page_title: Belgium
section_title: Sports
hierarchical_section_title: Belgium / Culture / Sports
caption_attribution_description: The 2006 Acura Classic, Kim Clijsters
context_page_description: Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. Belgium has an area of 30,528 square kilometres. Around 11 million people live in Belgium. It is a founding member of the European Union and is home to its headquarters. The capital city of Belgium is Brussels, where the European Union, NATO and other famous organisations are based.
  There are three regions in Belgium:
  Flanders is the name of the northern half of Belgium, just south of the Netherlands. Most of the people in this region, called the Flemish people, speak Dutch.
  Wallonia is the name of the southern half of Belgium, just north of France. Here, most of the people, the Walloons, speak French. There is a small part of Wallonia next to the border with Germany where the people speak German.
  The Brussels-Capital Region, where the capital of Brussels is found, is in the middle of the country, but surrounded by Flanders on all sides. It used to be Dutch-speaking, but today French is mostly spoken, with some Dutch.
  The population is about 60% Dutch-speaking, 39% French-speaking, and 1% German-speaking. To look after all these groups, Belgium has a complicated system of government.
context_section_description: Since the 1970s, sports clubs are organised separately by each language community. Association football is one of the most popular sports in both parts of Belgium, together with cycling, tennis, swimming and judo. With five victories in the Tour de France and many other cycling records, Belgian Eddy Merckx is said to be one of the greatest cyclists of all time. Jean-Marie Pfaff, a former Belgian goalkeeper, is said to be one of the greatest in the history of football (soccer). Belgium and The Netherlands hosted the UEFA European Football Championship in 2000. Belgium hosted the 1972 European Football Championships.
  Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both were Player of the Year in the Women's Tennis Association. The Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit hosts the Formula One World Championship Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian driver, Jacky Ickx, won eight Grands Prix and six 24 Hours of Le Mans. Belgium also has a strong reputation in motocross. Sporting events held each year in Belgium include the Memorial Van Damme athletics competition, the Belgian Grand Prix Formula One, and a number of classic cycle races such as the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The 1920 Summer Olympics were held in Antwerp.
caption: Kim Clijsters was WTA Player of the Year in 2005 and 2010
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