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Belgium flag
Kingdom of Belgium
Royaume de Belgique
Koninkrijk België
Königreich Belgien
   Belgium is located in Western Europe and its historical events are linked to the presence of two 'bulky' neighbors such as France and Germany; with Luxembourg and the Netherlands in 1921 he created the Benelux for an economic collaboration between these three countries. The territory is mostly flat (from the coasts of the North Sea to the Meuse river), gradually more and more hilly towards the south until it reaches the Ardennes, which in any case do not even get to 700 meters in height.
Government type Federal parliamentary monarchy
Area 30,689 km² (11,849 sq mi)
Population 11,764,000 inh. (2024)
Population density 383 inh/km² (993 inh/mi²)
Capital Brussels (197,000 pop., 2,238,000 urban aggl.)
Currency Euro
Human development index 0.937 (13th place)
Languages French (Walloon), Dutch (Flemish), German
Life expectancy M 79 years, F 83 years
Location in Europe

Boundaries:

France WEST and SOUTH
Luxembourg SOUTH-EAST
Germany EAST
Netherlands NORTH-EAST
North Sea NORTH-WEST

GEOGRAPHY DATA OF BELGIUM


Largest cities
Antwerp 545,000 pop., 1,070,000 urban aggl.
Gent 270,000 pop., 385,000 urban aggl.
Charleroi 204,000 pop., 290,000 urban aggl.
Brussels 197,000 pop., 2,238,000 urban aggl.
Liege 196,000 pop., 500,000 urban aggl.
Highest mountains
Signal de Botrange 694 m (2,277 ft)
Longest rivers
Meuse 925 km (575 mi) total, 183 km (114 mi) in Belgium
Scheldt 350 km (217 mi) total, 200 km (124 mi) in Belgium
Largest lakes
Lac de la Plate Taille 3.74 km² (1.44 sq mi)

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF BELGIUM

   The capital Brussels is located in a rather central position and acts as a glue between Flanders and Wallonia, the two historical regions of the country, the first Dutch-speaking, the second French; Wallonia and Flanders, to which the district of the capital is equivalent, are further subdivided into 5 provinces each; the southern province of Luxembourg, on the border with the independent country of the same name, is the only one to exceed 4,000 km², while in terms of population it ranks last, with the primacy of the province of Antwerp, which is also the city more populated than Belgium, given that Brussels has a larger population considering the entire urban area, but it is technically divided into more inhabited centers.

   In Belgium there are 30 urban centers over 50,000 inhabitants, of which 9 make up the nucleus of the capital Brussels; Antwerp is just over 500,000 inhabitants, while Ghent, which follows it by population, has about half; south of Charleroi, Namur and Liège there are no major cities in what is the most sparsely populated area of the country.



Brussels



Useful links

Belgian Statistical Office
Visit Belgium