Belgium
Coordinates: 50°50′N 4°00′E
| Kingdom of Belgium |
|
|---|---|
Location of Belgium (dark green)
|
|
_-_BEL_-_UNOCHA.svg) |
|
| Capital and largest city |
Brussels 50°51′N 4°21′E |
| Official languages | Dutch French German |
| Ethnic groups | see Demographics |
| Religion (2015[1]) |
|
| Demonym | Belgian |
| Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy[2] |
|
• Monarch
|
Philippe |
| Charles Michel | |
| Legislature | Federal Parliament |
| Senate | |
| Chamber of Representatives | |
| Independence (from the Netherlands) | |
|
• Declared
|
4 October 1830 |
| 19 April 1839 | |
| Area | |
|
• Total
|
30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) (136th) |
|
• Water (%)
|
6.4 |
| Population | |
|
• 1 January 2018 census
|
11,358,357  [3] (75th) |
|
• Density
|
372.06/km2 (963.6/sq mi) (36th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2016 estimate |
|
• Total
|
$508.598 billion[4] (38th) |
|
• Per capita
|
$44,881[4] (20th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2016 estimate |
|
• Total
|
$470.179 billion[4] (23rd) |
|
• Per capita
|
$41,491[4] (17th) |
| Gini (2011) | 26.3[5] low |
| HDI (2014) | 0.890[6] very high · 21st |
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
|
• Summer (DST)
|
CEST (UTC+2) |
| Drives on the | right |
| Calling code | +32 |
| ISO 3166 code | BE |
| Internet TLD | .be |
|
|
listen)),[A] officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe
bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. A small
and densely populated country, it covers an area of 30,528 square
kilometres (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11 million.
Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups: Dutch-speaking Flemish people and French-speaking Walloons, as well as a small group of German speakers who live in the East Cantons.Historically, Belgium lay in the area known as the Low Countries, a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states that also included parts of Northern France and Western Germany. The region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture. From the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution in 1830, when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, the area of Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers, causing it to be dubbed the "Battlefield of Europe",[8] a reputation strengthened by both world wars.
Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions[9] and three communities, that exist next to each other. Its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the mostly French-speaking southern part of the Wallonia region. The Brussels-Capital Region is an officially bilingual (French and Dutch) enclave within the Flemish Region.[10] A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia.[11][12] 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.[13][14]
Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution[15][16] and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa.[17] 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 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; controversial language laws exist such as the municipalities with language facilities;[18] and the formation of a coalition government took 18 months following the June 2010 federal election, a world record.[19] Unemployment in Wallonia is more than double that of Flanders, which boomed after the war.[20]
Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union and hosts the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Council, as well as a seat of the European Parliament in the country's capital, Brussels. Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area. Brussels hosts several of the EU's official seats as well as the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO.[B]
Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. The country achieves very high standards of living, life quality,[21] healthcare,[22] education,[23] and is categorized as "very high" in the Human Development Index.[24] It also ranks as one of the safest or most peaceful
countries in the world
History
Pre-independent Belgium
Gaul is divided into three parts, one of
which the Belgae 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 Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the region into Middle and West Francia and therefore into a set of more or less independent fiefdoms which, during the Middle Ages, were vassals either of the King of France or of the Holy Roman Emperor.[27]
Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries.[28] Emperor Charles V extended the personal union of the Seventeen Provinces in the 1540s, making it far more than a personal union by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 and increased his influence over the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.[29]
The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces (Belgica Foederata in Latin, the "Federated Netherlands") and the Southern Netherlands (Belgica Regia, the "Royal Netherlands"). The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish (Spanish Netherlands) and the Austrian Habsburgs (Austrian Netherlands) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Following the campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countries—including territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Liège—were annexed by the French First Republic, ending Austrian rule in the region. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon.
Independent Belgium
Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830 (1834), by Gustaf Wappers
The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party and the Liberal Party, with the Belgian Labour Party 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.[33]
The Berlin Conference of 1885 ceded control of the Congo Free State to King Leopold II 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.[34] Many Congolese were killed by Leopold's agents for failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber.[35] 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.[36] A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo's population was half what it was in 1879.[35]
Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914 as part of the Schlieffen Plan to attack France, and much of the Western Front fighting of World War I occurred in western parts of the country. The opening months of the war were known as the Rape of Belgium due to German excesses. Belgium assumed control of the German colonies of Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Rwanda and Burundi) during the war, and in 1924 the League of Nations mandated them to Belgium. In the aftermath of the First World War, Belgium annexed the Prussian districts of Eupen and Malmedy in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a German-speaking minority.
Cheering crowds greet British troops entering Brussels, 4 September 1944
Belgium became one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and of the European Atomic Energy Community 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.
Provinces
| Province | Dutch name | French name | German name | Capital | Largest city | Area (km2) |
Population (1 January 2016) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antwerp | Antwerpen | Anvers | Antwerpen | Antwerp (Dutch: Antwerpen) (French: Anvers) |
Antwerp (Dutch: Antwerpen) (French: Anvers) |
2,860 | 1,824,136 |
| East Flanders | Oost-Vlaanderen | Flandre-Orientale | Ostflandern | Ghent (Dutch: Gent) (French: Gand) |
Ghent (Dutch: Gent) (French: Gand) |
2,982 | 1,486,722 |
| Flemish Brabant | Vlaams-Brabant | Brabant flamand | Flämisch Brabant | Leuven (French: Louvain) (German: Löwen) |
Leuven (French: Louvain) |
2,106 | 1,121,693 |
| Hainaut | Henegouwen | Hainaut | Hennegau | Mons (Dutch: Bergen) |
Charleroi | 3,800 | 1,337,157 |
| Liège | Luik | Liège | Lüttich | Liège (Dutch: Luik) (German: Lüttich) |
Liège (Dutch: Luik) (German: Lüttich) |
3,844 | 1,098,688 |
| Limburg | Limburg | Limbourg | Limburg | Hasselt | Hasselt | 2,414 | 863,425 |
| Luxembourg | Luxemburg | Luxembourg | Luxemburg | Arlon (Dutch: Aarlen) (German: Arel) |
Arlon (Dutch: Aarlen) (German: Arel) |
4,443 | 280,327 |
| Namur | Namen | Namur | Namur | Namur (Dutch: Namen) |
Namur (Dutch: Namen) |
3,664 | 489,204 |
| Walloon Brabant | Waals-Brabant | Brabant wallon | Wallonisch Brabant | Wavre (Dutch: Waver) |
Braine-l'Alleud (Dutch: Eigenbrakel) |
1,093 | 396,840 |
| West Flanders | West-Vlaanderen | Flandre-Occidentale | Westflandern | Bruges (Dutch: Brugge) (French: Bruges) (German: Brügge) |
Bruges (Dutch: Brugge) (French: Bruges) (German: Brügge) |
3,151 | 1,181,828 |
Politics
.jpg)
The King (currently Philippe) is the head of state, though with limited prerogatives. He appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government. The Council of Ministers is composed of no more than fifteen members. With the possible exception of the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers is composed of an equal number of Dutch-speaking members and French-speaking members.[50] The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Napoleonic code. The Court of Cassation is the court of last resort, with the Court of Appeal one level below.[51]
Political culture
Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power is organized around the need to represent the main cultural communities.[52] Since about 1970, the significant national Belgian political parties have split into distinct components that mainly represent the political and linguistic interests of these communities.[53] The major parties in each community, though close to the political centre, belong to three main groups: Christian Democrats, Liberals, and Social Democrats.[54] Further notable parties came into being well after the middle of last century, mainly around linguistic, nationalist, or environmental themes and recently smaller ones of some specific liberal nature.[53]
The government led by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 to 2007 achieved a balanced budget, some tax reforms, a labour-market reform, scheduled nuclear phase-out and instigated legislation allowing more stringent war crime and more lenient soft drug usage prosecution. Restrictions on withholding euthanasia were reduced and same-sex marriage legalized. The government promoted active diplomacy in Africa[60] and opposed the invasion of Iraq.[61] It is the only country that does not have age restrictions on euthanasia.[62]
Verhofstadt's coalition fared badly in the June 2007 elections. For more than a year, the country experienced a political crisis.[63] This crisis was such that many observers speculated on a possible partition of Belgium.[64][65][66] From 21 December 2007 until 20 March 2008 the temporary Verhofstadt III Government was in office. This coalition of the Flemish and Francophone Christian Democrats, the Flemish and Francophone Liberals together with the Francophone Social Democrats was an interim government until 20 March 2008.[67]
On that day a new government, led by Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme, the actual winner of the federal elections of June 2007, was sworn in by the king. On 15 July 2008 Leterme announced the resignation of the cabinet to the king, as no progress in constitutional reforms had been made.[67] In December 2008 he once more offered his resignation to the king after a crisis surrounding the sale of Fortis to BNP Paribas.[68] At this juncture, his resignation was accepted and Christian Democratic and Flemish Herman Van Rompuy was sworn in as Prime Minister on 30 December 2008.[69]
After Herman Van Rompuy was designated the first permanent President of the European Council on 19 November 2009, he offered the resignation of his government to King Albert II on 25 November 2009. A few hours later, the new government under Prime Minister Yves Leterme was sworn in. On 22 April 2010, Leterme again offered the resignation of his cabinet to the king[70] after one of the coalition partners, the OpenVLD, withdrew from the government, and on 26 April 2010 King Albert officially accepted the resignation.[71]
The Parliamentary elections in Belgium on 13 June 2010 saw the Flemish nationalist N-VA become the largest party in Flanders, and the Socialist Party PS the largest party in Wallonia.[72] Until December 2011, Belgium was governed by Leterme's caretaker government awaiting the end of the deadlocked negotiations for formation of a new government. By 30 March 2011 this set a new world record for the elapsed time without an official government, previously held by war-torn Iraq.[73] Finally, in December 2011 the Di Rupo Government led by Walloon socialist Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was sworn in.
The 2014 federal election (coinciding with the regional elections) resulted in a further electoral gain for the Flemish nationalist N-VA, although the incumbent coalition (composed of Flemish and French-speaking Social Democrats, Liberals, and Christian Democrats) maintains a solid majority in Parliament and in all electoral constituencies. On 22 July 2014, King Philippe nominated Charles Michel (MR) and Kris Peeters (CD&V) to lead the formation of a new federal cabinet composed of the Flemish parties N-VA, CD&V, Open Vld and the French-speaking MR, which resulted in the Michel Government. It is the first time N-VA is part of the federal cabinet, while the French-speaking side is represented only by the MR, which achieved a minority of the public votes in Wallonia.
Migration
 |
This section needs to be updated. (June 2017)
|
At the beginning of 2012, people of foreign background and their descendants were estimated to have formed around 25% of the total population i.e. 2.8 million new Belgians.[134] Of these new Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000[135] are from non-Western countries (most of them from Morocco, Turkey, and the DR Congo). Since the modification of the Belgian nationality law in 1984 more than 1.3 million migrants have acquired Belgian citizenship. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are Moroccans.[136] 89.2% of inhabitants of Turkish origin have been naturalized, as have 88.4% of people of Moroccan background, 75.4% of Italians, 56.2% of the French and 47.8% of Dutch people.[135]
|
|
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name | Region | Pop. | Rank | Name | Region | Pop. | ||
 Antwerp  Ghent |
1 | Antwerp | Flanders | 510,610 | 11 | Mons | Wallonia | 95,047 |  Charleroi  Liège |
| 2 | Ghent | Flanders | 251,133 | 12 | Sint-Jans-Molenbeek / Molenbeek-Saint-Jean | Brussels | 94,854 | ||
| 3 | Charleroi | Wallonia | 202,730 | 13 | Aalst | Flanders | 83,347 | ||
| 4 | Liège | Wallonia | 196,291 | 14 | Elsene / Ixelles | Brussels | 83,332 | ||
| 5 | City of Brussels | Brussels | 170,407 | 15 | Mechelen | Flanders | 83,194 | ||
| 6 | Schaarbeek / Schaerbeek | Brussels | 131,604 | 16 | Ukkel / Uccle | Brussels | 81,089 | ||
| 7 | Bruges | Flanders | 117,377 | 17 | La Louvière | Wallonia | 80,172 | ||
| 8 | Anderlecht | Brussels | 115,178 | 18 | Hasselt | Flanders | 75,991 | ||
| 9 | Namur | Wallonia | 110,665 | 19 | Kortrijk | Flanders | 75,128 | ||
| 10 | Leuven | Flanders | 98,292 | 20 | Sint-Niklaas | Flanders | 73,716 | ||
Functional urban areas[137]
| Functional urban areas | Population 2011 |
|---|---|
| Brussels | 2,608,000 |
| Antwerp | 1,091,000 |
| Liège | 744,000 |
| Ghent | 591,000 |
| Charleroi | 488,000 |
Languages
Bilingual signs in Brussels
Total Dutch speakers are 6.23 million, concentrated in the northern Flanders region, while French speakers number 3.32 million in Wallonia and an estimated 870,000 (or 85%) in the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.[G][140] The German-speaking Community is made up of 73,000 people in the east of the Walloon Region; around 10,000 German and 60,000 Belgian nationals are speakers of German. Roughly 23,000 more German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community.[12][141][142][143]
Both Belgian Dutch and Belgian French have minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken respectively in the Netherlands and France. Many Flemish people still speak dialects of Dutch in their local environment. Walloon, considered either as a dialect of French or a distinct Romance language,[144][145] is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. Walloon is the name collectively given to four French dialects spoken in Belgium. Wallonia's dialects, along with those of Picard,[146] are not used in public life and have been replaced by French.
Religion
National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg, Brussels
Roman Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion; being especially strong in Flanders. However, by 2009 Sunday church attendance was 5% for Belgium in total; 3% in Brussels,[149] and 5.4% in Flanders. Church attendance in 2009 in Belgium was roughly half of the Sunday church attendance in 1998 (11% for the total of Belgium in 1998).[150] Despite the drop in church attendance, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Belgium's culture.[148]
According to the Eurobarometer 2010,[151] 37% of Belgian citizens responded that they believe there is a God. 31% answered that they believe there is some sort of spirit or life-force. 27% answered that they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life-force. 5% did not respond. According to the Eurobarometer 2015, 60.7% of the total population of Belgium adhered to Christianity, with Roman Catholicism being the largest denomination with 52.9%. Protestants comprised 2.1% and Orthodox Christians were the 1.6% of the total. Non religious people comprised the 32.0% of the population and were divided between atheists (14.9%) and agnostics (17.1%). A further 5.2% of the population was Muslim and 2.1% were believers in other religions.[1] The same survey held in 2012 found that Christianity was the largest religion in Belgium accounting 65% of Belgians.[152]
Symbolically and materially, the Roman Catholic Church remains in a favourable position.[148] Belgium officially recognises three religions: Christianity (Catholic, Protestantism, Orthodox churches and Anglicanism), Islam and Judaism.[153]
Interior of the Great Synagogue of Brussels
The Great Mosque of Brussels is the seat of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium
No comments:
Post a Comment