The sovereign state is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Its institutional organisation is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions: Flanders<\/a> in the north, Wallonia<\/a> in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region. Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region, as well as the richest region in terms of GDP per capita.<\/p>\n Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups or Communities: the Dutch-speaking, mostly Flemish Community<\/a>, which constitutes about 59 percent of the population, and the French-speaking Community<\/a>, which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians. A small German-speaking Community<\/a>, numbering around one percent, exists in the East Cantons<\/a>. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual (French and Dutch), although French is the dominant language.[9] Belgium’s linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments.<\/p>\n Historically, Belgium was part of an area known as the Low Countries,<\/a> a somewhat larger region than the current Benelux<\/a> group of states that also included parts of northern France and western Germany. Its name is derived from the Latin word Belgica, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica<\/a>. From the end of the Middle Ages<\/a> until the 17th century, the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture. Between the 16th and early 19th centuries, Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers, earning the moniker the “Battlefield of Europe”, a reputation strengthened by both world wars. The country emerged in 1830 following the Belgian Revolution<\/a> when it seceded from the Netherlands.<\/p>\n Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution<\/a> and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa<\/a>. The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking citizens fueled by differences in language and culture<\/a> and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Despite the reforms, tensions between the groups have remained, if not increased; there is significant separatism particularly among the Flemish<\/a>; controversial language laws exist such as the municipalities with language facilities; and the formation of a coalition government took 18 months following the June 2010 federal election<\/a>, a world record. Unemployment in Wallonia is more than double that of Flanders, which boomed after the war.<\/p>\n Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union and hosts the official seats of the European Commission<\/a>, the Council of the European Union<\/a>, and the European Council<\/a>, as well as a seat of the European Parliament<\/a> in the country’s capital, Brussels. Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone<\/a>, NATO<\/a>, OECD<\/a>, and WTO<\/a>, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area<\/a>. Brussels hosts several of the EU’s official seats as well as the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO.<\/p>\n Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. It has very high standards of living, quality of life, healthcare, education, and is categorized as “very high” in the Human Development Index. It also ranks as one of the safest or most peaceful countries in the world.<\/p>\n Gaul<\/a> is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae<\/a> inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in ours Gauls, the third. (…) Of all these, the Belgae are the strongest (…) . 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<\/a> and Germanic<\/a> peoples. A gradual immigration<\/a> by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian<\/a> kings. A gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Treaty of Verdun<\/a> in 843 divided the region into Middle<\/a> and West Francia<\/a> and therefore into a set of more or less independent fiefdoms<\/a> which, during the Middle Ages, were vassals<\/a> either of the King of France or of the Holy Roman Emperor.<\/a><\/p>\n Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands<\/a> of the 14th and 15th centuries. Emperor Charles V<\/a> extended the personal union of the Seventeen Provinces<\/a> in the 1540s, making it far more than a personal union by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549<\/a> and increased his influence over the Prince-Bishopric of Li\u00e8ge.<\/a><\/p>\n The Eighty Years’ War<\/a> (1568\u20131648) divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces<\/a> (Belgica Foederata in Latin, the “Federated Netherlands”) and the Southern Netherlands<\/a> (Belgica Regia, the “Royal Netherlands”). The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish (Spanish Netherlands<\/a>) and the Austrian Habsburgs<\/a> (Austrian Netherlands<\/a>) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theater of most Franco-Spanish<\/a> and Franco-Austrian<\/a> wars during the 17th and 18th centuries.<\/p>\n Following the campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countries\u2014including territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Li\u00e8ge\u2014were annexed by the French First Republic<\/a>, ending Austrian rule in the region. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands<\/a> occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon.<\/p>\n 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. Since the installation of Leopold I<\/a> as king on 21 July 1831, now celebrated as Belgium’s National Day<\/a>, Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a laicist<\/a> constitution based on the Napoleonic code<\/a>. Although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893<\/a> (with plural voting until 1919) and for women in 1949.<\/p>\n The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party<\/a> and the Liberal Party<\/a>, with the Belgian Labour Party<\/a> 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 recognized as well. This recognition became official in 1898 and in 1967 the parliament accepted a Dutch version of the Constitution<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Berlin Conference of 1885 ceded control of the Congo Free State<\/a> to King Leopold II<\/a> as his private possession. From around 1900 there was growing international concern for the extreme and savage treatment of the Congolese population under Leopold II, for whom the Congo was primarily a source of revenue from ivory and rubber production. Many Congolese were killed by Leopold’s agents for failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber. It is estimated that nearly 10 million were killed during the Leopold period. In 1908, this outcry led the Belgian state to assume responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo<\/a>. A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo’s population was half what it was in 1879.<\/p>\n Germany invaded Belgium<\/a> in August 1914 as part of the Schlieffen Plan<\/a> to attack France, and much of the Western Front fighting of World War I<\/a> occurred in western parts of the country. The opening months of the war were known as the Rape of Belgium<\/a> due to German excesses. Belgium assumed control of the German colonies of Ruanda-Urundi<\/a> (modern-day Rwanda<\/a> and Burundi<\/a>) during the war, and in 1924 the League of Nations<\/a> mandated them to Belgium. In the aftermath of the First World War, Belgium annexed the Prussian districts<\/a> of Eupen<\/a> and Malmedy<\/a> in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a German-speaking minority.<\/p>\n German forces again invaded the country<\/a> in May 1940, and 40,690 Belgians, over half of them Jews, were killed during the subsequent occupation<\/a> and The Holocaust<\/a>. From September 1944 to February 1945 the Allies liberated Belgium<\/a>. After World War II<\/a>, a general strike forced King Leopold III<\/a> to abdicate in 1951, since many Belgians felt he had collaborated with Germany<\/a> during the war. The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the Congo Crisis<\/a>; 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.<\/p>\n Belgium became one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community<\/a> in 1951 and of the European Atomic Energy Community<\/a> and European Economic Community, established in 1957. The latter has now become 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.<\/p>\n Belgium shares borders with France (620 km), Germany (167 km), Luxembourg (148 km) and the Netherlands (450 km). Its total surface, including water area, is 11,849 square miles.<\/p>\n Belgium has three main geographical regions; the coastal plain in the northwest and the central plateau both belong to the Anglo-Belgian Basin, and the Ardennes<\/a> uplands in the southeast to the Hercynian<\/a> orogenic belt. The Paris Basin<\/a> reaches a small fourth area at Belgium’s southernmost tip, Belgian Lorraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders<\/a>. Further inland lies a smooth, slowly rising landscape irrigated by numerous waterways, with fertile valleys and the northeastern sandy plain of the Campine<\/a> (Kempen). The thickly forested hills and plateaux of the Ardennes are more rugged and rocky with caves and small gorges. Extending westward into France, this area is eastwardly connected to the Eifel<\/a> in Germany by the High Fens<\/a> plateau, on which the Signal de Botrange<\/a> forms the country’s highest point at 2,277 feet.<\/p>\n Belgium’s strongly globalized economy and its transport infrastructure<\/a> are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world’s 15th largest trading nation in 2007. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP and high exports per capita. Belgium’s main imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, and oil products. Its main exports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, and foodstuffs.<\/p>\n The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags behind. One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports an open economy and the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922, through the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union<\/a>, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market with customs and currency union.<\/p>\n Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution<\/a>, in the early 19th century. Li\u00e8ge and Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century in the Sambre and Meuse valley<\/a> and made Belgium among one of the three most industrialized nations in the world from 1830 to 1910. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced famine from 1846 to 1850.<\/p>\n After World War II, Ghent and Antwerp experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973<\/a> and 1979 oil crises<\/a> sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced serious decline. In the 1980s and 1990s, the economic centre of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous Flemish Diamond area<\/a>.<\/p>\n Transport in Belgium is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail and water networks.<\/p>\n The rail network has 1,830 miles of electrified tracks. The network currently includes four high speed lines. There are active rail links with all neighboring countries.<\/p>\n Urban tram networks exist in Antwerp <\/a>(the Antwerp Pre-metro), Ghent<\/a> and Brussels<\/a> (the Brussels trams), and are gradually being extended. The only rapid transit system in Belgium is the Brussels Metro<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are 73,579 miles of roads, among which there are 1,086 miles of motorways, 8,632 miles of main roads and 63,861 miles of other paved roads. There is also a well-developed urban rail network in Brussels, Antwerp and Charleroi<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ports of Antwerp<\/a> and Bruges-Zeebrugge<\/a> are two of the biggest seaports in Europe.<\/p>\n Other sea ports are located in Ghent<\/a> and Ostend<\/a>. Inland river ports include Brussels<\/a> and Li\u00e8ge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brussels Airport<\/a> is Belgium’s biggest airport. There are 42 other airports in Belgium, of which 27 have paved runways. In addition to Brussels, the following airports provide commercial services: Ostend-Bruges International Airport<\/a>, the Brussels-South Charleroi Airport<\/a>, the Li\u00e8ge Airport<\/a> and the Antwerp International Airport<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Belgian national airline used to be Sabena<\/a> from 1923 to 2001, until it went into bankruptcy. A new Belgian airline named SN Brussels Airlines<\/a> was subsequently founded by business man \u00c9tienne Davignon<\/a>. The company was then renamed as Brussels Airlines<\/a> in 2006. In 2009, Brussels Airlines was taken over by German airline Lufthansa<\/a>.<\/p>\n The national flag of the kingdom of Belgium is a tri-colour of three bands of black, yellow, and red. The colors were taken from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant<\/a>, and the vertical design may be based on the flag of France<\/a>. When flown, the black band is nearest the pole (at the hoist side).<\/p>\n After the death of Charlemagne<\/a>, the present-day territory of Belgium (except the County of Flanders<\/a>) became part of Lotharingia<\/a>, which had a flag of two horizontal red stripes separated by a white stripe. The territory then passed into Spanish hands, and after the coronation of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor<\/a> yellow and red, the colors of Spain, were added. From the 16th century to the end of the 18th century, the colours of what is now Belgium were red, white and yellow. Occasionally the red cross of Burgundy<\/a> was placed on the white section of the flag.<\/p>\n During the period of Austrian rule<\/a>, a number of different flags were tried, until the Austrian Emperor imposed the Austrian flag<\/a>. The population of Brussels was opposed to this, and following the example of France, red, yellow and black cockades<\/a> began to appear; those being the colors of Brabant. The colors thus correspond to the red lion of Hainaut<\/a>, Limburg<\/a> and Luxembourg<\/a>, the yellow lion of Brabant, and the black lion of Flanders <\/a>and Namur<\/a>.<\/p>\n On 26 August 1830, the day after the rioting at the Brussels Opera<\/a> and the start of the Belgian Revolution<\/a>, the flag of France flew from the city hall of Brussels<\/a>. The insurgents hastily replaced it with a tri-colour of red, yellow and black horizontal stripes made at a nearby fabric store.<\/p>\n On 23 January 1831, the stripes changed from horizontal to vertical, and on 12 October the flag attained its modern form, with the black placed at the hoist side of the flag.<\/p>\n Historical flags are shown below:<\/p>\n The national flag of the kingdom of Belgium is a tricolour of three bands of black, yellow, and red. The colours were taken from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant, and the vertical design may be based on the flag of France. When flown, the black band is nearest the pole (at the hoist side). <\/p>\n After the death of Charlemagne, the present-day territory of Belgium (except the County of Flanders) became part of Lotharingia, which had a flag of two horizontal red stripes separated by a white stripe. The territory then passed into Spanish hands, and after the coronation of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor yellow and red, the colours of Spain, were added. From the 16th century to the end of the 18th century, the colours of what is now Belgium were red, white and yellow. Occasionally the red cross of Burgundy was placed on the white section of the flag.<\/p>\n During the period of Austrian rule, a number of different flags were tried, until the Austrian Emperor imposed the Austrian flag. The population of Brussels was opposed to this, and following the example of France, red, yellow and black cockades began to appear; those being the colours of Brabant. The colours thus correspond to the red lion of Hainaut, Limburg and Luxembourg, the yellow lion of Brabant, and the black lion of Flanders and Namur.<\/p>\n On 26 August 1830, the day after the rioting at the Brussels Opera and the start of the Belgian Revolution, the flag of France flew from the city hall of Brussels. The insurgents hastily replaced it with a tricolour of red, yellow and black horizontal stripes made at a nearby fabric store. <\/p>\n On 23 January 1831, the stripes changed from horizontal to vertical, and on 12 October the flag attained its modern form, with the black placed at the hoist side of the flag.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,69,5,6,7,54,70],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Belgium-in-Europe-300x252.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Map-of-Belgium-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Pre-Independent Belgium:<\/h3>\n
\n\u2014 Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico, Book I, Ch. 1<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Charles-V-Holy-Roman-Emperor-175x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Independent Belgium:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Belgian-Revolution-1830-300x202.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/British-Troops-Entering-Brussels-1944-300x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Relief-Map-of-Belgium-300x261.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Steel-Making-near-Liege-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/High-Speed-Trains-in-Brussels-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/The-A12-Expressway-with-Rail-Line-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Port-of-Antwerp-300x206.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Brussels-Airport-300x133.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Belgium:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-Belgium-300x260.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-the-Brabant-Revolution-1789-1790-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-the-Belgian-Revolution-1830-1831-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>