Belgium This article is about the European country. For other uses, see Belgium (disambiguation) . Belgian and Belgique redirect here. For the people, see Belgians . For the community in Missouri, see Belgique, Missouri . Kingdom of Belgium Koninkrijk België ( Dutch ) Royaume de Belgique ( French ) Königreich Belgien ( German ) Flag Coat of arms Motto: Eendracht maakt macht ( Dutch) Lunion fait la force ( French ) Einigkeit macht stark ( German ) Strength through Unity (literally, Unity strength ) Anthem: The Brabançonne (instrumental version) Location of Belgium (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [Legend] Capital and largest city Brusselsa 50°51′N 4°21′E / 50.850°N Official languages Dutch French Germ Ethnic groups see Demographics sectio Demonym Belgian Government Federal parliamenta constitutional monarc - King Philippe - Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo Legislature Federal Parliament - Upper house Senate - Lower house Chamber of Representa Independence - Declared from the Netherlands 4 October 1830 - Recognised 19 April 1839 - Founded the EEC (now the European Union) 1 January 1958 Area - Total 30,528 km 2 ( 140th 11,787 sq mi - Water (%) 6.4 Population - 2014 census 11,198,638 [2] ( 75th - Density 363.6/km 2 ( 33rd ) 941.68/sq mi GDP ( PPP) 2014 estimate - Total $434.503 billion [3] ( 3 - Per capita $38,826 [3] ( 20th ) GDP (nominal) 2014 estimate - Total $534.775 billion [3] ( 2 - Per capita $47,787 [3] ( 17th ) Gini (2011) 26.3 [4] low HDI (2013) 0.897 [5] very high · 17th Currency Euro ( €) b ( 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 c The Brussels region is the de facto capit the City of Brussels municipality is the d capital Before 1999, Belgian franc (BEF). The .eu domain is also used, as it is shar other European Union member state Belgium ( i /ˈb ɛl dʒəm/ ; Dutch : België ; French : Belgique; German : Belgien), officially the Kingdom of Belgium , is a federal monarchy in Western Europe . It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EUs headquarters as well as those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. [nb 1] Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people. 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% of the population), and the French-speaking , mostly Walloon population (which comprises 41% of all Belgians). Additionally, there is a small group of German-speakers who are officially recognized. Belgiums two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia . The Brussels-Capital Region , officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. [6] A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. [7][8] Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of government .[9][10] Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries , which used to cover a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states. The region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, which covered more or less the same area. 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, [11] a reputation strengthened by both World Wars. Upon its independence, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution[12][13] and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. [14] The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Flemish and the Francophones fueled by differences in language and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms , a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement. The formation of the last federal government in 2010 lasted 18 months. [15] History Main article: History of Belgium The name Belgium is derived from Gallia Belgica, a Roman province in the northernmost part of Gaul that before Roman invasion in 100 BC, was inhabited by the Belgae, a mix of Celtic and Germanic peoples .[16][17] A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings. A gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire . [18] The Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the region into Middle and West Francia and therefore into a set of more or less independent fiefdoms which, during the Middle Ages , were vassals either of the King of France or of the Holy Roman Emperor .[18] Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries. [19] Emperor Charles V extended the personal union of the Seventeen Provinces in the 1540s, making it far more than a personal union by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 and increased his influence over the Prince- Bishopric of Liège .[20] The Eighty Years War (1568–1648) divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces ( Belgica Foederata in Latin , the Federated Netherlands) and the Southern Netherlands ( Belgica Regia , the Royal Netherlands). The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theatre of most Franco- Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. Following the campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars , the Low Countries— including territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince- Bishopric of Liège—were annexed by the French First Republic , ending Austrian rule in the region. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon. In 1830, the Belgian Revolution led to the 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. [21][22] Since the installation of Leopold I as king on 21 July 1831 (which is now celebrated as Belgiums National Day [23] ), Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy , with a laicist constitution based on the Napoleonic code . 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. Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830 (1834), by Egide Charles Gustave Wappers , Museum of Ancient Art, Brussels 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 single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie. It progressively lost its overall importance as Dutch became recognised as well. This recognition became official in 1898 and in 1967 a Dutch version of the Constitution was legally accepted. [24] 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 (millions of whom are thought to have died) [25] under Leopold II, for whom the Congo was primarily a source of revenue from ivory and rubber production. In 1908 this outcry led the Belgian state to assume responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo .[26] Germany invaded Belgium in 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 took over the German colonies of Ruanda-Urundi (modern day Rwanda and Burundi ) during the war, and they were mandated to Belgium in 1924 by the League of Nations . In the aftermath of the First World War, the Prussian districts of Eupen and Malmedy were annexed by Belgium in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a German- speaking minority. The country was again invaded by Germany in 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 Belgium was liberated by the Allies . After World War II, a general strike forced King Leopold III , who many viewed as collaborating with Germany during the war, to abdicate in 1951. [27] The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the Congo Crisis ; [28] 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 is now 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. Elio Di Rupo Prime Minister since 2011 Philippe King since 2013 The Belgian Federal Parliament in Brussels
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 03:01:09 +0000
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