However, the incumbent coalition (composed of Flemish and French-speaking Social Democrats, Liberals, and Christian Democrats) maintained a solid majority in Parliament and all electoral constituencies. He appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government. Since the 1970s, sports clubs are organised separately by each language community. Many other major authors, including Peyo, André Franquin, Edgar P. Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry a worldwide fame. Flanders and Wallonia both also have their own regional governments, and there is a notable independence movement in Flanders. The 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.
Fine arts
After World War II, the people made king Leopold III leave his throne in 1951. The country was again invaded by Germany in 1940 and under German control until 1944. During the war Belgium took over Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Rwanda and Burundi). This was part of World War I. The opening months of the war were very bad in Belgium.
As no census exists, there are no official statistical data regarding the distribution or usage of Belgium’s three official languages or their dialects. 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. Statbel released figures of the Belgian population in relation to the origin of people in Belgium. 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. In 2007, there were 1.38 million foreign-born residents in Belgium, corresponding to 12.9% of the total population. As of 2007update, nearly 92% of the population had Belgian citizenship, and other European Union member citizens account for around 6%.
Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde were major starters vegas casino apk of the Art Nouveau style. Several examples of major architectural places in Belgium belong to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In February 2014, Belgium became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia without any age limits. Ilya Prigogine was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977. A major addition to science was also due to a Belgian, Georges Lemaître. Adding to science and technology has happened throughout the country’s history.
Belgium Facts and Culture
Belgium is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a complex federal system structured on regional and linguistic grounds. The capital and largest metropolitan region is Brussels;d other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven. Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and french fries. In the 19th and 20th centuries, there were major violinists, such as Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux.
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On 22 April 2010, Leterme again offered the resignation of his cabinet to the King after one of the coalition partners, the OpenVLD, withdrew from the government, and on 26 April 2010 King Albert officially accepted the resignation. A few hours later, the new government under Prime Minister Yves Leterme was sworn in. After Herman Van Rompuy was designated the first permanent President of the European Council on 19 November 2009, he offered the resignation of his government to King Albert II on 25 November 2009. The government promoted active diplomacy in Africa and opposed the invasion of Iraq. The bicameral federal parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives.
Between mid-2010 and late 2011, after no clear result in the election, Belgium had no official government, until Elio Di Rupo became Prime Minister. King Albert II left the throne on July 21, 2013 and the current king is Philippe. ¹ The city of Brussels does not lie in Flanders Region and therefore cannot be the largest city of this region. Signal de Botrange is the country’s highest point at 694 metres (2,277 ft). Its total area is 34,143 square kilometers (including sea area).
Country Factsheet
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. The opening months of the war were known as the Rape of Belgium due to German excesses. 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. A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo’s population was half what it was in 1879.
The Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the region into Middle and West Francia. A slow shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to change into the Carolingian Empire. The Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings.
Provinces
As of 1 January 2024, the total population of Belgium according to its population register was 11,763,650. Belgium was ranked 24th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024, and its ranking advanced to 21st in the index of 2025 Ilya Prigogine (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977. François Englert (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013.
- 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.
- There are several Jewish newspapers and more than 45 active synagogues (30 of which are in Antwerp) in the country.
- 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.
- Many other major authors, including Peyo, André Franquin, Edgar P. Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry a worldwide fame.
- The Flemish Community scores noticeably above the French and German-speaking Communities.
- The Constitution of Belgium provides for freedom of religion, and the government respects this right in practice.
Belgium
- Belgium subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 41.6 years.
- The capital and largest metropolitan region is Brussels;d other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.
- Since 1993, Belgium is a federal state, divided into three regions and three communities.
- The lordships and bishoprics along the “March” (frontier) between the two great kingdoms maintained important connections between each other.
- During the war Belgium took over Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Rwanda and Burundi).
Currently, the Belgian Marine Component is working closely together with the Dutch Navy under the command of the Admiral Benelux. The Belgians, along with the Luxembourg government, sent a detachment of battalion strength to fight in Korea known as the Belgian United Nations Command. 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. 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. 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. These include economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit and foreign trade.
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. Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over functional illiteracy. Muslims constituted 24.1% of the population of Brussels, 8% of Wallonia and 7.6% of Flanders. Sociologist Jan Hertogen estimated that in 2022 approximately 9.6% of the Belgian population was Muslim.
Belgium Travel Information
French-speaking Belgians are often referred to as Walloons, although the French speakers in Brussels are not Walloons.p However, various criteria, including the language(s) of parents, of education, or the second-language status of foreign born, may provide suggested figures. Since then, Flanders has been prosperous, among the wealthiest regions in Europe, whereas Wallonia has been languishing. 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. 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. The budget—without the debt—controlled by the federal government amounts to about 50% of the national fiscal income.
Belgium Economy
By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced famine from 1846 to 1850. 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. Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 19th century. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world’s 15th largest trading nation in 2007. According to the 2024 Global Peace Index, Belgium is the 16th most peaceful country in the world.
Migration
In May 2019 federal elections in the Flemish-speaking northern region of Flanders, the far-right Vlaams Belang party made major gains. 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. Since 1993, Belgium is a federal state, divided into three regions and three communities. To look after all these groups, Belgium has a complex system of government with highly autonomous regions. The population is about 60% Dutch-speaking, 39% French-speaking, and 1% German-speaking (the so-called Deutschbelgier). The regions are mainly based on language and culture.
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. Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country’s history. The divide has played a key part in the tensions between the Flemish and Walloons in addition to the already-existing language divide. 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.
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.). 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. Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge both. The constitutional language areas determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the empowered institutions for specific matters. Until December 2011, Belgium was governed by Leterme’s caretaker government awaiting the end of the deadlocked negotiations for formation of a new government.