Belgium

Belgium, officially de Kingdom of Belgium, be a country insyd Northwestern Europe. E dey situate insyd a coastal lowland region dem know as de Low Countries, e be bordered by de Netherlands to de north, Germany to de east, Luxembourg to de southeast, France to de south, den de North Sea to de west. Belgium dey cover an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) wey e get a population of more dan 11.8 million; ein population density of 383/km2 (990/sq mi) dey rank 22nd insyd de world den sixth insyd Europe. De capital den largest metropolitan region be Brussels; oda major cities be Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, den Leuven. Belgium be a parliamentary constitutional monarchy plus a complex federal system dem structure on regional den linguistic grounds. Dem divide de country into three highly autonomous regions: de Flemish Region (Flanders) insyd de north, de Walloon Region (Wallonia) insyd de south, den de Brussels-Capital Region insyd de middle. Belgium sanso be home to two main linguistic communities: de Dutch-speaking Flemish Community, wich dey constitute about 60 percent of de population, den de French-speaking French Community, wich dey constitute about 40 percent of de population; a small German-speaking Community, wey dey comprise around one percent of de population, dey exist insyd de East Cantons. Belgium ein linguistic diversity den related political conflicts be reflected insyd ein complex system of governance, wey make up of six different governments. Belgium be a developed country plus an advanced high-income economy. E be one of de six founding members of de European Union, wey ein capital of Brussels dey serve as de de facto capital of de EU, wey dey host de official seats of de European Commission, de Council of the European Union, de European Council, den one of two seats of de European Parliament (de oda be Strasbourg). Brussels sanso dey host de headquarters of chaw major international organizations, such as NATO. Belgium be a member of, anaa affiliate to, chaw international organizations, wey dey include ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-10, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUSCO (observers), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNECE, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WADB (non-regional), WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC. Demographics Geography Provinces Dem divide de territory of Belgium into three Regions, two of wich, de Flemish Region den Walloon Region, be in turn subdivided into provinces; de third Region, de Brussels-Capital Region, be neither a province nor a part of a province. References Online sources "Belgium". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Archived from the original on 28 April 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2007. "Boordtabel" (in Dutch). Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels (BRIO). 2007. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007. (mentioning other original sources) "The Constitution". Federal Parliament Belgium. 21 January 1997. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007. "Country Portal – Europe—Belgium". Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy—Directorate-general Statistics Belgium. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007. Fischer, Kathrin (21 July 1999). "Die Stellung und Rolle der deutschsprachigen Minderheit in Ostbelgien innerhalb des belgischen Nationalstaats". Kleiner Geländekurs in die Euregio Maas-Rhein (in German). Geographical Institute of the University of Göttingen (Department Culture and Social Geography), Göttingen, Germany. Archived from the original on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2007. "History of Belgium". World History at KMLA. Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (KMLA). 30 May 2007. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007. Janssens, Rudi (1 June 2001). Brusselse Thema's in Brussel—Taalverhoudingen, taalverschuivingen en taalindentiteit in een meertalige stad – summary The Use of Languages in Brussels (PDF) (in Dutch). Vrije Universiteit Brussel Press, Brussels. pp. 227–250. ISBN 978-90-5487-293-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 June 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007. Leclerc, Jacques (2006). "Belgique • België • Belgien". L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde (in French). Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec. Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007. Mnookin, Robert; Verbeke, Alain (20 December 2006). "Bye bye Belgium?". International Herald Tribune, republished by Harvard Law School. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.—Reflections on nations and nation-state developments regarding Belgium Bibliography Arblaster, Paul (23 December 2005). A History of the Low Countries. Palgrave Essential Histories (Hardcover 312pp ed.). Palgrave Macmillan, New York. ISBN 978-1-4039-4827-4. Blom, J. C. H.; Lamberts, Emiel, eds. (May 1999). History of the Low Countries. Translated by Kennedy, James C. (Hardcover 503pp ed.). Berghahn Books, Oxford/New York. ISBN 978-1-57181-084-7. Cammaerts, Émile L. (1921) [1913]. A History of Belgium from the Roman Invasion to the Present Day (357pp ed.). D. Appleton and Co, New York. ASIN B00085PM0A. OCLC 1525559.[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] de Kavanagh Boulger; Demetrius C. (28 June 2001) [1902]. The History of Belgium: Part 1. Cæsar to Waterloo. Elibron Classics (Paperback 493pp ed.). Adamant Media (Delaware corporation), Boston, Massachusetts, United States. ISBN 978-1-4021-6714-0. Facsimile reprint of a 1902 edition by the author, London Ib. (June 2001) [1909]. Ib. Part 2. 1815–1865. Waterloo to the Death of Leopold I (Paperback 462pp ed.). Ib. ISBN 978-1-4021-6713-3. Facsimile reprint of a 1909 edition by the author, London Fitzmaurice, John (1996). The Politics of Belgium: A Unique Federalism. Nations of the modern world (Paperback 284pp ed.). Boulder, Colorado, US: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-2386-2. OCLC 30112536. Kossmann-Putto, Johanna A.; Kossmann, Ernst H. (January 1993) [1987]. Deleu Jozef H. M. (ed.). The Low Countries: History of the Northern and Southern Netherlands. Translated by Fenoulhet Jane. De Lage Landen: geschiedenis van de Noordelijke en Zuidelijke Nederlanden. Vlaams-Nederlandse Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem (3rd Rev. edition Paperback 64pp ed.). Flemish-Netherlands Foundation Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem, Belgium. ISBN 978-90-70831-20-2. (Several editions in English, incl. (1997) 7th ed.) External links Government Official site of the Belgian monarchy Official site of the Belgian federal government General Belgium. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Belgium at UCB Libraries GovPubs Belgium information from the United States Department of State Portals to the World from the United States Library of Congress Belgium profile from the BBC News FAO Country Profiles: Belgium Archived 26 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Statistical Profile of Belgium at the Association of Religion Data Archives Archived 28 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine Key Development Forecasts for Belgium from International Futures Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope