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Where in Belgium should we visit?
Northwestern Europe contains the nation of Belgium, sometimes known as the Kingdom of Belgium. The North Sea borders the nation to the northwest, the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, and France to the southwest. With a population of approximately 11.5 million and an area of 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi), it is the sixth most densely inhabited country in Europe and the 22nd most densely populated country overall, with a density of 376/km2 (970/sq mi).
Historically, the Low Countries, which included sections of northern France, were a somewhat wider region than the Benelux group of states, of which Belgium is a part. Brussels is the nation’s capital and largest city; Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven are other important cities.
Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy that operates under parliamentary government and is a sovereign state. Its institutional structure is multifaceted and based on language and regional factors. The Flemish Region (Flanders) in the north, the Walloon Region (Wallonia) in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region in the center make up its three largely independent areas. In terms of GDP per capita, Brussels is the richest region, as well as the smallest and most densely populated. The Flemish Community, which makes up around 60% of the population, and the French Community, which makes up roughly 40% of the population, are the two primary linguistic communities of Belgium.
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The East Cantons are home to a tiny, one percent German-speaking community. Despite French being the primary language, the Brussels-Capital Region is legally multilingual in both Dutch and French. Belgium’s complicated six-government structure reflects the country’s linguistic diversity and associated political difficulties.
Due to its strategic location close to several important rivers, Belgium has enjoyed relative prosperity over the ages and has strong political and commercial ties to its larger neighbors. The nation was founded as it is now during the Belgian Revolution of 1830, when it broke away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had absorbed the Southern Netherlands (which included the majority of present-day Belgium) following the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
The new state’s name comes from the Latin word Belgium, which was used to refer to a nearby area in the time of Julius Caesar’s “Gallic Wars” approximately 55 BCE.Becoming the “Battlefield of Europe” in the 20th century, Belgium has also been the scene of conflicts between European powers, earning it the nickname.
In addition to taking part in the Industrial Revolution, Belgium held several colonies in Africa during the 20th century. Under the private ownership of King Leopold II of Belgium, the Congo Free State saw severe crimes and sickness between 1885 and 1908, which resulted in a million-person population loss. In response to public outcry throughout Europe, Belgium seized the area as a colony. Between 1960 and 1962, the Belgian colonial empire attained independence. Growing hostilities between Dutch- and French-speaking inhabitants characterized the second half of the 20th century. These tensions were fueled by linguistic and cultural disparities as well as the unequal economic development of Wallonia and Flanders.
This ongoing hostility has resulted in a number of extensive state reforms, which from 1970 to 1993 saw the country go from a unitary to a federal structure. Despite the reforms, there is still significant separatism, especially among the Flemish; there are contentious language laws, such as those pertaining to municipalities with language facilities; and it took an unprecedented 18 months to form a coalition government after the June 2010 federal election. Tensions between the groups have remained, if not increased.Wallonia’s unemployment rate is more than twice as high as Flanders’, which had a post-World War II boom.
