Kingdom of Belgium

 Koninkrijk België (Dutch)

 Royaume de Belgique (French)
 Königreich Belgien (German)

Flag

Coat of arms

Motto: "Eendracht maakt macht" (Dutch)

"L'union fait la force" (French)
"Einigkeit macht stark" (German)
"Unity makes Strength"

Anthem: "La Brabançonne"

"The Brabantian"

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Location of Belgium (dark green)

– in Europe (green & dark grey)
 – in the European Union (green)

Capital Brussels
and largest city 50°51′N 4°21′E

Official languages Dutch

French
German

Ethnic groups see Demographics

Religion (2015[1])  60.7% Christianity

 32.0% No religion
 5.2% Islam
 2.1% Other religions

Demonym Belgian

Government Federal parliamentary

constitutional monarchy[2]

• Monarch Philippe
• Prime Minister Charles Michel

Legislature Federal Parliament

• Upper house Senate

• Lower house Chamber of Representatives

Independence (from the Netherlands)

• Declared 4 October 1830
• Recognised 19 April 1839

Area
 • Total 30,528 km2(11,787 sq mi) (136th)
• Water (%) 6.4

Population
• 1 January 2018 census 11,358,357 [3]
(75th)
• Density 372.06/km2(963.6/sq mi) (36th)

GDP (PPP) 2016 estimate

• Total $508.598 billion[4] (38th)
• Per capita $44,881[4] (20th)

GDP (nominal) 2016 estimate

• Total $470.179 billion[4](23rd)
• Per capita $41,491[4] (17th)

Gini (2011) 26.3[5]

low

HDI (2014) 0.890[6]

very high · 21st

Currency Euro (€) (EUR)

Time zone CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Drives on the right

Calling code +32

ISO 3166 code BE

Internet TLD .be

a. The flag's official proportions of 13:15 are rarely seen; proportions of

2:3 or similar are more common.

b. The Brussels region is the de facto capital, but the City of

Brussels municipality is the de jurecapital.[7]

c. The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union
member states.

Belgium (/ˈbɛldʒəm/ ( listen)),[A] officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe bordered
by France, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. A small and densely populated country, it covers an
area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11 million. Straddling the
cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups: the
Dutch-speaking, mostly Flemish community, which constitutes about 59 percent of the population, and the
French-speaking, mostly Walloon population, which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians. Additionally,
there is a small ~1 percent group of German speakers who live in the East Cantons.
Historically, Belgium lay in the area known as the Low Countries, a somewhat larger area than the
current Benelux group of states that also included parts of Northern France and Western Germany. The region
was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until
the 17th century, the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture.
From the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution in 1830, when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, the
area of Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers, causing it to be dubbed the
"Battlefield of Europe",[8] a reputation strengthened by both world wars.
Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three
highly autonomousregions[9] and three communities, that exist next to each other. Its two largest regions are the
Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the mostly French-speaking southern part of
the Wallonia region. The Brussels-Capital Region is an officially bilingual (French and Dutch) enclave within the
Flemish Region.[10] A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia.[11][12] Belgium's linguistic diversity
and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up
of six different governments.[13][14]