# City of Brussels

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the Flemish Region (from which it is separate) and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.
Besides the central historic town located within the Pentagon, the City of Brussels covers some of the city's immediate outskirts within the greater Brussels-Capital Region, namely the former municipalities of Haren, Laeken, and Neder-Over-Heembeek to the north, as well as the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan and the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos park to the south-east, where it borders municipalities in Flanders.
As of 1 January 2024, the City of Brussels had a population of 196,828 inhabitants. The total area is 33.09 km$^2$ (12.78 sq mi), which gives a population density of 5,949/km$^2$ (15,410/sq mi). As of 2023, there were 75,998 registered non-Belgians in the City. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch).

## Territorial history

Historically, the City of Brussels was simply defined, being the area within the second walls of Brussels, the modern-day Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road). As the city grew, so did the surrounding villages, eventually forming a contiguous city, though the local governments retained control of their respective areas.
At the country's independence in 1830, the new members of the Belgian upper class hoped to create a new prestigious residential area in the capital. An official plan for the Leopold Quarter was drawn up in 1838, marking the first major extension of the City of Brussels in its eastern part, following the transfer of a large area of the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode. The area was designed to emanate from Brussels Park (located in front of the Royal Palace), and was laid out on a grid in a traditional classical pattern centred around the Square Frère Orban/Frère-Orbansquare.
Shortly afterwards, in 1844, the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan was proposed as a monumental avenue bordered by chestnut trees that would allow easy access from Brussels' city centre to the popular recreational area of the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos. However, fierce resistance to the project was put up by the towns of Saint-Gilles and Ixelles—then, as now, separate municipalities (local authorities) from the City of Brussels—through whose territories the avenue was to run. After years of fruitless negotiations, the City of Brussels finally annexed the narrow band of land needed for the avenue, in addition to the Bois de la Cambre itself, in April 1864. That decision accounts for the unusual shape of today's City of Brussels and for the separation of Ixelles into two separate areas.
To the east, in 1853, following the bankruptcy of Saint-Josse's municipal administration, the City of Brussels purchased half of this municipality. Nowadays, this is the Squares Quarter, the only part of the Brussels municipality to have the same postal code (1040) as the municipality of Etterbeek. Further east, in 1880, a former military exercise ground and the surrounding land, also located in Etterbeek, were attached to the City to create the Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark, an exhibition space commemorating the 50th anniversary of independence. A leisure park and museums were subsequently set up there.
Unlike most of the municipalities in Belgium, the ones now located in the Brussels-Capital Region were not merged with others during mergers occurring in 1964, 1970, and 1975. However, a few neighbouring municipalities have been merged into the City of Brussels, including Haren, Laeken and Neder-Over-Heembeek in 1921. These comprise the northern bulge in the municipality. To the south-east is the above-mentioned strip of land along the Avenue Louise that was annexed from Saint-Gilles and Ixelles. Part of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)'s Solbosch campus is also part of the City of Brussels, partially accounting for the bulge in the south-eastern end.

## Demographics
### Historical population

As of 1 January 2024, the City of Brussels' population was 196,828 inhabitants. The area is 33.09 km$^2$ (12.78 sq mi), making the density 5,949/km$^2$ (15,410/sq mi).
Taking into account the current municipality, including the former municipalities annexed in 1921 (Haren, Laeken and Neder-over-Heembeek) from 1831:
* Sources: INS: 1806 to 1981 = census; 1990 and later = population on 1 January

### Foreign population

The City of Brussels has a large immigrant population, with both the EU and non-European migrant communities outnumbering the native Belgians. Akin to neighbouring Ixelles, Etterbeek and Schaerbeek, the City of Brussels also has a large Muslim population, mainly of North African origin.
As of 2023, taking into account the nationality of birth of the parents, 55.84% of the City of Brussels's population is of non-European origin (predominantly Moroccan, Indian and Congolese), 27.21% is of European origin other than Belgian (mainly French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, and Polish), while 16.94% is solely of native Belgian ancestry. Among all major migrant groups from outside the EU, a majority of the permanent residents have acquired Belgian nationality.
Migrant communities in the City of Brussels with over 1,000 people as of 1 January 2020:
| France | 9,049 |
| Morocco | 7,431 |
| Romania | 7,057 |
| Italy | 5,175 |
| Spain | 4,690 |
| Poland | 2,777 |
| Portugal | 1,832 |
| Greece | 1,758 |
| Netherlands | 1,704 |
| India | 1,591 |
| Bulgaria | 1,573 |
| Germany | 1,565 |
| DR Congo | 1,511 |
| Turkey | 1,389 |
| Guinea | 1,309 |
| United Kingdom | 1,177 |
| Group of origin | Year | Year |
| 2023 ||
| Group of origin | Number | % |
| Belgians with Belgian background | 32,916 | 16.94% |
| Belgians with foreign background | 85,377 | 43.94% |
| Neighbouring country | 4,194 | 2.16% |
| EU27 (excluding neighbouring country) | 6,629 | 3.41% |
| Outside EU 27 | 74,554 | 38.37% |
| Non-Belgians | 75,998 | 39.12% |
| Neighbouring country | 13,512 | 6.95% |
| EU27 (excluding neighbouring country) | 28,534 | 14.69% |
| Outside EU 27 | 33,952 | 17.47% |
| Total | 194,291 | 100% |

## Politics

As in every other Belgian municipality, the City of Brussels is headed by a mayor, who should not be confused with the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region or the Governor of Brussels-Capital. The current city council was elected in the October 2018 elections. The current mayor of the City of Brussels is Philippe Close, a member of PS, who is in coalition on the municipal council with Ecolo - Groen, DéFI and Forward.
City of Brussels local election – 14 October 2018 :
| Party ||
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing (pp) | Elected 2018 | Change |
| | PS | 19,997 | 28.38 | 0.74 | 17 / 49 (35%) | 1 |
| | Ecolo - Groen | 11,847 | 16.81 | 4.42 | 9 / 49 (18%) | 2 |
| | MR - Open Vld | 9,772 | 13.87 | 4.02 | 7 / 49 (14%) | 3 |
| | PVDA-PTB | 8,159 | 11.58 | 10.02 | 6 / 49 (12%) | 6 |
| | cdH - CD&V | 6,543 | 9.29 | 8.72 | 5 / 49 (10%) | 5 |
| | DéFI | 5,317 | 7.55 | 0.08 | 3 / 49 (6%) | |
| | N-VA | 2,606 | 3.70 | 0.64 | 1 / 49 (2%) | |
| | Vooruit (Change Brussels) | 2,269 | 3.22 | New | 1 / 49 (2%) | 1 |
| | Vlaams Belang | 1,138 | 1.61 | 0.59 | 0 / 49 (0%) | - |
| | ISLAM (political party) | 1,125 | 1.60 | 1.30 | 0 / 49 (0%) | - |
| | Others | 1,694 | 2.40 | 1.56 | 0 / 49 (0%) | - |

### Environmental policy

Brussels is ranked sixth in the index of cities which are becoming greener fastest as for the year 2022, even though in the past it had a reputation of a "traffic-choked city of high rises and concrete". The authorities released a plan composed of seven steps on how to make the city even more sustainable. Those include introducing "a use-based, circular and low-carbon economy" and making the city "proactive". The city should become a "10-minute city" meaning "making the facilities essential to urban life accessible to every inhabitant in less than 10 minutes". Green spaces should be expanded. The plan includes participation of the population in decision-making and high life level for all.

## Culture
### Museums

There are many museums in and around Brussels' city centre. On the first Sunday of every month, free entry is granted to many of Brussels' museums.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of museums in the City of Brussels:
* Royal Museums of Art and History :
** Art & History Museum
** Horta-Lambeaux Pavilion
** Halle Gate
** Museums of the Far East
** Musical Instruments Museum
* Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium :
** Oldmasters Museum
** Magritte Museum
** Fin-de-Siècle Museum
** Wiertz Museum
** Meunier Museum
** Royal Museum of Modern Art
* Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History

### Food

Brussels is well known for its food. Brussels sprouts were named after the city. Like most of Belgium, moules-frites, waffles (gaufres), chocolate, French fries, and beer are common there. It is home to one 2-starred and four 1-starred Michelin restaurants.

## Honorary citizens

Among the recipients of the honorary citizenship of the City of Brussels are:
| Date | Name | Notes |
| 29 June 1945 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 12 September 1945 | Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein | |
| 11 October 1945 | Charles de Gaulle | |
| 16 October 1945 | Sir Winston Churchill | |
| 16 April 1946 | Sir Arthur Coningham | |
| 26 May 1982 | Simone Veil | |
| 5 October 1984 | Maurice Béjart | |
| 24 April 1985 | Gaston Thorn | |
| 20 December 2001 | José Géal | |
| 8 September 2004 | Annie Cordy | |
| 18 May 2005 | José Van Dam | |
| 22 June 2005 | Marc Sleen | |
| 23 September 2005 | Alberto Uderzo | |
| 24 November 2005 | Jacques Van der Biest | |
| 20 December 2005 | Dick Annegarn | |
| 4 Februari 2006 | Guy Loiseau | President of the Order of the Friends of Manneken Pis |
| 22 March 2006 | Marcel Hastir | |
| 12 June 2006 | Henri Vernes | |
| 24 June 2006 | Bernard Foccroulle | |
| 19 October 2006 | Jean-Baptiste Beken | Compagnon de Saint-Laurent |
| 14 November 2006 | Cécile Muller | President of Miss Belgium |
| 5 May 2007 | Elisabeth t'Kint | Manager of the Cirque Royal |
| 7 May 2007 | Julot Verbeeck | Press officer of the Cirque Royal |
| 17 April 2008 | Expo 58 hostesses | |
| 12 October 2009 | William Vance | |
| 24 February 2010 | David Susskind (1925–2011) | Belgian Jewish Leader and Peace Activist. |
| 12 May 2011 | Stéphane Hessel | |
| 22 November 2011 | Jean Van Hamme | |
| 25 September 2013 | Agnès Varda | |
| 29 March 2014 | Nathan Clumeck | Professor and managing director of the Saint-Pierre Hospital |
| 30 October 2015 | Grand Jojo | Also known as Lange Jojo |
| 25 March 2016 | Woltje | Puppet from the Royal Theatre Toone |
| 22 September 2017 | Arno | |
| 27 September 2018 | Diane von Fürstenberg | |

## Symbols
### Heraldry

Coat of arms of City of Brussels :
* CoronetA Belgian Count's coronet
* EscutcheonGules Saint Michael Or, slaying the Devil Sable
* SupportersTwo lions rampant Or armed and langued Gules each holding a banner: dexter, the arms of the Duchy of Brabant, also those of Belgium, sinister, the arms of the city
* CompartmentA mount vert
* SymbolismSaint Michael is the patron saint of the city. See: Saint Michael slaying the Devil
* Previous versionsSee below
Previous versions :
* The Original arms were plain Gules. From the 16th century on, it was customary to put the figure of the city seal representing Saint Michael, first as a shadow then in a more elaborate form.
* Note: many of the arms of the Seven Noble Houses of Brussels were variants of these arms.
* 1730 arms
* Napoleonic arms

### Vexillology

Flag of the City of Brussels :
* Description:
* Green and red with at its centre Saint Michael slaying the dragon (Devil).
* Symbolism:
* Saint Michael is the patron saint of the city. See: Saint Michael slaying the Devil