012/Verkiezingen-2012.htm BuG 159 – Bericht uit het Gewisse – 7 mei 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126102459/http://www.npdata.be/BuG/159-Verkiezingen-2012/Verkiezingen-2012.htm|date=26 January 2013}}. npdata.be (7 May 2012). are from non-Western countries (most of them from Morocco, Turkey, and the DR Congo). Since the modification of the Belgian nationality law in 1984, more than 1.3 million migrants have acquired Belgian citizenship. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are Italian Belgians and Moroccan Belgians.{{cite web|url=https://www.inca-cgil.be/informazioni-sul-belgio/|title=Informazioni sul Belgio - Sede INCA-CGIL in Belgio|access-date=18 March 2023|language=it|archive-date=27 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127034148/http://www.inca-cgil.be/informazioni-sul-belgio/|url-status=live}} 89.2% of inhabitants of Turkish origin have been naturalized, as have 88.4% of people of Moroccan background, 75.4% of Italians, 56.2% of the French and 47.8% of Dutch people.

Statbel released figures of the Belgian population in relation to the origin of people in Belgium. According to the data, as of 1 January 2021, 67.3% of the Belgian population was of ethnic Belgian origin, and 32.7% were of foreign origin or nationality, with 20.3% of those of a foreign nationality or ethnic group originating from neighbouring countries. The study also found that 74.5% of the Brussels-Capital Region were of non-Belgian origin, of which 13.8% originated from neighbouring countries.{{cite web|url=https://statbel.fgov.be/en/themes/population/origin|title=Diversity according to origin in Belgium|date=16 June 2021|work=Statbel.fgov.be|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218104221/https://statbel.fgov.be/en/themes/population/origin|url-status=live}}

{{Largest cities

|country = Belgium

|stat_ref = Numbers according to the Belgium's National Register,{{cite web|title=Statistiques de population: Chiffres de population au 1er janvier 2023|url=https://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fr/population/statistiques-de-population/|publisher=Belgium's National Register|language=fr|access-date=2023-02-13|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20231129195331/https://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fr/population/statistiques-de-population/|url-status=live}} (1 January 2023)

|list_by_pop =

|div_name =

|div_link = Regions of Belgium{{!}}Region

|city_1 = Antwerp

|div_1 = Flanders

|pop_1 = 536,079

|img_1 = Stadsgezicht van Antwerpen vanaf het MAS 30-05-2012 15-29-35.jpg

|city_2 = Ghent

|div_2 = Flanders

|pop_2 = 267,709

|img_2 = Gent vanuit Meestentoren1.JPG

|city_3 = Charleroi

|div_3 = Wallonia

|pop_3 = 203,245

|img_3 = Charleroi - place Charles II.jpg

|city_4 = Liège

|div_4 = Wallonia

|pop_4 = 194,877

|img_4 = Liege View 03.jpg

|city_5 = City of Brussels

|div_5 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels

|pop_5 = 192,950

|city_6 = Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek

|div_6 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels

|pop_6 = 130,422

|city_7 = Anderlecht

|div_7 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels

|pop_7 = 124,353

|city_8 = Bruges

|div_8 = Flanders

|pop_8 = 119,445

|city_9 = Namur

|div_9 = Wallonia

|pop_9 = 113,174

|city_10 = Leuven

|div_10 = Flanders

|pop_10 = 102,851

|city_11 = Molenbeek-Saint-Jean{{!}}Molenbeek-Saint-Jean/Sint-Jans-Molenbeek

|div_11 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels

|pop_11 = 97,610

|city_12 = Mons, Belgium{{!}}Mons

|div_12 = Wallonia

|pop_12 = 96,055

|city_13 = Aalst, Belgium{{!}}Aalst

|div_13 = Flanders

|pop_13 = 89,915

|city_14 = Mechelen

|div_14 = Flanders

|pop_14 = 88,463

|city_15 = Ixelles/Elsene

|div_15 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels

|pop_15 = 88,081

|city_16 = Uccle/Ukkel

|div_16 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels

|pop_16 = 85,706

|city_17 = La Louvière

|div_17 = Wallonia

|pop_17 = 81,293

|city_18 = Sint-Niklaas

|div_18 = Flanders

|pop_18 = 81,066

|city_19 = Hasselt

|div_19 = Flanders

|pop_19 = 80,299

|city_20 = Kortrijk

|div_20 = Flanders

|pop_20 = 78,841

}}

{{Main|Languages of Belgium}}

{{bar box

|float = right

|title = Estimated distribution of primary languages in Belgium

|bars =

{{bar percent|Dutch|DarkSlateGray|59}}

{{bar percent|French|DarkSlateGray|40}}

{{bar percent|German|DarkSlateGray|1}}

}}

File:Brussels signs.jpg signs in Brussels]]

Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. A number of non-official minority languages are spoken as well.{{cite book|chapter=Languages of Belgium|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|edition=sixteenth|editor=Lewis, M. Paul|publisher=SIL International|location=Dallas, Texas, U.S.|year=2009|pages=1,248|isbn=978-1-55671-216-6|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE|access-date=27 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429095334/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE|archive-date=29 April 2011|url-status=live}} As no census exists, there are no official statistical data regarding the distribution or usage of Belgium's three official languages or their dialects.{{cite news|title=Surviving in Babel? Language rights and European integration|journal=Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets|volume=1|author=de Witte, Bruno|editor=Rainey, Anson F.|publisher=Brill|year=1996|isbn=978-90-04-10521-8|page=122}} However, various criteria, including the language(s) of parents, of education, or the second-language status of foreign born, may provide suggested figures. An estimated 60% of the Belgian population are native speakers of Dutch (often referred to as Flemish), and 40% of the population speaks French natively. French-speaking Belgians are often referred to as Walloons, although the French speakers in Brussels are not Walloons.{{efn|Native speakers of Dutch living in Wallonia and of French in Flanders are relatively small minorities that furthermore largely balance one another, hence attributing all inhabitants of each unilingual area to the area's language can cause only insignificant inaccuracies (99% can speak the language). Dutch: Flanders' 6.079 million inhabitants and about 15% of Brussels' 1.019 million are 6.23 million or 59.3% of the 10.511 million inhabitants of Belgium (2006); German: 70,400 in the German-speaking Community (which has language facilities for its less than 5% French-speakers) and an estimated 20,000–25,000 speakers of German in the Walloon Region outside the geographical boundaries of their official Community, or 0.9%; French: in the latter area as well as mainly in the rest of Wallonia (3.321 million) and 85% of the Brussels inhabitants (0.866 million) thus 4.187 million or 39.8%; together indeed 100%.}}

The total number of native Dutch speakers is estimated to be about 6.23 million, concentrated in the northern Flanders region, while native French speakers number 3.32 million in Wallonia and an estimated 870,000 (or 85%) in the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.{{efn|Flemish Academic Eric Corijn (initiator of [http://www.charta91.be/ Charta 91]), at a colloquium regarding Brussels, on 2001-12-05, states that in Brussels 91% of the population speaks French at home, either alone or with another language, and about 20% speaks Dutch at home, either alone (9%) or with French (11%)—After ponderation, the repartition can be estimated at between 85 and 90% French-speaking, and the remaining are Dutch-speaking, corresponding to the estimations based on languages chosen in Brussels by citizens for their official documents (ID, driving licenses, weddings, birth, sex, and so on); all these statistics on language are also available at Belgian Department of Justice (for weddings, birth, sex), Department of Transport (for Driving licenses), Department of Interior (for IDs), because there are no means to know precisely the proportions since Belgium has abolished 'official' linguistic censuses, thus official documents on language choices can only be estimations. For a web source on this topic, see e.g. General online sources: Janssens, Rudi}}{{cite web|title=Belgium Market background|quote=The capital Brussels, 80–85 percent French-speaking, ...|publisher=British Council|url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-information-background-belgium.htm|access-date=5 May 2007|archive-date=22 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122233056/http://www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-information-background-belgium.htm|url-status=dead}}—Strictly, the capital is the municipality (City of) Brussels, though the Brussels-Capital Region might be intended because of its name and also its other municipalities housing institutions typical for a capital. The German-speaking Community is made up of 73,000 people in the east of the Walloon Region; around 10,000 German and 60,000 Belgian nationals are speakers of German. Roughly 23,000 more German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community.{{cite web|title=The German-speaking Community|publisher=The German-speaking Community|url=http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1263/2264_read-27181/|access-date=5 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530023348/http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1263/2264_read-27181/|archive-date=30 May 2007|url-status=dead}} The (original) [http://www.dglive.be/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-84/186_read-448/ version in German language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529215057/http://www.dglive.be/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-84/186_read-448/|date=29 May 2007}} (already) mentions 73,000 instead of 71,500 inhabitants.{{cite web|title=Citizens from other countries in the German-speaking Community|publisher=The German-speaking Community|url=http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1408/2267_read-27184/|access-date=5 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628233901/http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1408/2267_read-27184/|archive-date=28 June 2007|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=German (Belgium)—Overview of the language|publisher=Mercator, Minority Language Media in the European Union, supported by the European Commission and the University of Wales|url=http://www.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/user/merwww/index.pl?rm=lang_detail;id=112;lang=1|access-date=7 May 2007|archive-date=11 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511181257/http://www.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/user/merwww/index.pl?rm=lang_detail%3Bid%3D112%3Blang%3D1|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Belgique • België • Belgien—La Communauté germanophone de Belgique|work=L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde|language=fr|date=19 April 2006|author=Leclerc, Jacques|publisher=Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec|url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/belgiqueger.htm|access-date=7 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503050229/http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/AXL/europe/belgiqueger.htm|archive-date=3 May 2007|url-status=live}}

Both Belgian Dutch and Belgian French have minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken respectively in the Netherlands and France. Many Flemish people still speak dialects of Dutch in their local environment. Walloon, considered either as a dialect of French or a distinct Romance language,According to Le Petit Larousse, Walloon is a dialect of the langue d'oïl. According to the Meyers grosses Taschenlexikon{{cite book|author=Jules, Feller|title=Notes de philologie wallonne|publisher=Vaillant Carmanne|location=Liège|year=1912}} is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. Walloon is divided into four dialects, which along with those of Picard,Among Belgium native German speakers many are familiar with the local dialect varieties of their region, that include dialects that spill over into neighboring Luxembourg and Germany.{{cite book|chapter=Languages of Belgium|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|edition=Fifteenth|editor=Gordon, Raymond G. Jr.|publisher=SIL International|location=Dallas, Texas, U.S.|year=2005}} (Online version: [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE Sixteenth edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051203231327/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE|date=3 December 2005}}) are rarely used in public life and have largely been replaced by French.

File:Bruxelles - Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Cœur à Koekelberg (5).jpg in Koekelberg, Brussels]]

{{Main|Religion in Belgium}}

The Constitution of Belgium provides for freedom of religion, and the government respects this right in practice.{{cite book|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2009|author1=Loopbuyck, P.|author2=Torfs, R.|name-list-style=amp|volume=4|title=The world and its people – Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands|isbn=978-0-7614-7890-4|page=499}} Belgium officially recognizes three religions: Christianity (Catholic, Protestantism, Orthodox churches and Anglicanism), Islam and Judaism.{{cite web|url=http://www.euresisnet.eu/Pages/ReligionAndState/BELGIUM.aspx|title=State and Church in Belgium|website=euresisnet.eu|date=31 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717143131/http://www.euresisnet.eu/Pages/ReligionAndState/BELGIUM.aspx|archive-date=17 July 2010|url-status=dead}} During the reigns of Albert I and Baudouin, the Belgian royal family had a reputation of deeply rooted Catholicism.

Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion; being especially strong in Flanders. However, by 2009 Sunday church attendance was 5% for Belgium in total; 3% in Brussels,{{cite web|url=http://www.brusselnieuws.be/artikel/met-uitsterven-bedreigd-de-brusselse-kerkganger|language=nl|title=Churchgoers in Brussels threatened with extinction|website=Brusselnieuws.be|date=30 November 2010|access-date=4 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111123150/http://www.brusselnieuws.be/artikel/met-uitsterven-bedreigd-de-brusselse-kerkganger|archive-date=11 January 2012|url-status=live}} and 5.4% in Flanders. Church attendance in 2009 in Belgium was roughly half of the Sunday church attendance in 1998 (11% for the total of Belgium in 1998).[http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=3932PEIJ Kerken lopen zeer geleidelijk helemaal leeg – Dutch news article describing church attendance in Flanders] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127203507/http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=3932PEIJ|date=27 November 2010}}. Standaard.be (25 November 2010). Retrieved 26 September 2011. Despite the drop in church attendance, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Belgium's culture.

According to the Eurobarometer 2010,[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf Eurobarometer Biotechnology report 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430163128/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf|date=30 April 2011}} p.381. 37% of Belgian citizens believe in God, 31% in some sort of spirit or life-force. 27% do not believe in any sort of spirit, God, or life-force. 5% did not respond. According to the Eurobarometer 2015, 60.7% of the total population of Belgium adhered to Christianity, with Catholicism being the largest denomination with 52.9%. Protestants comprised 2.1% and Orthodox Christians were the 1.6% of the total. Non-religious people comprised 32.0% of the population and were divided between atheists (14.9%) and agnostics (17.1%). A further 5.2% of the population was Muslim and 2.1% were believers in other religions.{{cite book|title=Eurobarometer 437: Discrimination in the EU in 2015|publisher=European Commission|url=http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/index.jsp?headers=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V11&previousmode=table&stubs=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V294&study=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfStudy%2FZA6595&V294slice=1&mode=table&v=2&weights=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V499&V294subset=1+-+12&analysismode=table&gs=7&V11slice=AT&top=yes|access-date=15 October 2017|via=GESIS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015202418/http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/index.jsp?headers=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V11&previousmode=table&stubs=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V294&study=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfStudy%2FZA6595&V294slice=1&mode=table&v=2&weights=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V499&V294subset=1+-+12&analysismode=table&gs=7&V11slice=AT&top=yes|archive-date=15 October 2017|url-status=live}} The same survey held in 2012 found that Christianity was the largest religion in Belgium, accounting for 65% of Belgians.{{citation|title=Discrimination in the EU in 2012|work=Special Eurobarometer|year=2012|series=383|page=233|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_393_en.pdf|access-date=14 August 2013|publisher=European Commission|location=European Union|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202023700/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_393_en.pdf|archive-date=2 December 2012}}

File:Syna_Bruxelles-2.JPG]]

In the early 2000s, there were approximately 42,000 Jews in Belgium. The Jewish Community of Antwerp (numbering some 18,000) is one of the largest in Europe, and one of the last places in the world where Yiddish is the primary language of a large Jewish community (mirroring certain Orthodox and Hasidic communities in New York, New Jersey, and Israel). In addition, most Jewish children in Antwerp receive a Jewish education.Ghiuzeli, Haim F. [http://www.bh.org.il/database-article.aspx?48207 The Jewish Community of Antwerp, Belgium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192659/http://www.bh.org.il/database-article.aspx?48207|date=29 October 2013}}. Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People There are several Jewish newspapers and more than 45 active synagogues (30 of which are in Antwerp) in the country.

A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered to be a more religious region than Wallonia, showed that 55% considered themselves religious and that 36% believed that God created the universe.Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organization for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine {{Nowrap|22 November}} 2006 p. 14 [The Dutch language term 'gelovig' is in the text translated as 'religious'. More precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of God in a monotheistic sense or in some afterlife], or both. On the other hand, Wallonia has become one of Europe's most secular/least religious regions. Most of the French-speaking region's population does not consider religion an important part of their lives, and as much as 45% of the population identifies as irreligious. This is particularly the case in eastern Wallonia and areas along the French border.

File:Great Mosque of Brussels.jpg, former seat of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium]]

A 2008 estimate found that approximately 6% of the Belgian population (628,751 people) is Muslim. Muslims constitute 23.6% of the population of Brussels, 4.9% of Wallonia and 5.1% of Flanders. The majority of Belgian Muslims live in the major cities, such as Antwerp, Brussels and Charleroi. The largest group of immigrants in Belgium are Moroccans, with 400,000 people. The Turks are the third largest group, and the second largest Muslim ethnic group, numbering 220,000.[http://www.hbvl.be/Archief/guid/voor-het-eerst-meer-marokkaanse-dan-italiaanse-migranten.aspx?artikel=e2214650-9013-4207-8139-68ab46554b87 Voor het eerst meer Marokkaanse dan Italiaanse migranten] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118063203/http://www.hbvl.be/archief/guid/voor-het-eerst-meer-marokkaanse-dan-italiaanse-migranten.aspx?artikel=e2214650-9013-4207-8139-68ab46554b87|date=18 January 2014}}. hbvl.be. {{Nowrap|21 May}} 2007{{cite web|url=http://www.npdata.be|publisher=Npdata.be|title=Moslims in België per gewest, provincie en gemeente|date=18 September 2015|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090217/http://www.npdata.be/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Healthcare in Belgium}}

File:UZA ziekenhuis.jpg

The Belgians enjoy good health. According to 2012 estimates, the average life expectancy is 79.65 years. Since 1960, life expectancy has, in line with the European average, grown by two months per year. Death in Belgium is mainly due to heart and vascular disorders, neoplasms, disorders of the respiratory system and unnatural causes of death (accidents, suicide). Non-natural causes of death and cancer are the most common causes of death for females up to age 24 and males up to age 44.{{cite journal|journal=Health Systems in Transition|volume=9|year=2007|title=Belgium, health system review|author=Corens, Dirk|url=http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/96442/E90059.pdf|issue=2|access-date=23 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523162634/http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/96442/E90059.pdf|archive-date=23 May 2011|url-status=live}}

Healthcare in Belgium is financed through both social security contributions and taxation. Health insurance is compulsory. Health care is delivered by a mixed public and private system of independent medical practitioners and public, university and semi-private hospitals. Health care service are payable by the patient and reimbursed later by health insurance institutions, but for ineligible categories (of patients and services) so-called 3rd party payment systems exist. The Belgian health care system is supervised and financed by the federal government, the Flemish and Walloon Regional governments; and the German Community also has (indirect) oversight and responsibilities.

For the first time in Belgian history, the first child was euthanized following the 2-year mark of the removal of the euthanization age restrictions. The child had been euthanized due to an incurable disease that was inflicted upon the child. Although there may have been some support for the euthanization there is a possibility of controversy due to the issue revolving around the subject of assisted suicide.{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/17/health/belgium-minor-euthanasia/index.html|publisher=edition.cnn.com|title=Belgium euthanasia: First child dies - CNN.com|date=17 September 2016 |access-date=6 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210045348/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/17/health/belgium-minor-euthanasia/index.html|archive-date=10 February 2017|url-status=live}}

Excluding assisted suicide, Belgium has the highest suicide rate in Western Europe and one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world (exceeded only by Lithuania, South Korea, and Latvia).{{cite web|url=http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.MHSUICIDEASDR?lang=en|title=GHO {{!}} By category {{!}} Suicide rate estimates, age-standardized - Estimates by country|website=WHO|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=18 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018170407/http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.MHSUICIDEASDR?lang=en|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Education in Belgium}}

File:2011-09-24 17.42 Leuven, universiteitsbibliotheek ceg74154 foto4.jpg University]]

Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians.{{cite book|title=Institutional context of education systems in Europe: a cross-country comparison on quality and equity|first1=Roelande H.|last1=Hofman|first2=W. H. A.|last2=Hofman|first3=J. M.|last3=Gray|first4=P.|last4=Daly|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers|year=2004|isbn=978-1-4020-2744-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nskLDqh40dwC|pages=97, 105|access-date=11 October 2015|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518143715/https://books.google.com/books?id=nskLDqh40dwC|url-status=live}} Extracts: [{{GBurl|id=nskLDqh40dwC|p=97}} p. 97], [{{GBurl|id=nskLDqh40dwC|p=105}} p. 105] Among OECD countries in 2002, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education, at 42%.{{cite web|title=Table 388. Percentage of population enrolled in secondary and postsecondary institutions, by age group and country – Chapter 6. International Comparisons of Education, data: 2002|work=Digest of Education Statistics—Tables and Figures|year=2005|publisher=National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), US Department of Education|url=http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_388.asp|access-date=6 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605120831/http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_388.asp|archive-date=5 June 2007|url-status=live}} Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over functional illiteracy.{{cite web|title=I. Monitoring Human Development: Enlarging peoples's choices ... —5. Human poverty in OECD, Eastern Europe and the CIS|work=Human Development Indicators|pages=172–173|publisher=United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)|year=2000|url=http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614025222/http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2007|access-date=6 June 2007|url-status=live}} The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Belgium's education as the 19th best in the world, being significantly higher than the OECD average.{{cite web|title=Range of rank on the PISA 2006 science scale|publisher=OECD|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf|access-date=27 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229020307/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf|archive-date=29 December 2009|url-status=live}} Education is organized separately by each community. The Flemish Community scores noticeably above the French and German-speaking Communities.{{cite web|title=Learning for Tomorrow's Problems – First Results from PISA2003|page=52|publisher=Ministry of the Flemish Community – Education Department; University of Ghent – Department of Education, Ghent, Belgium (Online by OECD)|access-date=27 February 2011|year=2005|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/60/36324368.pdf|author1=De Meyer, Inge|author2=Pauly, Jan|author3=Van de Poele, Luc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428094513/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/60/36324368.pdf|archive-date=28 April 2011|url-status=live}}

Mirroring the structure of the 19th-century Belgian political landscape, characterized by the Liberal and the Catholic parties, the educational system is segregated into secular and religious schools. The secular branch of schooling is controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, while religious, mainly Catholic branch education, is organized by religious authorities, which are also subsidized and supervised by the communities.{{cite web|title=Humanists and Muslims in Belgian Secular Society (Draft version)|author=De Ley, Herman|publisher=Centrum voor Islam in Europe (Center for Islam in Europe), Ghent University|year=2000|url=http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/CIE/deley10.htm|access-date=7 June 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609120804/http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/CIE/deley10.htm|archive-date=9 June 2007}}

{{Main|Culture of Belgium}}

Despite its political and linguistic divisions, the region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence on European art and culture. Nowadays, to a certain extent, cultural life is concentrated within each language Community, and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced.{{cite web|title=Belgium—Arts and cultural education|work=Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 8th edition|publisher=Council of Europe / ERICarts|year=2007|url=http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/belgium.php?aid=831|access-date=8 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831150145/http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/belgium.php?aid=831|archive-date=31 August 2007|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Belgique|work=European Culture Portal|publisher=European Commission|year=2007|url=http://ec.europa.eu/culture/portal/sites/members/belgium_en.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224164244/http://ec.europa.eu/culture/portal/sites/members/belgium_en.htm|archive-date=24 December 2007|access-date=10 May 2007|url-status=dead}} Since the 1970s, there are no bilingual universities or colleges in the country except the Royal Military Academy and the Antwerp Maritime Academy.{{cite web|title=Frontière linguistique, frontière politique, une presse en crise|language=fr|author=Gonthier, Adrien|work=Le Monde diplomatique|year=2003|url=http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2003/05/GONTHIER/10142|access-date=17 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327212104/http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2003/05/GONTHIER/10142|archive-date=27 March 2008|url-status=live}} {{cite news|last=Mumford|first=David|author-link=David Mumford|title=The World Today Series|work=The New York Times|series=Western Europe/2007|year=2008|isbn=978-1-887985-89-5|url=https://archive.org/details/westerneurope20000wayn_0}}

{{See also|List of Belgian painters|Architecture of Belgium|Music of Belgium}}

File:Lamgods open.jpg: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (interior view), painted 1432 by van Eyck]]

Contributions to painting and architecture have been especially rich. The Mosan art, the Early Netherlandish,{{cite web|title=Low Countries, 1000–1400 AD|work=Timeline of Art History|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=2007|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/07/euwl/ht07euwl.htm|access-date=10 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415094905/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/07/euwl/ht07euwl.htm|archive-date=15 April 2007|url-status=live}} the Flemish Renaissance and Baroque painting{{cite web|title=Low Countries, 1400–1600 AD|work=Timeline of Art History|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=2007|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/08/euwl/ht08euwl.htm|access-date=10 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429051506/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/08/euwl/ht08euwl.htm|archive-date=29 April 2007|url-status=live}} and major examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectureSeveral examples of major architectural realizations in Belgium belong to UNESCO's World Heritage List:{{cite web|title=Belgium|work=Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List|publisher=UNESCO|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/be|access-date=15 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428173145/https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/be|archive-date=28 April 2007|url-status=live}} are milestones in the history of art. While the 15th century's art in the Low Countries is dominated by the religious paintings of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, the 16th century is characterized by a broader panel of styles such as Peter Breughel's landscape paintings and Lambert Lombard's representation of the antique.{{cite book|language=fr|first=Jacques|last=Hendrick|title=La peinture au pays de Liège|year=1987|location=Liège|publisher=Editions du Perron|isbn=978-2-87114-026-9|page=24}} Though the Baroque style of Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck flourished in the early 17th century in the Southern Netherlands,{{cite book|language=de|first=Herwig|last=Guratzsch|title=Die große Zeit der niederländische Malerei|year=1979|publisher=Verlag Herder|location=Freiburg im Beisgau|page=7}} it gradually declined thereafter.{{cite web|title=Low Countries, 1600–1800 AD|work=Timeline of Art History|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=2007|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/09/euwl/ht09euwl.htm|access-date=10 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513131424/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/09/euwl/ht09euwl.htm|archive-date=13 May 2007|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Art History: Flemish School: (1600–1800)—Artists: (biography & artworks)|url=http://wwar.com/masters/movements/flemish_school.html|date=5 February 2006|publisher=World Wide Arts Resources|access-date=10 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091013022635/http://wwar.com/masters/movements/flemish_school.html|archive-date=13 October 2009}}—A general presentation of the Flemish artistic movement with a list of its artists, linking to their biographies and artworks

During the 19th and 20th centuries many original romantic, expressionist and surrealist Belgian painters emerged, including James Ensor and other artists belonging to the Les XX group, Constant Permeke, Paul Delvaux and René Magritte. The avant-garde CoBrA movement appeared in the 1950s, while the sculptor Panamarenko remains a remarkable figure in contemporary art.{{cite web|url=http://wwar.com/masters/nationalities/belgian.html|title=Belgian Artists: (biographies & artworks)|date=5 February 2006|publisher=World Wide Arts Resources|access-date=10 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160515200408/http://wwar.com/masters/nationalities/belgian.html|archive-date=15 May 2016}}—List of Belgian painters, linking to their biographies and artworks{{cite web|author=Baudson, Michel|title=Panamarenko|publisher=Flammarion (Paris), quoted at presentation of the XXIII Bienal Internacional de São Paulo|url=http://www1.uol.com.br/bienal/23bienal/universa/iueopa.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207233008/http://www1.uol.com.br/bienal/23bienal/universa/iueopa.htm|archive-date=7 February 2007|access-date=10 May 2007|year=1996|url-status=dead}} Multidisciplinary artists Jan Fabre, Wim Delvoye and the painter Luc Tuymans are other internationally renowned figures on the contemporary art scene.

Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde, who were major initiators of the Art Nouveau style.[http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/brussels.php Brussels, capital of Art Nouveau (page 1)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509094014/http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/brussels.php|date=9 May 2007}}, {{cite web|title=(page 2)|year=2007|publisher=Senses Art Nouveau Shop, Brussels|url=http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/brussels.php?page=2|access-date=11 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304211919/http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/brussels.php?page=2|archive-date=4 March 2007|url-status=live}} (for example){{cite web|title=Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)|work=UNESCO's World Heritage List|publisher=UNESCO|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1005|quote=The appearance of Art Nouveau in the closing years of the 19th century marked a decisive stage in the evolution of architecture, making possible subsequent developments, and the Town Houses of Victor Horta in Brussels bear exceptional witness to its radical new approach.|access-date=16 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513225235/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1005|archive-date=13 May 2013|url-status=live}}

File:TV-uitzending Domino Jacques Brel tijdens de opname in Amsterdam, Marcanti, Bestanddeelnr 914-8399.jpg]]

The vocal music of the Franco-Flemish School developed in the southern part of the Low Countries and was an important contribution to Renaissance culture.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Western music, the Franco-Flemish school|quote=Most significant musically was the pervasive influence of musicians from the Low Countries, whose domination of the music scene during the last half of the 15th century is reflected in the period designations the Netherlands school and the Franco-Flemish school.|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|year=2007|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-15698/Western-music|access-date=15 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208084519/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-15698/Western-music|archive-date=8 December 2006|url-status=live}} In the 19th and 20th centuries, there was an emergence of major violinists, such as Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux, while Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in 1846. The composer César Franck was born in Liège in 1822. Contemporary popular music in Belgium is also of repute. Jazz musicians Django Reinhardt and Toots Thielemans and singer Jacques Brel have achieved global fame. Nowadays, singer Stromae has been a musical revelation in Europe and beyond, having great success. In rock/pop music, Telex, Front 242, K's Choice, Hooverphonic, Zap Mama, Soulwax and dEUS are well known. In the heavy metal scene, bands like Machiavel, Channel Zero and Enthroned have a worldwide fan-base.Two comprehensive discussions of rock and pop music in Belgium since the 1950s:
{{cite web|title=The Timeline—A brief history of Belgian Pop Music|date=March 2007|work=The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives|publisher=Flanders Music Centre, Brussels|url=http://houbi.com/belpop/timeline.htm|access-date=7 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712181502/http://houbi.com/belpop/timeline.htm|archive-date=12 July 2007|url-status=live}}
{{cite web|title=Belgian Culture—Rock|year=2006|publisher=Vanberg & DeWulf Importing|url=http://www.belgianexperts.com/rock.php|access-date=11 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607110011/http://www.belgianexperts.com/rock.php|archive-date=7 June 2007|url-status=dead}}

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 Amélie Nothomb. The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé is the best known of Franco-Belgian comics, but many other major authors, including Peyo (The Smurfs), André Franquin (Gaston Lagaffe), Dupa (Cubitus), Morris (Lucky Luke), Greg (Achille Talon), Lambil (Les Tuniques Bleues), Edgar P. Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry a worldwide fame.{{cite book|title=Comics in French: the European bande dessinée in context|author=Grove, Laurence|publisher=Berghahn Books|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84545-588-0}} Additionally, famous crime author Agatha Christie created the character Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective, who has served as a protagonist in a number of her acclaimed mystery novels.

Belgian cinema has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life on-screen.{{efn|Notable Belgian films based on works by Flemish authors include: De Witte (author Ernest Claes) movie by Jan Vanderheyden and Edith Kiel in 1934, remake as De Witte van Sichem directed by Robbe De Hert in 1980; De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen (Johan Daisne) André Delvaux 1965; Mira ('De teleurgang van de Waterhoek' by Stijn Streuvels) Fons Rademakers 1971; Malpertuis (aka The Legend of Doom House) (Jean Ray [pen name of Flemish author who mainly wrote in French, or as John Flanders in Dutch]) Harry Kümel 1971; De loteling (Hendrik Conscience) Roland Verhavert 1974; Dood van een non (Maria Rosseels) Paul Collet and Pierre Drouot 1975; Pallieter (Felix Timmermans) Roland Verhavert 1976; De komst van Joachim Stiller (Hubert Lampo) Harry Kümel 1976; De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (Hendrik Conscience) Hugo Claus (a famous author himself) 1985; Daens ('Pieter Daens' by Louis Paul Boon) Stijn Coninx 1992; see also [https://web.archive.org/web/20070514023803/http://www.ledoux.be/nl/dvdmain.htm Filmarchief les DVD!s de la cinémathèque] (in Dutch). Retrieved on {{Nowrap|7 June}} 2007.}} Other Belgian directors include André Delvaux, Stijn Coninx, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; well-known actors include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jan Decleir and Marie Gillain; and successful films include Bullhead, Man Bites Dog and The Alzheimer Affair.A review of the Belgian cinema till about 2000 can be found at{{cite web|title=History of Cinema in Belgium|work=Film Birth|year=2007|url=http://www.filmbirth.com/belgium.html|access-date=26 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914135756/http://www.filmbirth.com/belgium.html|archive-date=14 September 2011|url-status=dead}}

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

{{Further|Folklore of Belgium}}

File:Binche - Les Gilles.jpg of Binche, in costume, wearing wax masks]]

Folklore plays a major role in Belgium's cultural life; the country has a comparatively high number of processions, cavalcades, parades, ommegangs, ducasses,{{efn|The Dutch word ommegang is here used in the sense of an entirely or mainly non-religious procession, or the non-religious part thereof—see also its article on the Dutch-language Wikipedia; the Processional Giants of Brussels, Dendermonde and Mechelen mentioned in this paragraph are part of each city's ommegang. The French word ducasse refers also to a procession; the mentioned Processional Giants of Ath and Mons are part of each city's ducasse.}} kermesses, and other local festivals, nearly always with an originally religious or mythological background. The three-day Carnival of Binche, near Mons, with its famous Gilles (men dressed in high, plumed hats and bright costumes) is held just before Lent (the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter). Together with the 'Processional Giants and Dragons' of Ath, Brussels, Dendermonde, Mechelen and Mons, it is recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.{{cite web|title=Processional Giants and Dragons in Belgium and France|publisher=UNESCO|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/05eur_uk.htm|access-date=15 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427153103/http://www.unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/05eur_uk.htm|archive-date=27 April 2007|url-status=live}}

Other examples are the three-day Carnival of Aalst in February or March; the still very religious processions of the Holy Blood taking place in Bruges in May, the Virga Jesse procession held every seven years in Hasselt, the annual procession of Hanswijk in Mechelen, the 15 August festivities in Liège, and the Walloon festival in Namur. Originated in 1832 and revived in the 1960s, the Gentse Feesten (a music and theatre festival organized in Ghent around Belgian National Day, on 21 July) have become a modern tradition. Several of these festivals include sporting competitions, such as cycling, and many fall under the category of kermesses.

A major non-official holiday (which is however not an official public holiday) is Saint Nicholas Day (Dutch: Sinterklaas, French: la Saint-Nicolas), a festivity for children, and in Liège, for students.{{cite web|title=Folklore estudiantin liégeois|publisher=University of Liège|url=http://www.ulg.ac.be/cms/c_36320/photographies-folklore-etudiant?hlText=Saint+Nicolas&hlMode=any&hlText=Saint+Nicolas&hlMode=any&hlText=Saint+Nicolas&hlMode=any|language=fr|access-date=17 June 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620094647/http://www.ulg.ac.be/cms/c_36320/photographies-folklore-etudiant?hlText=Saint+Nicolas&hlMode=any&hlText=Saint+Nicolas&hlMode=any&hlText=Saint+Nicolas&hlMode=any|archive-date=20 June 2010}} It takes place each year on 6 December and is a sort of early Christmas. On the evening of 5 December, before going to bed, children put their shoes by the hearth with water or wine and a carrot for Saint Nicholas' horse or donkey. According to tradition, Saint Nicholas comes at night and travels down the chimney. He then takes the food and water or wine, leaves presents, goes back up, feeds his horse or donkey, and continues on his course. He also knows whether children have been good or bad. This holiday is especially loved by children in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dutch immigrants imported the tradition into the United States, where Saint Nicholas is now known as Santa Claus.

{{Main|Belgian cuisine}}

File:Moules Frites.jpg or mosselen met friet is a representative dish of Belgium.]]

Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and French fries. The national dishes are steak and fries, and mussels with fries.{{cite web|url=http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/40035|access-date=12 August 2007|title=Steak-frites|publisher=Epicurious|date=20 August 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808152457/http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/40035|archive-date=8 August 2007|url-status=live}} Republished from{{cite book|title=Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook|date=October 1996|author1=Van Waerebeek, Ruth|author2=Robbins, Maria|publisher=Workman Publishing|isbn=978-1-56305-411-2}}{{cite web|title=Belgium|publisher=Global Gourmet|url=http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/belgium/backgrounder.html|access-date=12 August 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928001505/http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/belgium/backgrounder.html|archive-date=28 September 2007}} Republished from{{cite book|title=Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook|date=October 1996|author1=Van Waerebeek, Ruth|author2=Robbins, Maria|publisher=Workman Publishing|isbn=978-1-56305-411-2}}{{cite news |last1=Buckley |first1=Julia |title=10 Traditional Foods to Eat in Belgium—And Where to Try Them |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-09-08/10-things-you-should-eat-in-belgium |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=Condé Nast Traveler |date=6 July 2019 |archive-date=14 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114153156/https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-09-08/10-things-you-should-eat-in-belgium |url-status=live }} Many highly ranked Belgian restaurants can be found in the most influential restaurant guides, such as the Michelin Guide.{{cite web|title=The Michelin stars 2007 in Belgium|publisher=Resto.be TM Dreaminvest|year=2007|url=http://www2.resto.be/bib_new.cfm?langue=uk|access-date=15 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009160257/http://www2.resto.be/bib_new.cfm?langue=uk|archive-date=9 October 2008|url-status=dead}} One of the many beers with the high prestige is that of the Trappist monks. Technically, it is an ale and traditionally each abbey's beer is served in its own glass (the forms, heights and widths are different). There are only eleven breweries (six of them are Belgian) that are allowed to brew Trappist beer.

Although Belgian gastronomy is connected to French cuisine, some recipes were reputedly invented there, such as French fries (despite the name, although their exact place of origin is uncertain), Flemish Carbonade (a beef stew with beer, mustard and bay laurel), speculaas (or speculoos in French, a sort of cinnamon and ginger-flavoured shortcrust biscuit), Brussels waffles (and their variant, Liège waffles), waterzooi (a broth made with chicken or fish, cream and vegetables), endive with bechamel sauce, Brussels sprouts, Belgian pralines (Belgium has some of the most renowned chocolate houses), charcuterie (deli meats) and Paling in 't groen (river eels in a sauce of green herbs).

Brands of Belgian chocolate and pralines, like Côte d'Or, Neuhaus, Leonidas and Godiva are famous, as well as independent producers such as Burie and Del Rey in Antwerp and Mary's in Brussels.{{cite book|title=Belgium and Luxembourg|author1=Elliott, Mark|author2=Cole, Geert|name-list-style=amp|publisher=Lonely Planet|year=2000|page=[https://archive.org/details/belgiumluxembour00loga/page/53 53]|isbn=978-1-86450-245-9|url=https://archive.org/details/belgiumluxembour00loga/page/53}} Belgium produces over 1100 varieties of beer.{{cite news|url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=G2I3H7IVR|title=Nieuwe bierbijbel bundelt alle 1.132 Belgische bieren|first=Chris|last=Snick|date=18 October 2011|language=nl|newspaper=Het Nieuwsblad|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605055509/http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=G2I3H7IVR|archive-date=5 June 2012}}{{cite news|url=http://kw.knack.be/west-vlaanderen/nieuws/algemeen/nieuwe-bierbijbel-met-1-132-belgische-bieren-voorgesteld-in-brugge/article-1195119387827.htm|title=Nieuwe bierbijbel met 1.132 Belgische bieren voorgesteld in Brugge|date=18 October 2011|language=nl|newspaper=Krant van West-Vlaanderen|access-date=17 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531221549/http://kw.knack.be/west-vlaanderen/nieuws/algemeen/nieuwe-bierbijbel-met-1-132-belgische-bieren-voorgesteld-in-brugge/article-1195119387827.htm|archive-date=31 May 2012|url-status=live}} The Trappist beer of the Abbey of Westvleteren has repeatedly been rated the world's best beer.{{cite news|last=Ames|first=Paul|title=Buying the World's Best Beer|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/benelux/090828/st-sixtus-westvleteren-beer|access-date=19 November 2010|newspaper=Global Post|date=30 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109221604/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/benelux/090828/st-sixtus-westvleteren-beer|archive-date=9 November 2010|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Guthrie|first=Tyler|title=Day trip to the best beer in the world|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2010/08/11/day-trip-to-the-best-beer-in-the-world/|access-date=19 November 2010|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=11 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204040743/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-08-11/travel/sc-trav-0810-strip-belgian-bike-trip-20100810_1_westvleteren-beer-day-trip|archive-date=4 December 2010|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Monks run short of 'world's best' beer|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1435915.htm|access-date=19 November 2010|publisher=ABC|date=12 August 2005|agency=Reuters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310004301/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1435915.htm|archive-date=10 March 2009|url-status=dead}}

The biggest brewer in the world by volume is Anheuser-Busch InBev, based in Leuven.{{cite press release|title=InBev dividend 2006: 0.72 euro per share—infobox: About InBev|quote=InBev is a publicly traded company (Euronext: INB) based in Leuven, Belgium. The company's origins date back to 1366, and today it is the leading global brewer by volume.|date=24 April 2007|publisher=InBev|url=http://www.inbev.com/press_releases/20070424.1.e.cfm|access-date=31 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911223542/http://www.inbev.com/press_releases/20070424.1.e.cfm|archive-date=11 September 2007}}

File:Eddy Merckx Molteni 1973.jpg, regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time]]

{{Main|Sport in Belgium}}

Since the 1970s, sports clubs and federations are organized separately within each language community.{{cite book|chapter=Organised sport in transition: development, structures and trends of sports clubs in Belgium|author1=Task, Marijke|author2=Renson, Roland|author3=van Reusel, Bart|name-list-style=amp|title=Sport Clubs in Various European Countries|editor=Klaus Heinemann|publisher=Schattauer Verlag|year=1999|isbn=978-3-7945-2038-1|pages=183–229}} The {{lang|fr|Administration de l'Éducation Physique et du Sport}} (ADEPS) is responsible for recognising the various French-speaking sports federations and also runs three sports centres in the Brussels-Capital Region.{{cite web|url=http://www.sport-adeps.be/|title=Portail officiel du sport en fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles|website=sport-adeps.be|language=fr|trans-title=Official sports portal in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation|access-date=11 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116150111/http://www.sport-adeps.be/|archive-date=16 November 2017|url-status=dead}} Its Dutch-speaking counterpart is {{lang|nl|Sport Vlaanderen}} (formerly called BLOSO).{{cite web|url=https://www.sport.vlaanderen/|title=Doe aan sport|website=Sport.Vlaanderen|language=nl|trans-title=Do sports|access-date=11 November 2017|archive-date=3 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103121617/https://www.sport.vlaanderen/|url-status=live}}

Association football is the most popular sport in both parts of Belgium; also very popular are cycling, tennis, swimming, judo{{cite book|title=Belgium|author=Wingfield, George|publisher=Infobase Publishing|editor=Charles F. Gritzner|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7910-9670-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/belgium00wing/page/94 94–95]|url=https://archive.org/details/belgium00wing/page/94}} and basketball.{{cite news|title=Belgium's 10 most popular sports|author=Hendricks, Kelly|work=The Bulletin|date=20 June 2014|url=http://www.xpats.com/belgiums-10-most-popular-sports|access-date=26 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122130743/http://www.xpats.com/belgiums-10-most-popular-sports|archive-date=22 November 2014|url-status=live}} The Belgium national football team has been among the best on the FIFA World Rankings ever since November 2015, when it reached the top spot for the first time.{{cite news|title=Belgium go top, Chile and Austria soar|url=https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/news/y=2015/m=11/news=belgium-go-top-chile-and-austria-soar-2730157.html|access-date=30 March 2016|publisher=FIFA|date=5 November 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160626094459/http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/news/y%3D2015/m%3D11/news%3Dbelgium-go-top-chile-and-austria-soar-2730157.html|archive-date=26 June 2016}} Since the 1990s, the team has been the world's number one for the most years in history, only behind the records of Brazil and Spain.[https://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/news/newsid=1351535.html Team of the Year Award 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218180552/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/news/newsid%3D1351535.html|date=18 December 2010}} on the FIFA website The team's golden generations with the world class players in the squad, namely Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Jan Ceulemans achieved the bronze medals at World Cup 2018, and silver medals at Euro 1980. Belgium hosted the Euro 1972, and co-hosted the Euro 2000 with the Netherlands.

Belgians hold the most Tour de France victories of any country except France. They also have the most victories on the UCI Road World Championships. With five victories in the Tour de France and numerous other cycling records, Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx is regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time.{{cite news|title=Great, but there are greater|author=Majendie, Matt|work=BBC Sport|date=18 April 2005|quote=[the Author's] top five [cyclists] of all time: 1 Eddy Merckx, 2 Bernard Hinault, 3 Lance Armstrong, 4 Miguel Indurain, 5 Jacques Anquetil|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/3925265.stm|access-date=20 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824143546/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/3925265.stm|archive-date=24 August 2007|url-status=live}} Philippe Gilbert and Remco Evenepoel were the 2012 and 2022 world champions, respectively. Other well-known Belgian cyclists are Tom Boonen, Wout van Aert and Lotte Kopecky.

Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both were Player of the Year in the Women's Tennis Association as they were ranked the number one female tennis player.

The Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit hosts the Formula One World Championship Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian driver, Jacky Ickx, won eight Grands Prix and six 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished twice as runner-up in the Formula One World Championship. Belgium also has a strong reputation in, motocross with the riders Joël Robert, Roger De Coster, Georges Jobé, Eric Geboers and Stefan Everts, among others.{{cite book|title=Motocross History: From Local Scrambling to World Championship MX to Freestyle|author=Woods, Bob|publisher=Crabtree Publishing Company|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7787-3987-6|page=19}}

Sporting events annually held in Belgium include the Memorial Van Damme athletics competition, the Belgian Grand Prix Formula One, and a number of classic cycle races such as the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The 1920 Summer Olympics were held in Antwerp. The 1977 European Basketball Championship was held in Liège and Ostend.

{{Portal|Belgium}}

• Index of Belgium-related articles
• Outline of Belgium

{{Clear}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite encyclopedia|title=Belgium|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, Illinois, USA|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/59268/Belgium|access-date=7 June 2007|archive-date=28 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428215519/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/59268/Belgium|url-status=live}}
• {{cite web|title=Boordtabel|year=2007|language=nl|publisher=Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels (BRIO)|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/ned/webpage4.asp?WebpageId=39|access-date=2 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529224015/http://www.briobrussel.be/ned/webpage4.asp?WebpageId=39|archive-date=29 May 2007|url-status=dead}} (mentioning other original sources)
• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Belgium | volume= 3 |last1= Boulger |first1= Demetrius Charles |author1-link= Demetrius Charles Boulger|last2= Edmundson |first2= George |author2-link= George Edmundson |last3= Gosse |first3= Edmund William |author3-link= Edmund Gosse |pages = 668–681 }}
• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/ Belgium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109104644/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/ |date=9 January 2021 }}. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 7 June 2007.
• {{cite web|title=The Constitution|date=21 January 1997|publisher=Federal Parliament Belgium|url=http://www.fed-parl.be/constitution_uk.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607094156/http://www.fed-parl.be/constitution_uk.html|archive-date=7 June 2007|access-date=7 June 2007|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web|title=Country Portal – Europe—Belgium|publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy—Directorate-general Statistics Belgium|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/port/cou_eu_en.asp#BE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701233100/http://www.statbel.fgov.be/port/cou_eu_en.asp#BE|archive-date=1 July 2007|access-date=7 June 2007|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web|title=Die Stellung und Rolle der deutschsprachigen Minderheit in Ostbelgien innerhalb des belgischen Nationalstaats|author=Fischer, Kathrin|work=Kleiner Geländekurs in die Euregio Maas-Rhein|language=de|date=21 July 1999|publisher=Geographical Institute of the University of Göttingen (Department Culture and Social Geography), Göttingen, Germany|url=http://www.geogr.uni-goettingen.de/kus/personen/euregio/emr99-21.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070720161347/http://www.geogr.uni-goettingen.de/kus/personen/euregio/emr99-21.htm|archive-date=20 July 2007|access-date=13 June 2007|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web|title=History of Belgium|date=30 May 2007|work=World History at KMLA|publisher=Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (KMLA)|url=http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/lowcountries/xbelgium.html|access-date=2 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706215841/http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/lowcountries/xbelgium.html|archive-date=6 July 2007|url-status=live}}
• {{cite book|title=Brusselse Thema's in Brussel—Taalverhoudingen, taalverschuivingen en taalindentiteit in een meertalige stad – summary The Use of Languages in Brussels|pages=227–250|language=nl|date=1 June 2001|author=Janssens, Rudi|publisher=Vrije Universiteit Brussel Press, Brussels|isbn=978-90-5487-293-1|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/bt8download.pdf|access-date=2 June 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605012657/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/bt8download.pdf|archive-date=5 June 2007}}
• {{cite web|title=Belgique • België • Belgien|work=L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde|language=fr|year=2006|author=Leclerc, Jacques|publisher=Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec|url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/belgiqueacc.htm|access-date=2 June 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608172452/http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/belgiqueacc.htm|archive-date=8 June 2007}}
• {{cite news|title=Bye bye Belgium?|date=20 December 2006|author=Mnookin, Robert|author2=Verbeke, Alain|publisher=International Herald Tribune, republished by Harvard Law School|url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2006/12/20_mnookin.php|access-date=1 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321151959/http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2006/12/20_mnookin.php|archive-date=21 March 2007|url-status=live}}—Reflections on nations and nation-state developments regarding Belgium

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|title=A History of the Low Countries|author=Arblaster, Paul|edition=Hardcover 312pp|date=23 December 2005|series=Palgrave Essential Histories|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, New York|isbn=978-1-4039-4827-4}}
• {{cite book|title=History of the Low Countries|editor=Blom, J. C. H.|editor2=Lamberts, Emiel|translator=Kennedy, James C.|edition=Hardcover 503pp|date=May 1999|publisher=Berghahn Books, Oxford/New York|isbn=978-1-57181-084-7}}
• {{cite book|title=A History of Belgium from the Roman Invasion to the Present Day|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924027038417|author=Cammaerts, Émile L.|orig-year=1913|edition=357pp|year=1921|publisher=D. Appleton and Co, New York|oclc=1525559|asin=B00085PM0A}}
  [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}}]
  • {{cite book|title=The History of Belgium: Part 1. Cæsar to Waterloo|author1=de Kavanagh Boulger|author2=Demetrius C.|edition=Paperback 493pp|orig-year=1902|date=28 June 2001|series=Elibron Classics|publisher=Adamant Media (Delaware corporation), Boston, Massachusetts, United States|isbn=978-1-4021-6714-0}} Facsimile reprint of a 1902 edition by the author, London
    {{cite book|title=Ib. Part 2. 1815–1865. Waterloo to the Death of Leopold I|author=Ib.|edition=Paperback 462pp|orig-year=1909|date=June 2001|publisher=Ib

    |isbn=978-1-4021-6713-3}} Facsimile reprint of a 1909 edition by the author, London

    • {{cite book|ref=Fitzmaurice|title=The Politics of Belgium: A Unique Federalism|author=Fitzmaurice, John|author-link=John Fitzmaurice (writer)|edition=Paperback 284pp|year=1996|series=Nations of the modern world|publisher=Westview Press|place=Boulder, Colorado, US|isbn=978-0-8133-2386-2|oclc=30112536}}
    • {{cite book|title=The Low Countries: History of the Northern and Southern Netherlands|author=Kossmann-Putto, Johanna A.|author2=Kossmann Ernst H.|editor=Deleu Jozef H. M.|translator=Fenoulhet Jane|others=De Lage Landen: geschiedenis van de Noordelijke en Zuidelijke Nederlanden. Vlaams-Nederlandse Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem|edition=3rd Rev. edition Paperback 64pp

    |orig-year=1987|date=January 1993|publisher=Flemish-Netherlands Foundation Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem, Belgium|isbn=978-90-70831-20-2|author2-link=Ernst Kossmann}}

    (Several editions in English, incl. (1997) 7th ed.)

    {{refend}}

{{Sister project links|voy=Belgium}}

• [https://www.monarchie.be/ Official site of the Belgian monarchy]
• [https://www.belgium.be/ Official site of the Belgian federal government]

• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/ Belgium]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080607084449/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/belgium.htm Belgium] at UCB Libraries GovPubs
• [https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/eur/ci/be/ Belgium] information from the United States Department of State
• [https://www.loc.gov/rr/international/european/belgium/be.html Portals to the World] from the United States Library of Congress
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17205436 Belgium profile] from the BBC News
• [http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index.asp?lang=en&iso3=BEL&subj=1&paia= FAO Country Profiles: Belgium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126041548/http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index.asp?lang=en&iso3=BEL&subj=1&paia= |date=26 January 2012 }}
• [http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_22_1.asp Statistical Profile of Belgium at the Association of Religion Data Archives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028171157/http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_22_1.asp |date=28 October 2014 }}
• {{wikiatlas|Belgium}}
• [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=BE Key Development Forecasts for Belgium] from International Futures
• [http://www.visitbelgium.com/ Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope]

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