Difference between revisions of "Belgium" - New World Encyclopedia

	(Dutch) Koninkrijk België; (French) Royaume de Belgique; (German) Königreich Belgien; Kingdom of Belgium
	Coat of arms of Belgium
Flag	Coat of arms
	Motto: Eendracht maakt macht (Dutch); L'union fait la force" (French); Einigkeit macht stark (German); "Strength through Unity"
	Anthem: The "Brabançonne"
	Location of Belgium (dark green); – on the European continent (light green dark grey); – in the European Union (light green)
Capital	Brussels ; 50°54′N 4°32′E
Official languages	Dutch, French, German
Government	Federal constitutional monarchy and bicameral parliamentary democracy
- King	Albert II
- Prime Minister	Guy Verhofstadt
Independence
- Declared	4 October 1830
- Recognized	19 April 1839
Accession to EU	25 March 1957
Area
- Total	30,528 km² (139th); 11,787 sq mi
- Water (%)	6.4
Population
- 2007 estimate	10,584,534;
- 2001 census	10,296,350
- Density	344.32/km²; 892/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2004 estimate
- Total	$316.2 billion
- Per capita	$31,400
HDI (2004)	0.945 (high)
Currency	Euro (€)1 (EUR)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD	.be²
Calling code	+32

Revision as of 22:28, 21 November 2007

The Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe bordered by the Netherlands (450 km), Germany (167 km), Luxembourg (148 km), and France (620 km), with a short coastline on the North Sea. It is one of the founding members of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO.^[2] Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometers (11,787 square miles) and has a population of about 10.5 million.

Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium's two largest regions are Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north, with 58% of the population, and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia, inhabited by 32%. The Brussels-Capital Region is an officially bilingual enclave within the Flemish and near the Walloon Region, and has 10% of the population.^[3] A small German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia.^[4] Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.^[5]^[6]^[7]

The name 'Belgium' is derived from Gallia Belgica, a Roman province in the northernmost part of Gaul that was inhabited by the Belgae, a mix of Celtic and Germanic peoples.^[8]^[9] Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, which used to cover a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states. From the end of the Middle Ages until the seventeenth century, it was a prosperous centre of commerce and culture. From the sixteenth century until the Belgian revolution in 1830, many battles between European powers were fought in the area of Belgium, causing it to be dubbed "the battlefield of Europe"^[10] and "the cockpit of Europe"^[11] – a reputation strengthened by both World Wars. Upon its independence, Belgium eagerly participated in the Industrial Revolution,^[12]^[13] generating wealth and also a demand for raw materials; the latter was a factor during the era of its African colonies.^[14]

History

The Seventeen Provinces (orange, brown and yellow areas) and the Bishopric of Liège (green)

The area of present-day Belgium has seen significant demographic, political and cultural upheavals over the course of two millenia. In the first century, the Romans, after defeating the local tribes, created the province of Gallia Belgica. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the fifth century, brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kingdom, which evolved into the Carolingian Empire in the eighth century. During the Middle Ages small feudal states emerged, many of which rejoined as the Burgundian Netherlands in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Emperor Charles V completed the union of the Seventeen Provinces in the 1540s, and unofficially also controlled the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.^[15]

The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) divided the area into the northern United Provinces ('federate' Belgica Foederata in Latin) and the Southern Netherlands ('royal' Belgica Regia). The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and comprised most of modern Belgium. Until independence the area was sought after by numerous French conquerors and was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.^[16] 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 Spanish-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.

The 1830 Belgian Revolution led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic, and neutral Belgium under a provisional government and a national congress. Since the installation of Leopold I as king in 1831, Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Initially an oligarchy ruled mainly by the Catholic Party and the Liberals, the country had evolved towards universal suffrage by World War II with the rise of the Labour Party and trade unions playing a strong role. French, once the single official language and adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie, had by then lost its overall importance as Dutch had become recognized as well. However, it was not until 1967 that an official Dutch version of the Constitution was accepted.^[17]

Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830 (1834)
by Egide Charles Gustave Wappers,
in the Ancient Art Museum, Brussels.

The Berlin Conference of 1885 gave the Congo Free State to King Leopold II as his private possession. In 1908, it was ceded to Belgium as a colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo. Belgian control of the Congolese population, particularly under Leopold II, was savage, and the country was plundered of resources such as ivory and rubber.^[18]

Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, as part of the Schlieffen Plan, and much of the Western Front fighting of World War I occurred in western parts of the country. Belgium took over the German colonies of Ruanda-Urundi (modern day Rwanda and Burundi) during the war, and they were mandated to Belgium in 1924 by the League of Nations, of which it was a founding member. The Treaty of Versailles had subjected several German border towns, most notably Eupen and Malmedy, to a plebiscite, which led to their annexation by Belgium in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a small German community. Belgium was again invaded by Germany in 1940 during the Blitzkrieg offensive, and occupied until its liberation by Allied troops in the winter of 1944–45. The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the Congo Crisis; Ruanda-Urundi followed two years later.

After World War II, Belgium joined NATO, headquartered at Brussels, and formed the Benelux group of nations with the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Belgium became one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, and of the 1957 established European Atomic Energy Community and European Economic Community. The latter is now 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.

Government and politics

Further information: List of Belgian monarchs, List of Belgian Prime Ministers, Foreign relations of Belgium

Belgium is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a parliamentary democracy.

In the nineteenth century, the Francophile political and economic elite treated the Dutch-speaking population as second class citizens.^{[citation needed]} At the end of the nineteenth century, and during much of the twentieth century, the Flemish movement evolved to counter this situation. A very sensitive issue is that fractions of this movement, as well as the Wallonian Rex-movement and the financial and economical leaders of the country, were not unsympathetic to the German occupation during World War II.^{[citation needed]} Following World War II, Belgian politics became increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main language communities. Intercommunal tensions rose and even the unity of the Belgian state became scrutinized.^[5] Through constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s, regionalisation of the unitary state led to a three-tiered federation: federal, regional, and community governments were created, a compromise designed to minimize linguistic, cultural, social and economic tensions.[3]

Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of mainly Liberal - Social Democrat governments for two full terms

The federal bicameral parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. The former is made up of 40 directly elected politicians and 21 representatives appointed by the 3 community parliaments, 10 coopted senators and as senators by Right who in practice do not cast their vote, currently Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent, children of the King. The Chamber's 150 representatives are elected under a proportional voting system from 11 electoral districts. Belgium is one of the few countries that has compulsory voting, and thus holds one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world.^[19]

The King (currently Albert II) 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 numbers of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers are equal as prescribed by the Constitution.^[20] 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.

Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power is organized around the need to represent the main cultural communities. Since around 1970, the significant national Belgian political parties have split into distinct components that mainly represent the political and linguistic interests of these communities. The major parties in each community, though close to the political centre, belong to three main groups: the right-wing Liberals, the socially conservative Christian Democrats, and the Socialists forming the left-wing. Further notable parties came to be well after the middle of last century, mainly around linguistic, nationalist, or environmental themes, and recently smaller ones of some specific liberal nature.

A string of Christian Democrat coalition governments from 1958 was broken in 1999 after the first dioxin crisis, a major food contamination scandal which led to the establishment of the Belgian Food Agency.^[21]^[22] A 'rainbow coalition' emerged from six parties: the Flemish and the French-speaking Liberals, Social Democrats, Greens.^[23] Later, a 'purple coalition' of Liberals and Social Democrats formed after the Greens lost most of their seats in the 2003 election.^[24] 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^[25] and opposed the invasion of Iraq.^[26] Verhofstadt's coalition fared badly in the elections of 2007. Since then, as of November 2007, the country has been experiencing a long lasting political crisis. This crisis is such that many observers have speculated a possible partition of Belgium.

In its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Belgium (along with Finland and Sweden) 5th out of 169 countries.

Communities and regions

120px Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking)	120px French Community (French-speaking)	120px German-speaking Community
120px Flemish Region	120px Walloon Region	120px Brussels-Capital Region

Based on the four language areas defined in 1962-63, consecutive revisions of the country's constitution in 1970, 1980, 1988 and 1993 established a unique federal state with segregated political power into three levels:^[27]^[28]

The federal government, based in Brussels.
The three language communities:
- the Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking);
- the French (i.e., French-speaking) Community;
- the German-speaking Community.
The three regions:
- the Flemish Region, subdivided into five provinces;
- the Walloon Region, subdivided into five provinces;
- the Brussels-Capital Region.

The constitutional language areas determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the for specific matters empowered institutions:

	Public services rendered in the language of individuals expressing themselves…			the Communities			the Regions (and their provinces)			the Federal State
				Flemish ^[29]	French	German- speaking	Flemish ^[29]	Walloon	Brussels- Capital
	…in Dutch	…in French	…in German	Flemish ^[29]	French	German- speaking	Flemish ^[29]	Walloon	Brussels- Capital
Dutch language area	Template:Y	in 12 municipalities (limited to 'facilities')	-	Template:Y	-	-	Template:Y	-	-	Template:Y
French language area	in 4 municipalities (limited to 'facilities')	Template:Y	in 2 municipalities (limited to 'facilities')	-	Template:Y	-	-	Template:Y	-	Template:Y
Bilingual area Brussels-Capital	Template:Y	Template:Y	-	Template:Y	Template:Y	-	-	-	Template:Y	Template:Y
German language area	-	in all 9 municipalities (limited to 'facilities')	Template:Y	-	-	Template:Y	-	Template:Y	-	Template:Y
	By Law, inhabitants of 27^[30] municipalities can ask limited services to be rendered in a neighbour language, forming 'facilities' for them. 'Facilities' exist only in specific municipalities near the borders of the Flemish with the Walloon and with the Brussels-Capital Regions, and in Wallonia also in 2 municipalities bordering its German language area as well as for French-speakers throughout the latter area.

Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments, when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge both; thus in the Flemish Region a single institutional body of parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and specific municipal matters.^[29]

The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region (which came into existence nearly a decade after the other regions) is included in both the Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region.

Conflicts between the bodies are resolved by the Constitutional Court of Belgium. The structure is intended as a compromise to allow different cultures to live together peacefully.^[12]

Political authority

The Federal State retains a considerable "common heritage". This includes justice, defense, federal police, social security, nuclear energy, monetary policy and public debt, and other aspects of public finances. State-owned companies include the Post Office and Belgian Railways. The Federal Government is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs.^[31]

Communities exercise their authority only within linguistically determined geographical boundaries, originally oriented towards the individuals of a Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education, and the use of the relevant language. Extensions to personal matters less directly connected with language comprise health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc.).^[32]

Regions have authority in fields that can be broadly associated with their territory. These include economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit, and foreign trade. They supervise the provinces, municipalities, and intercommunal utility companies.^[33]

In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specifics. With education, for instance, the autonomy of the Communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor allows for setting minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters.^[31] Each level of government can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers.^[32]^[33]

Geography, climate, and environment

Belgium shares borders with France (620 km), Germany (167 km), Luxembourg (148 km) and the Netherlands (450 km). Its total area, including surface water area, is 33,990 square kilometres; land area alone is 30,528 km². Belgium has three main geographical regions: the coastal plain in the north-west and the central plateau both belong to the Anglo-Belgian Basin; the Ardennes uplands in the south-east are part of the Hercynian orogenic belt. The Paris Basin reaches a small fourth area at Belgium's southernmost tip, Belgian Lorraine.^[34]

High Fens (Hautes Fagnes)

The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Further inland lies a smooth, slowly rising landscape irrigated by numerous waterways, with fertile valleys and the northeastern sandy plain of the Campine (Kempen). The thickly forested hills and plateaus of the Ardennes are more rugged and rocky with caves and small gorges, and offer much of Belgium's wildlife but little agricultural capability. Extending westernly into France, this area is eastwardly connected to the Eifel in Germany by the High Fens plateau, on which the Signal de Botrange forms the country's highest point at 694 metres (2,277 ft).^[35]^[36]

The climate is maritime temperate, with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb). The average temperature is lowest in January at 3 °C (37 °F), and highest in July at eighteen °C (sixty four °F). The average precipitation per month varies between 54 millimetres (2.1 in) in February or April, to 78 millimetres (3.1 in) in July.^[37] Averages for the years 2000 to 2006 show daily temperature minimums of 7 °C (45 °F) and maximums of 14 °C (57 °F), and monthly rainfall of 74 millimetres (2.9 in); these are about 1 degree Celsius and nearly 10 millimetres above last century's normal values, respectively.^[38]

Because of its high population density, location in the centre of Western Europe, and inadequate political effort, Belgium faces serious environmental problems. A 2003 report suggested Belgian rivers to have the lowest water quality of the 122 countries studied.^[39]

Economy

Belgium's economy and its transportation infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helps make it one of the world's ten largest trading nations. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP, and high exports per capita.^[10] Belgium's main imports are food products, machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing and accessories, and textiles. Its main exports are automobiles, food and food products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and nonferrous metals. The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy, with Brussels as its main multilingual and multi-ethnic centre, and a Walloon economy that lags behind.^[12]^[40] 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. In 1999, Belgium adopted the euro, the single European currency, which fully replaced the Belgian franc in 2002. Since 1922, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market within a customs and currency union: the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union.

Steelmaking along the Meuse River at Ougrée, near Liège

Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 1800s.^[41] Liège and Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis and the region experienced famine from 1846–50.

After World War II, Ghent and Antwerp experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and 1979 oil crises sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced serious decline.^[42] In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous Flemish Diamond area.^[43]

By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. As of 2006, the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to 90.30% of GDP.^[44] In 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth rates of 1.5% and 3.0%, respectively, were slightly above the average for the euro area. Unemployment rates of 8.4% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2006 were close to the area average.^[45]

Demographics

At the start of 2004 nearly 92% of the Belgian population were national citizens, and around 6% were citizens from other European Union member countries. The prevalent foreign nationals were Italian (183,021), French (114,943), Dutch (100,700), Moroccan (81,763), Spanish (43,802), Turkish (41,336), and German (35,530).^[46]

Main areas and places in Belgium

Urbanization

Almost all of the Belgian population is urban - 97% in 2004.^[47] Statistics for 1991 indicate two out of three residents were owners of their dwelling in Flanders and Wallonia, compared to 40% in the Brussels-Capital Region.^[48] The population density of Belgium is 342 per square kilometre (886 per square mile) – one of the highest in Europe, after that of the Netherlands and some microstates such as Monaco. The most densely inhabited area is the Flemish Diamond, outlined by the Antwerp-Leuven-Brussels-Ghent agglomerations. The Ardennes have the lowest density. As of 2006, the Flemish Region had a population of about 6,078,600, with Antwerp (457,749), Ghent (230,951) and Bruges (117,251) its most populous cities; Wallonia had 3,413,978, with Charleroi (201,373), Liège (185,574) and Namur (107.178) its most populous. Brussels houses 1,018,804 in the Capital Region's 19 municipalities, two of which have over 100,000 residents.^[1]

Languages

Both the Dutch spoken in Belgium and the Belgian French have minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken in the Netherlands and France. Many Flemish people still speak dialects of Dutch in their local environment. Walloon, once the main regional language of Wallonia, is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. Its dialects, along with those of Picard,^[49] are not used in public life.

As no census exists, there are no official statistics on Belgium's three official languages or their dialects. Various criteria, including the language(s) of parents, of education, or the second-language status of foreign born, may affect suggested figures. An estimated 59%^[50] of the Belgian population speaks Dutch (often referred to as Flemish), and French is spoken by 40%. Total Dutch speakers are 6.23 million, concentrated in the northern Flanders region, while French speakers comprise 3.32 million in Wallonia and an estimated 0.87 million or 85% of the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.^[51]^[52] 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 of German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community.^[4]^[53]

Bilingual signs in Brussels.

The Capital Region having bilingual status obliges its authorities to attend to people and organisations in French or Dutch language as these prefer, and to show street names in both languages on the plates, but does not allow a bilingual school as education belongs to either the French Community or the Flemish one. Geographically, it is an enclave in the Flemish Region though near Wallonia. Constitutionally, it is a politically distinct Region, while within its boundaries both the Flemish and French Communities exercise their authority. Its local language until shortly before Belgium's independence used to be Dutch, now mainly spoken by approximately 0.15 million residents, or a 15% minority.^[3]^[6]^[7]^[51]^[52] Recent immigration, usually from a neither French nor Dutch-speaking country, has brought its population of foreign origin to 56%; thus the first language of roughly half of the inhabitants is not an official one of the Capital Region. Nevertheless, about three out of four residents have the Belgian nationality.^[54]^[55]^[56]^[57] In general the population of Brussels is younger and the gap between rich and poor is wider. Brussels also has a large concentration of Muslims, mostly of Turkish and Moroccan ancestry, and mainly French-speaking black Africans. However, Belgium does not collect statistics by ethnic background, so exact figures are unknown.

In 2006, the UCL, the country's largest French-speaking university, published a report with this introduction (here translated): "This issue of Regards économiques is devoted to the demand for knowledge of languages in Belgium and in its three regions (Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia). The surveys show that Flanders is clearly more multilingual, which is without doubt a wellknown fact, but the difference is considerable : whereas 59% and 53% of the Flemings know French or English respectively, only 19% and 17% of the Walloons know Dutch or English. The measures advocated by the Marshall Plan go towards the proper direction, but are without doubt very insufficient to fully overcome the lag." (This particular 2006–2009 'Marshall Plan' was deviced in 2004 and published in 2005 to uplift the Walloon economy.^[58]) Within the report, professors in economics Ginsburgh and Weber further show that of the Brussels' residents, 95% declared they can speak French, 59% Dutch, and 41% know the non-local English. Economically significant for a further globalizing future, among people under the age of forty, in Flanders 59%, in Wallonia 10%, and in Brussels 28% can speak all three forementioned languages. In each region, Belgium's third official language, German, is notably less known than those.^[59]^[60]^[54]

Education

Education is compulsory from six to eighteen for Belgians, but many continue to study until about 23 years of age. Among OECD countries in 2002, Belgium had the third-highest proportion of 18–21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education, at 42%.^[61] Though an estimated 98% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over functional illiteracy.^[49]^[62]

Highly politicized conflicts between freethought and Catholic segments of the population during the 1950s caused a split in educational organization. A secular branch of schooling is controlled by the Community, the province, or the municipality, while religious, mainly Catholic branch education, is organized by religious authorities, although subsidized and supervised by the Community.^[63]

Religion

Since independence, Catholicism, counterbalanced by strong freethought movements, has had an important role in Belgium's politics.^[64] However Belgium is largely a secular country as the laicist constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. Nevertheless, the monarchy has a reputation of deeply-rooted Catholicism. In 1990, for instance, as King constitutionally obliged to sign a law legalizing abortion after it had been passed by both chambers, Baudouin asked the then Christian-Democrat Prime Minister Wilfried Martens to find a way out, causing the Parliament to declare him 'temporarily unfit to reign', with his consent.^[65] On the yearly national holiday, the King and Queen and other members of the royal family officially attend Te Deum celebrations.^[66]

Symbolically and materially, the Roman Catholic Church remains in a favourable position. Belgium's concept of 'recognized religions'^[67] caused a tedious path for Islam to acquire the treatment of Jewish and Protestant religions. While other minority religions, such as Hinduism, do not yet have such status, Buddhism set the first step on this path in 2007.^[63]^[68]^[69] According to the 2001 Survey and Study of Religion,^[70] about 47% of the population identify themselves as belonging to the Catholic Church, while Islam is the second-largest religion at 4%. A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered more religious than Wallonia, showed 55% to call themselves religious, and that 36% believe that God created the world.^[71]

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,^[72] 43% of Belgian citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 29% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 27% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".

Science and technology

Gerardus Mercator

Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country's history. The sixteenth century Early Modern flourishing of Western Europe included cartographer Gerardus Mercator, anatomist Andreas Vesalius, herbalist Rembert Dodoens, and mathematician Simon Stevin among the most influential scientists. In the first half of the seventeenth century, the Walloon method of making bar iron found its way to Sweden where it remained in use for more than two hundred and sixty years.

The quickly developed and dense Belgian railroad system caused major companies like Brugeoise et Nivelles (now the BN division of Bombardier) to develop specific technologies, and the economically important very deep coal mining in the course of the First Industrial Revolution has required highly reputed specialized studies for mine engineers.

The end of the nineteenth century and the twentieth saw important Belgian advances in applied and pure science. The chemist Ernest Solvay and the engineer Zenobe Gramme gave their names to the Solvay process and the Gramme dynamo, respectively, in the 1860s. Georges Lemaître is credited with proposing the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927. Three Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine were awarded to Belgians: Jules Bordet in 1919, Corneille Heymans in 1938, and Albert Claude and Christian De Duve in 1974. Ilya Prigogine was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977.^[73]

Culture

Belgian cultural life is concentrated within each language community,^[12]^[74]^[75] and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced. There are no bilingual universities except the Royal Military Academy, no common media, and no single large cultural or scientific organization in which both main communities are represented. Despite its divisions the region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence on European art and culture.

Fine arts

The Tower of Babel (oil on board, c. 1563)
by Pieter Brueghel the Elder,
in Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Contributions to painting and architecture have been especially rich. The Mosan art, the Early Netherlandish,^[76] the Flemish Renaissance and Baroque painting,^[77] and major examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture^[78] are milestones in the history of art. Famous names in this classic tradition include the Flemish artists Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden and, Pieter Brueghel the Elder as well as Lambert Lombard and Theodore de Bry from Liège. The historical artistic production of the Flemish before the early seventeenth century Baroque style of Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck is often not distinguished from that of the Dutch. In the southern Netherlands it gradually declined thereafter, although high quality tapestry continued to be created until well into the eighteenth century.^[79]^[80]

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries many original romantic, expressionist and surrealist Belgian painters emerged, including Egide Wappers, James Ensor, Constant Permeke and René Magritte. The avant-garde CoBrA movement appeared in the 1950s, while the sculptor Panamarenko remains a remarkable figure in contemporary art.^[81]^[82] The multidisciplinary artist Jan Fabre and the painter Luc Tuymans are other internationally renowned figures on the contemporary art scene. Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the work of Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde, who were major initiators of the Art Nouveau style.^[83]^[84]

The vocal music of the Franco-Flemish School developed in the southern part of the Low Countries and was an important contribution to Renaissance culture.^[85] The nineteenth and twentieth-centuries witnessed the appearance of major violinists, such as Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux, while Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in 1846. Belgium has also produced music of contemporary note. The first Belgian singer to successfully pursue an international career is Bobbejaan Schoepen, pioneer of varieté and pop music.^[86] Jazz musician Toots Thielemans has achieved global fame, as have the singers Jacques Brel and Italy-born Adamo.^[87] In rock/pop music, Telex, Front 242, K's Choice, Hooverphonic, Soulwax and dEUS are well known.^[88]

Belgium has produced several well-known authors, including the poet Emile Verhaeren and novelists Hendrik Conscience, Georges Simenon, Suzanne Lilar and Amélie Nothomb. The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1911. The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé is the best known of Franco-Belgian comics, but many other major authors, including Peyo (the smurfs), André Franquin, Edgar P. Jacobs, Marc Sleen, and Willy Vandersteen brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry on a par with the U.S.A. and Japan.

Belgian cinema, often influenced by the Dutch or French, has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life on-screen.^[89] The absence of a major Belgian cinema company, however, has forced several talented directors to emigrate, such as Carl Colpaert or participate in low-budget productions such as Marc Didden's Brussels by Night (1983).^[90] Other Belgian directors include André Delvaux, Stijn Coninx, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; well-known actors include Jan Decleir and Marie Gillain; and successful films include Man Bites Dog and The Alzheimer Affair.^[91] In the 1980s, Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts produced important fashion trendsetters, known as the Antwerp Six.^[92]

Folklore

File:Binche MCL01.jpg

The Gilles of Binche, in costume, wearing wax masks

Folklore plays a major role in Belgium's cultural life: the country has a comparatively high number of processions, cavalcades, 'ommegangs' and 'ducasses',^[93] 'kermesse', and other local festivals, nearly always with an originally religious background. The Carnival of Binche with its famous Gilles, and the 'Processional Giants and Dragons' of Ath, Brussels, Dendermonde, Mechelen and Mons are recognized by UNESCO as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.^[94] Other examples are the Carnival of Aalst; the still very religious processions of the Holy Blood in Bruges, Virga Jesse in Hasselt, and Hanswijk in Mechelen; the August 15 festival in Liège; and the Walloon festival in Namur. Originated in 1832 and revived in the 1960s, the Gentse Feesten have become a modern tradition. A major non-official holiday is the Saint Nicholas Day, a festivity for children and, in Liège, for students.^[95]

Sports

Football and cycling are especially popular amongst Belgians. Eddy Merckx is considered one of the greatest cyclists ever,^[96] given five victories of the Tour de France and numerous other bicycle races records; his hour speed record set in 1972 stood for twelve years. Belgium has produced two female tennis champions who repeatedly ranked number one of the world, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.

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, and twice finished as runner-up in the Formula One World Championship. Thierry Boutsen also won three races in 1989 and 1990. Belgium also has a strong reputation in motocross; world champions include Roger De Coster, Joël Robert, Georges Jobé, Eric Geboers, Joël Smets and Stefan Everts.

Belgium has played a major part in the promotion and development of Duathlon. More specifically Benny Vansteelant has made a lasting legacy concquering a stunning 8 World Champion titles and 5 European Champion titles.

Cuisine

Belgium is well known for its cuisine.^[97]^[98] Many highly ranked restaurants can be found in the high-impact gastronomic guides, such as the Michelin Guide.^[99] Brands of Belgian chocolate, like Neuhaus, Guylian and Godiva, are world renowned and widely sold. This reputation of very high quality extends to sweets like the 'Caramella Mokatine', created by Confiserie Roodthooft in Antwerp in 1934.^[100]

Belgium produces over 500 varieties of beer. The biggest brewery in the world by volume is Inbev based in Belgium.^[101] Belgians have a reputation for loving waffles and French fried potatoes, both originated in their country. The national dishes are steak-fries and lettuce, and mussels-fries.^[102]^[103]^[104] A challenge for a television program caused no less than 307 different Flemish local or regional dishes to be presented on a 118-metre long table in Tivoli Park in Mechelen on 1 September 2007.^[105]

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Footnotes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Structuur van de bevolking — België / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest / Vlaams Gewest / Waals Gewest / De 25 bevolkingsrijkste gemeenten (2000–2006) (in Dutch) (asp). Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium (© 1998/2007). Retrieved 2007-05-23.
↑ Footnote: Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many international organizations, including ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-10, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC (observers), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNECE, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WADB (non-regional), WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Leclerc, Jacques , membre associé du TLFQ (2007-01-18). Belgique • België • Belgien — Région de Bruxelles-Capitale • Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (in French). L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
* About Belgium. Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) / Embassy of Belgium in the Republic of Korea. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
* Flanders (administrative region). Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia. Microsoft (2007). Retrieved 2007-06-21.
* McMillan, Eric (October 1999). The FIT Invasions of Mons (pdf). Capital translator, Newsletter of the NCATA, Vol. 21, No. 7, p. 1. National Capital Area Chapter of the American Translators Association (NCATA). Retrieved 2007-06-21.
* Van de Walle, Steven, lecturer at University of Birmingham Institute of Local Government Studies, School of Public Policy. Language Facilities in the Brussels Periphery (pdf). KULeuven - Leuvens Universitair Dienstencentrum voor Informatica en Telematica. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 The German-speaking Community. The German-speaking Community. Retrieved 2007-05-05. The (original) version in German language (already) mentions 73,000 instead of 71,500 inhabitants.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Morris, Chris (2005-05-13). Language dispute divides Belgium. BBC News. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 De Ridder, Paul, Doctor in Medieval History, Royal Library of Belgium. Linguistic Usages in Brussels before 1794. Vereniging voor Brusselse Geschiedenis (Society for History of Brussels). Retrieved 2007-05-01.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Petermann, Simon, Professor at the University of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium — at colloquium IX^e Sommet de la francophonie — Intitiatives 2001 — Ethique et nouvelles technologies, session 6 Cultures et langues, la place des minorités, Bayreuth (2001-09-25). Langues majoritaires, langues minoritaires, dialectes et NTIC (in French). Retrieved 2007-05-04.
↑ Bunson, Matthew (1994). Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire, Hardcover 352pp, Facts on File, New York, p. 169. ISBN 0 8160 2135 X [Paperback 512pp, ISBN 0-8160-3182-7; Revised edition (2002), Hardcover 636pp, ISBN 0-8160-4562-3].
↑ Footnote: The Celtic and/or Germanic influences on and origin(s) of the Belgae remains disputed. Further reading e.g. Witt, Constanze Maria (May 1997). Ethnic and Cultural Identity. Barbarians on the Greek Periphery? — Origins of Celtic Art. Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 Belgian economy. Belgium. Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
↑ Haß, Torsten, Head of the Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) of Kehl Library, Kehl, Germany (2003-02-17). Rezention zu (Review of) Cook, Bernard: Belgium. A History ISBN 0-8204-5824-4 (in German). FH-Zeitung (journal of the Fachhochschule). Retrieved 2007-05-24. – The book reviewer, Haß, attributes the expression in English to James Howell in 1640. Howell's original phrase "the cockpit of Christendom" became modified afterwards, as shown by:
Carmont, John. The Hydra No.1 New Series (November 1917) — Arras And Captain Satan. War Poets Collection. Napier University’s Business School. Retrieved 2007-05-24. – and as such coined for Belgium:
Wood, James (1907). Nuttall Encyclopaedia of General Knowledge — Cockpit of Europe. Retrieved 2007-05-24. (See also The Nuttall Encyclopaedia)
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 ^12.2 ^12.3 Fitzmaurice, John, at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission, teached at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (1996). New Order? International models of peace and reconciliation – Diversity and civil society. Democratic Dialogue Northern Ireland's first think tank, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
↑ Belgium country profile. EUbusiness, Richmond, UK (2006-08-27). Retrieved 2007-08-12.
↑ Karl, Farah (text); Stoneking, James (course) (1999). Chapter 27. The Age of Imperialism (Section 2. The Partition of Africa) (pdf). World History II. Appomatox Regional Governor's School (History Department), Petersburg, VA, USA. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
↑ Edmundson, George (1922). Chapter II: Habsburg Rule in the Netherlands. History of Holland. The University Press, Cambridge. Republished: Authorama. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
↑ Footnote: Further reading: France in the 17th and 18th centuries
↑ Kris Deschouwer (January 2004). Ethnic structure, inequality and governance of the public sector in Belgium (pdf). United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). Retrieved 2007-05-22.
↑ Meredith, Mark (2005-06-06). The State of Africa, Hardcover 608pp, Free Press, pp. 95–96(?). ISBN 0-7432-3221-6.
↑ Franklin, Mark N., Trinity College, Connecticut (2001). The Dynamics of Electoral Participation — Table 10.1 Average turnout in free elections to the lower house in 40 countries, 1961-1999 (pdf) pp. p. 32. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
↑ Belgium — Constitution — Title III Powers, Chapter II The Senate, Article 72 [King's Descendants] ; and Title III, Chapter III King and Federal Government, Section I The King ; and Section II The Federal Government, Article 99 [Composition of Government]. International Constitutional Law. Institut für öffentliches Recht, University of Berne, Switzerland (1994-02-17). Retrieved 2007-05-20. Or both:
* Title III On Power, Chapter II On the Senate, Art. 72. The Constitution of Belgium. The Federal Parliament of Belgium (1997-01-21). Retrieved 2007-05-20. And
* Title III On Power, Chapter III On the King and the Federal Government, Section I On the King ; and Section II On the Federal Government, Art. 99. The Constitution of Belgium. The Federal Parliament of Belgium (1997-01-21). Retrieved 2007-05-20.
↑ Tyler, Richard (1999-06-08). Dioxin contamination scandal hits Belgium: Effects spread through European Union and beyond. World Socialist Web Site (WSWS). International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). Retrieved 2007-05-25. – Follow-up on occasion of 2nd dioxin crisis: α
↑ School of Food Biosciences, University of Reading, UK (1999-06-16). Food Law News - EU : CONTAMINANTS - Commission Press Release (IP/99/399) Preliminary results of EU-inspection to Belgium. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
↑ "Belgium's "rainbow" coalition sworn in", BBC News, 1999-07-12. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
↑ La Chambre des représentants — Composition (Composition of the Chamber of Representatives) (in French) (pdf). The Chamber of Representatives of Belgium (2006-03-09). Retrieved 2007-05-25.
↑ Rwanda. tiscali.reference. Tiscali UK. Retrieved 2007-05-27. The article shows an example of Belgium's recent African policies.
↑ "Belgian demand halts NATO progress", CNN News, 2003-02-16. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
↑ Willemyns, Roland, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Germanic Languages (2002). The Dutch-French Language Border in Belgium. Journal of Multilingual and Multicutural Development Vol. 23 (Nos. 1&2): pp. 36–49.
↑ Footnote: Each municipality of the Kingdom is part of one of the four language areas (taalgebieden in Dutch, Sprachgebiete in German), occasionally called linguistic regions (régions linguistiques in French). See the three legal versions of the Constitution:
* Titel I: Het federale België, zijn samenstelling en zijn grondgebied (in Dutch). De Belgische Grondwet. Belgian Senate (2007-05-15 last update of web page). Retrieved 2007-05-31.
* Titel I: Das föderale Belgien, seine Zusammensetzung und sein Staatsgebiet (in German). Die Verfassung Belgiens. Belgian Senate (2007-05-15 last update of web page). Retrieved 2007-05-31.
* Titre Ier: De la Belgique fédérale, de ses composantes et de son territoire (in French). La Constitution Belge. Belgian Senate (2007-05-15 last update of web page). Retrieved 2007-05-31.
English translation, not recently updated and without legal value:
* Title I: On Federal Belgium, its components and its territory. the Constitution. Belgian Senate (1997-01-21 last update of main 'the Constitution' page on web site). Retrieved 2007-05-31.
↑ ^29.0 ^29.1 ^29.2 Footnote: The Constitution set out seven institutions each of which can have a parliament, government and administration. In fact there are only six such bodies because the Flemish Region merged into the Flemish Community. This single Flemish body thus exercises powers about Community matters in the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital and in the Dutch language area, and about Regional matters only in the latter.
↑ Footnote: Apart from the municipalities with language facilities for individuals, the French language area has three more municipalities in which the second language in education legally has to be either Dutch or German, whereas in its municipalities without special status this would also allow for English. Lebrun, Sophie (2003-01-07). Langues à l'école: imposées ou au choix, un peu ou beaucoup (in French). La Libre Belgique's web site. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
↑ ^31.0 ^31.1 The Federal Government's Powers. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
↑ ^32.0 ^32.1 The Communities. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
↑ ^33.0 ^33.1 The Regions. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
↑ Belgium — The land — Relief. Encyclopædia Britannica online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, IL, USA (© 2007). Retrieved 2007-07-03.
↑ Geography of Belgium. 123independenceday.com. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
↑ Life – Nature (pdf 3.8 MB). Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (2005). Retrieved 2007-08-10.
↑ Climate averages — Brussels. EuroWEATHER/EuroMETEO, Nautica Editrice Srl, Rome, Italy. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
↑ Kerncijfers 2006 — Statistisch overzicht van België (in Dutch) (pdf 1.8 MB) pp. pp. 9–10. Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
↑ Pearce, Fred (2003-03-05). Sewage-laden Belgian water worst in world. New Scientist. Retrieved 2006-05-09.
↑ Wallonia in 'decline' thanks to politicians. Expatica Communications BV (2005-03-9). Retrieved 2007-06-16.
↑ Industrial History Belgium. European Route of Industrial Heritage. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
↑ Background Note: Belgium. US Department of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (April 2007). Retrieved 2007-05-08.
↑ Vanhaverbeke, Wim. Het belang van de Vlaamse Ruit vanuit economisch perspectief The importance of the Flemish Diamond from an economical perspective (in Dutch). Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research, University of Maastricht (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration), The Netherlands. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
↑ The World Factbook — (Rank Order — Public debt). CIA (2007-04-17). Retrieved 2007-05-08.
↑ Key figures. National Bank of Belgium. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
↑ Perrin, Nicolas, UCLouvain, Study Group of Applied Demographics (Gédap) (April 2006). European Migration Network — Annual Statistical Report on migration and asylum in Belgium (Reference year 2003) — section A. 1) b) Population by citizenship & c) Third country nationals, 1 January 2004 (pdf) pp. pages 5–9. Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Interior — Immigration Office. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
↑ 5. Demographic trends — Urban population (% of total). Human Development Indicators 2006 — Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2006). Retrieved 2007-06-06.
↑ Quelques résultats des précédents recensements — Indicateurs de logement (1991) (in French switchable to Dutch). Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium (© 1998/2007). Retrieved 2007-05-08.
↑ ^49.0 ^49.1 Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005). Languages of Belgium. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th edition. SIL International Dallas, Texas, USA. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
↑ Footnote: Native speakers of Dutch living in Wallonia and of French in Flanders are relatively small minorities which furthermore largely balance one another, hence counting all inhabitants of each unilingual area to the area's language can cause only insignificant inaccuracies (99% can speak the language). Dutch: Flanders' 6.079 million inhabitants and about 15% of Brussels' 1.019 million are 6.23 million or 59.3% of the 10.511 million inhabitants of Belgium (2006); German: 70,400 in the German-speaking Community (which has language facilities for its less than 5% French-speakers), and an estimated 20,000–25,000 speakers of German in the Walloon Region outside the geographical boundaries of their official Community, or 0.9%; French: in the latter area as well as mainly in the rest of Wallonia (3.414 - 0.093 = 3.321 million) and 85% of the Brussels inhabitants (0.866 million) thus 4.187 million or 39.8%; together indeed 100%;
↑ ^51.0 ^51.1 Flemish Academic Eric Corijn (initiator of Charta 91), at a colloquium regarding Brussels, on 2001-12-05, states that in Brussels there is 91% of the population speaking French at home, either alone or with another language, and there is about 20% speaking Dutch at home, either alone (9%) or with French (11%) – After ponderation, the repartition can be estimated at between 85 and 90% French-speaking, and the remaining are Dutch-speaking, corresponding to the estimations based on languages chosen in Brussels by citizens for their official documents (ID, driving licenses, weddings, birth, death, and so on); all these statistics on language are also available at Belgian Department of Justice (for weddings, birth, death), Department of Transport (for Driving licenses), Department of Interior (for IDs), because there are no means to know precisely the proportions since Belgium has abolished 'official' linguistic censuses, thus official documents on language choices can only be estimations. For a web source on this topic, see e.g. General online sources: Janssens, Rudi
↑ ^52.0 ^52.1 Belgium Market background. British Council. Retrieved 2007-05-05. – Strictly, the capital is the municipality (City of) Brussels, though the Brussels-Capital Region might be intended because of its name and also its other municipalities housing institutions typical for a capital.
↑ Citizens from other countries in the German-speaking Community. The German-speaking Commmunity. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
* German (Belgium) — Overview of the language. Mercator, Minority Language Media in the European Union, supported by the European Commission and the University of Wales. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
* Leclerc, Jacques , membre associé du TLFQ (2006-04-19). Belgique • België • Belgien — La Communauté germanophone de Belgique (in French). L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
↑ ^54.0 ^54.1 Van Parijs, Philippe, Professor of economic and social ethics at the UCLouvain, Visiting Professor at Harvard University and the KULeuven. Belgium's new linguistic challenges. KVS Express (supplement to newspaper De Morgen) March–April 2007: Article from original source (pdf 4.9 MB) pages 34–36 republished by the Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium. – The linguistic situation in Belgium (and in particular various estimations of the population speaking French and Dutch in Brussels) is discussed in detail.
↑ Van autochtoon naar allochtoon. De Standaard (newspaper) online.
↑ Footnote: The Brussels region's 56% residents of foreign origin include several percents of either Dutch people or native speakers of French, thus roughly half of the inhabitants do not speak either French or Dutch as primary language.
↑ Population et ménages (in French) (pdf 1.4 MB). IBSA Cellule statistique — Min. Région Bruxelles-Capitale (Statistical cell — Ministry of the Brussels-Capital Region). Retrieved 2007-05-05.
↑ Bayenet, Benoît, Professor at the ULB, in 2004 Economical Advisor to the federal Vice Prime Minister & Justice Minister, and to the Walloon Region's Minister of Economy and Employment; Vandendorpe, Luc, Direction Politique économique, Ministry of the Walloon Region (2004). Le plan Marshall: cinq actions prioritaires pour l’avenir wallon (The Marshall plan: five prioritary actions for the Walloon future). OVER.WERK journal of Steunpunt WAV (4/2005).
↑ Ginsburgh, Victor, Université Catholique de Louvain; Weber, Shlomo, Professor Economy and Director of the Center for Economic Studies of the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA, and having a seat in the expert panel of the IMF [1] (June 2006). La dynamique des langues en Belgique. Regards économiques, Publication préparée par les économistes de l'Université Catholique de Louvain (Numéro 42). (Summary: Slechts 19 procent van de Walen spreekt Nederlands (in Dutch). Nederlandse Taalunie (2006-06-12). Retrieved 2007-05-26. – The article shows the interest in the Ginsburg-Weber report, by the French-language Belgian newspaper Le Soir and the Algemeen Dagblad in the Netherlands)
↑ Schoors, Koen, Professor of Economics at Ghent University, the KULeuven and the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School [2]. Réformer sans tabous - Question 1: les langues — La connaissance des langues en Belgique: Reactie (in Dutch) (pdf). Itinera Institute. Retrieved 2007-06-14. – Reaction on the Ginsburgh-Weber report; Ib. Reactions (in French translation) (pdf).
↑ Table 388. Percentage of population enrolled in secondary and postsecondary institutions, by age group and country. Digest of Education Statistics — Tables and Figures. National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), US Department of Education (2005, data: 2002). Retrieved 2007-06-06.
↑ I. Monitoring Human Development: Enlarging peoples's choices... — 5. Human poverty in OECD, Eastern Europe and the CIS (pdf). Human Development Indicators pp. pp. 172–173. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2000). Retrieved 2007-06-06.
↑ ^63.0 ^63.1 De Ley, Herman (2000). Humanists and Muslims in Belgian Secular Society (Draft version). Centrum voor Islam in Europe (Centre for Islam in Europe), Ghent University. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
↑ See for example Belgium entry of the Catholic Encyclopedia
↑ "HEADLINERS; Out of Power", New York Times, 1990-04-08. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
↑ Members of the royal family may attend Te Deums at several locations, the King and Queen always in the Brussels-Capital Region.
* July 21 – national holiday. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government (2004-07-20). Retrieved 2007-07-07.
* Festivities for the National Holiday. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government (2006-07-14). Retrieved 2007-07-07.
↑ 2001 Annual Report on Human Rights in Belgium.
↑ Bousetta, Hassan; Gsir, Sonia; Jacobs, Dirk (2005). Active Civic Participation of Immigrants in Belgium — Country Report prepared for the European research project POLITIS, Oldenburg (pdf). Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg IBKM. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
↑ "België gaat plat op zijn buik voor China (Belgium bends over backwards for China)", Metro (Belgian newspaper), 2007-05-10, pp. page 2. Retrieved 2007-05-10. (written in Dutch) Alternative urls:α, β, pdf 1.1 MB:γ
↑ Belgium. International Religious Freedom Report 2004. US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2004). Retrieved 2007-05-28.
↑ Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organisation for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine 22 November2006 p. 14 [The Dutch language term 'gelovig' is in the text translated as 'religious', more precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of God in a monotheistic sense, and/or in some afterlife].
↑ Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
↑ Rembert Dodoens: iets over zijn leven en werk — Dodoens' werken (in Dutch). Plantaardigheden — Project Rembert Dodoens (Rembertus Dodonaeus). Stichting Kruidenhoeve/Plantaardigheden, Balkbrug, the Netherlands (Revised 20 Dec, 2005). Retrieved 2007-05-17.
* O'Connor, J. J.; Robertson, E. F. (2004). Simon Stevin. School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
* Abstract (*). S. Karger AG, Basel. Retrieved 2007-05-11. (*) Free abstract for pay-per-view article by De Broe, Marc E.; De Weerdt, Dirk L.; Ysebaert, Dirk K.; Vercauteren, Sven R.; De Greef, Kathleen E.; De Broe Luc C. (1999). The Low Countries - 16th/17th Century. American Journal of Nephrology 19 (2): pp. 282–9.
* Poh Miller, Carol (Winter 2003). Study Tour Takes A Close-up Look at Sweden’s Industrial Heritage. Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter 32 (1): p. 7. Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, U.S.A..
* Midbon, Mark, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000-03-24). 'A Day Without Yesterday': Georges Lemaitre & the Big Bang pp. pp. 18–19. Commonweal, republished: Catholic Education Resource Center (CERC). Retrieved 2007-06-07.
↑ Belgium — Arts and cultural education. Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 8th edition. Council of Europe / ERICarts (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-08.
↑ Belgique (though it should have been 'Belgium'). European Culture Portal. European Commission (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-10.
↑ Low Countries, 1000–1400 C.E.. Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-10.
↑ Low Countries, 1400–1600 C.E.. Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-10.
↑ Several examples of major architectural realisations in Belgium belong to UNESCO's World Heritage List: Belgium. Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
↑ Low Countries, 1600–1800 C.E.. Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-10.
↑ Art History: Flemish School: (1600–1800) — Artists: (biography & artworks). World Wide Arts Resources (2006-02-05). Retrieved 2007-05-10. – A general presentation of the Flemish artistic movement with a list of its artists, linking to their biographies and artworks
↑ Belgian Artists: (biographies & artworks). World Wide Arts Resources (2006-02-05). Retrieved 2007-05-10. – List of Belgian painters, linking to their biographies and artworks
↑ Baudson, Michel (1996). Panamarenko. Flammarion (Paris), quoted at presentation of the XXIII Bienal Internacional de São Paulo. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
↑ Brussels, capital of Art Nouveau (page 1), ib. (page2). Senses Art Nouveau Shop, Brussels (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-11. (for example)
↑ Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels). UNESCO's World Heritage List. UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
↑ Western music, the Franco-Flemish school. Encyclopædia Britannica (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-15.
↑ Notte, Peter (1992). De Vlaamse kleinkunstbeweging na de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Een historisch overzicht. — 4. De schlager na de tweede wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Verhandeling voorgelegd aan de Faculteit der Letteren en Wijsbegeerte, groep Germaanse Filologie, van de Universiteit Gent, voor het verkrijgen van de graad van licentiaat (Thesis presented at the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy, Germanic Philology, Ghent University, for obtaining a licentiate [equivalent to master's] degree) Promotor: Prof. Dr Anne-Marie Musschoot. Sint-Lodewijkscholen (educational project ethesis). Retrieved 2007-05-12. (For these credentials see this thesis' presentation, retrieved on 2007-05-12)
↑ The Italian singer Adamo mainly made his career in Belgium, as confirmed by the biography on his site, retrieved on 2007-06-07.
↑ Two comprehensive discussions of rock and pop music in Belgium since the fifties:
* The Timeline — A brief history of Belgian Pop Music. The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives. Flanders Music Centre, Brussels (March 2007). Retrieved 2007-06-07.
* Belgian Culture — Rock. Vanberg & DeWulf Importing (© 2006). Retrieved 2007-05-11.
↑ Notable Belgian films based on works by Flemish authors include: De Witte (author Ernest Claes) movie by Jan Vanderheyden & Edith Kiel in 1934, remake as De Witte van Sichem directed by Robbe De Hert in 1980; De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen (Johan Daisne) André Delvaux 1965; Mira ('De teleurgang van de Waterhoek' by Stijn Streuvels) Fons Rademakers 1971; Malpertuis (aka The Legend of Doom House) (Jean Ray [pen name of Flemish author who mainly wrote in French, or as John Flanders in Dutch]) Harry Kümel 1971; De loteling (Hendrik Conscience) Roland Verhavert 1974; Dood van een non (Maria Rosseels) Paul Collet & Pierre Drouot 1975; Pallieter (Felix Timmermans) Roland Verhavert 1976; De komst van Joachim Stiller (Hubert Lampo) Harry Kümel 1976; De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (Hendrik Conscience) Hugo Claus (a famous author himself) 1985; Daens ('Pieter Daens' by Louis Paul Boon) Stijn Coninx 1992; see also Filmarchief les DVD!s de la cinémathèque (in Dutch). Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
↑ Kroniek van de Vlaamse film 1955–1990 — Perstekst naar aanleiding van de uitgave van ‘Brussels By Night’ (in Dutch) (doc). Flemish Community, Media Desk, Ghent. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
↑ A review of the Belgian cinema can be found at Cinema. .be Federal Portal. Federal government of Belgium (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-13.
↑ Fashion and the ‘Antwerp Six’. Fashion Worlds, Dorset, UK (© 2004). Retrieved 2007-05-13.
↑ Footnote: The Dutch word 'ommegang' is here used in the sense of an entirely or mainly non-religious procession, or the non-religious part thereof – see also its article on the Dutch-language Wikipedia; the Processional Giants of Brussels, Dendermonde and Mechelen mentioned in this paragraph are part of each city's 'ommegang'. The French word 'ducasse' refers also to a procession – see also its article on the French-language Wikipedia; the mentioned Processional Giants of Ath and Mons are part of each city's 'ducasse'.
↑ Processional Giants and Dragons in Belgium and France. UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
↑ Folklore estudiantin liégeois (in French). University of Liège. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
↑ Majendie, Matt (2005-04-18). Great, but there are greater (stm). BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
↑ Eating Out in Belgium. subsite www.hostelbelgium.com. Hostelworld.com, Dublin, Ireland (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-15.
↑ Belgium cuisine. About.com: French Cuisine. About, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-15.
↑ The Michelin stars 2007 in Belgium. Resto.be TM Dreaminvest (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-15.
↑ Confiserie Roodthooft. Confectionery, Biscuits in Belgium – Belgium Chocolate Directory. WTO Emarketplace. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
↑ InBev (2007-04-24). InBev dividend 2006: 0.72 euro per share — infobox: About InBev. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
↑ Steak-frites. Epicurious. Retrieved 2007-08-12. Republished from Van Waerebeek, Ruth; Robbins, Maria (October 1996). Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. Workman Publishing. ISBN 1-56305-411-6 (Paperback), ISBN 0-7611-0106-3 (Cloth).
↑ Belgium. Global Gourmet. Retrieved 2007-08-12. Republished from Van Waerebeek, Ruth; Robbins, Maria (October 1996). Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. Workman Publishing. ISBN 1-56305-411-6 (Paperback), ISBN 0-7611-0106-3 (Cloth).
↑ Mussels. Visit Belgium. Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas (2005). Retrieved 2007-08-12. — Note: Contrarily to what the text suggests, the season starts as early as July and lasts through April.
↑ Mechelen viert feest! - het verslag (Fata Morgana) (in Dutch). één, primary TV channel of the official Flemish radio & television broadcast institution VRT (2007-09-02). Retrieved 2007-09-02.. — [300 different ones were required to meet the challenge] see also challenge details, retrieved on 2007-09-02

General online sources

Belgium. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, IL, USA. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
Boordtabel (in Dutch). Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels (BRIO) (2007). Retrieved 2007-06-02. (mentioning other original sources)
CIA World Factbook entry on Belgium Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
The Constitution. Federal Parliament Belgium (1997-01-21). Retrieved 2007-06-07.
Country Portal - Europe — Belgium. Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
Fischer, Kathrin (1999-07-21). Die Stellung und Rolle der deutschsprachigen Minderheit in Ostbelgien innerhalb des belgischen Nationalstaats (in German). Kleiner Geländekurs in die EUREGIO Maas-Rhein. Geographical Institute of the Georg-August University (Department Culture and Social Geography), Göttingen, Germany. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
History of Belgium. World History at KMLA. Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (KMLA) (Last revised 2007-05-30). Retrieved 2007-06-02.
Janssens, Rudi, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (2001-06-01). Brusselse Thema's 8 — Taalgebruik in Brussel — Taalverhoudingen, taalverschuivingen en taalindentiteit in een meertalige stad (in Dutch, summary The Use of Languages in Brussels pp. 227–250 in English) (pdf) pp. 312 pp. VUBPress, Brussels ISBN 90 5487 293 4 – republished on web site of Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels (BRIO). Retrieved 2007-06-02.
Leclerc, Jacques, membre associé du TLFQ (© 2006). Belgique • België • Belgien (in French). L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
Mnookin, Robert, Professor at HLS; Verbeke, Alain (2006-12-20). Bye bye Belgium?. International Herald Tribune, republished by Harvard Law School. Retrieved 2007-06-01. – Reflections on nations and nation-state developments regarding Belgium

Bibliography

Arblaster, Paul (2005-12-23). A History of the Low Countries, Hardcover 312pp, Palgrave Essential Histories, Palgrave Macmillan, New York. ISBN 1-4039-4827-5 [Also edition (2005-12-23), Paperback 312pp, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, ISBN 1-4039-4828-3].
Blom, J. C. H., Dutch State Institute for War Documentation, ed.; Lamberts, Emiel, Professor in Modern History KULeuven, ed.; Kennedy, James C., translator (May 1999). History of the Low Countries, Hardcover 503pp, Berghahn Books, Oxford/New York. ISBN 1-5718-1084-6 [Also newer edition (2006-06-29), Paperback 516pp, Berghahn Books, New York, ISBN 1-8454-5272-0].
Cammaerts, Émile L. [1913] (1921). A History of Belgium from the Roman Invasion to the Present Day, 357pp, D. Appleton and Co, New York. OCLC 1525559 ASIN B00085PM0A [Also editions [1913], London, OCLC 29072911; (1921) D. Unwin and Co., New York OCLC 9625246; also published (1921) as Belgium from the Roman invasion to the present day, The Story of the nations, 67, T. Fisher Unwin, London, OCLC 2986704 ASIN B00086AX3A].
Cook, Bernard A., Professor of History at Loyola University New Orleans, LA, USA (c2002 or May 2004). Belgium: A History, Paperback 205pp, Studies in Modern European History, Vol. 50, Peter Lang Pub, New York. ISBN 0-8204-5824-4 Ib. e-book (2004) NetLibrary, Boulder, CO, USA, ISBN 0-8204-7283-2 [Also print edition (2004-06-30 or 2005), ISBN 0-8204-7647-1].
de Kavanagh Boulger, Demetrius C. [1902] (2001-06-28 or 2006-03-30). The History of Belgium: Part 1. Cæsar to Waterloo, Paperback 493pp, Elibron Classics, Adamant Media (Delaware corporation), Boston, MA, USA.. ISBN 1-4021-6714-8 [Facsimile reprint of a 1902 edition by the author, London]. – Ib. [1909] (2001-06-28 or 2006-03-30). Ib. Part 2. 1815-1865. Waterloo to the Death of Leopold I, Paperback 462pp, Ib., Ib. ISBN 1-4021-6713-X [Facsimile reprint of a 1909 edition by the author, London].
Fitzmaurice, John (March 1996). The Politics of Belgium: A Unique Federalism, Paperback 284pp, Nations of the modern world, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, USA. OCLC 30112536. ISBN 0-8133-2386-X.
Kossmann-Putto, Johanna A.; Kossmann Ernst H.; Deleu Jozef H. M., ed.; Fenoulhet Jane, translator [of: (1987). De Lage Landen : geschiedenis van de Noordelijke en Zuidelijke Nederlanden. Vlaams-Nederlandse Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem] [1987] (January 1993). The Low Countries: History of the Northern and Southern Netherlands, 3rd Rev. edition Paperback 64pp, Flemish-Netherlands Foundation "Stichting Ons Erfdeel", Rekkem, Belgium. ISBN 9-0708-3120-1 [several editions in English, incl. (1997) 7th ed.].

External links

See also: section References, subsection General online sources

Wikimedia Atlas of Belgium, holding maps related to Belgium.
Travel guide to Belgium from Wikitravel
Belgium, entry on the Catholic Encyclopedia 1913, republished on Wikisource
Official site of Belgian monarchy
Official site of the Belgian federal government
Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope,
- its links to sites of Belgian Tourist Offices in Belgium
- its links to sites of Belgian Tourist Offices worldwide
History of Belgium: Primary Documents EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History
Belgium, entry on the Public Diplomacy wiki monitored by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy
Expatica portal with background information and news on Belgium

Countries of Europe

Albania · Andorra · Armenia² · Austria · Azerbaijan¹ · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus² · Czech Republic · Denmark³ · Estonia · Finland · France³ · Georgia¹ · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan¹ · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Republic of Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands³ · Norway³ · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia¹ · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain³ · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey¹ · Ukraine · United Kingdom³ · Vatican City

¹ Has majority of its territory in Asia. ² Entirely in Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe. ³ Has dependencies or similar territories outside Europe.

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Belgium ^history

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History of "Belgium"

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[statbel1-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Structuur van de bevolking — België / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest / Vlaams Gewest / Waals Gewest / De 25 bevolkingsrijkste gemeenten (2000–2006) (in Dutch) (asp). Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium (© 1998/2007). Retrieved 2007-05-23.

[2] Footnote: Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many international organizations, including ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-10, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC (observers), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNECE, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WADB (non-regional), WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC.

[jacquesleclerc1-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Leclerc, Jacques , membre associé du TLFQ (2007-01-18). Belgique • België • Belgien — Région de Bruxelles-Capitale • Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (in French). L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
* About Belgium. Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) / Embassy of Belgium in the Republic of Korea. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
* Flanders (administrative region). Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia. Microsoft (2007). Retrieved 2007-06-21.
* McMillan, Eric (October 1999). The FIT Invasions of Mons (pdf). Capital translator, Newsletter of the NCATA, Vol. 21, No. 7, p. 1. National Capital Area Chapter of the American Translators Association (NCATA). Retrieved 2007-06-21.
* Van de Walle, Steven, lecturer at University of Birmingham Institute of Local Government Studies, School of Public Policy. Language Facilities in the Brussels Periphery (pdf). KULeuven - Leuvens Universitair Dienstencentrum voor Informatica en Telematica. Retrieved 2007-06-21.

[germanspeakingcommunity1-4] 4.0 ^4.1 The German-speaking Community. The German-speaking Community. Retrieved 2007-05-05. The (original) version in German language (already) mentions 73,000 instead of 71,500 inhabitants.

[bbcnews1-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Morris, Chris (2005-05-13). Language dispute divides Belgium. BBC News. Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[paulderidder-6] 6.0 ^6.1 De Ridder, Paul, Doctor in Medieval History, Royal Library of Belgium. Linguistic Usages in Brussels before 1794. Vereniging voor Brusselse Geschiedenis (Society for History of Brussels). Retrieved 2007-05-01.

[simonpetermann-7] 7.0 ^7.1 Petermann, Simon, Professor at the University of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium — at colloquium IX^e Sommet de la francophonie — Intitiatives 2001 — Ethique et nouvelles technologies, session 6 Cultures et langues, la place des minorités, Bayreuth (2001-09-25). Langues majoritaires, langues minoritaires, dialectes et NTIC (in French). Retrieved 2007-05-04.

[8] Bunson, Matthew (1994). Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire, Hardcover 352pp, Facts on File, New York, p. 169. ISBN 0 8160 2135 X [Paperback 512pp, ISBN 0-8160-3182-7; Revised edition (2002), Hardcover 636pp, ISBN 0-8160-4562-3].

[9] Footnote: The Celtic and/or Germanic influences on and origin(s) of the Belgae remains disputed. Further reading e.g. Witt, Constanze Maria (May 1997). Ethnic and Cultural Identity. Barbarians on the Greek Periphery? — Origins of Celtic Art. Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia. Retrieved 2007-06-06.

[diplomatbe1-10] 10.0 ^10.1 Belgian economy. Belgium. Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. Retrieved 2007-05-21.

[11] Haß, Torsten, Head of the Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) of Kehl Library, Kehl, Germany (2003-02-17). Rezention zu (Review of) Cook, Bernard: Belgium. A History ISBN 0-8204-5824-4 (in German). FH-Zeitung (journal of the Fachhochschule). Retrieved 2007-05-24. – The book reviewer, Haß, attributes the expression in English to James Howell in 1640. Howell's original phrase "the cockpit of Christendom" became modified afterwards, as shown by:
Carmont, John. The Hydra No.1 New Series (November 1917) — Arras And Captain Satan. War Poets Collection. Napier University’s Business School. Retrieved 2007-05-24. – and as such coined for Belgium:
Wood, James (1907). Nuttall Encyclopaedia of General Knowledge — Cockpit of Europe. Retrieved 2007-05-24. (See also The Nuttall Encyclopaedia)

[Fitzmaurice-12] 12.0 ^12.1 ^12.2 ^12.3 Fitzmaurice, John, at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission, teached at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (1996). New Order? International models of peace and reconciliation – Diversity and civil society. Democratic Dialogue Northern Ireland's first think tank, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Retrieved 2007-08-12.

[EUbusiness-13] Belgium country profile. EUbusiness, Richmond, UK (2006-08-27). Retrieved 2007-08-12.

[14] Karl, Farah (text); Stoneking, James (course) (1999). Chapter 27. The Age of Imperialism (Section 2. The Partition of Africa) (pdf). World History II. Appomatox Regional Governor's School (History Department), Petersburg, VA, USA. Retrieved 2007-08-16.

[15] Edmundson, George (1922). Chapter II: Habsburg Rule in the Netherlands. History of Holland. The University Press, Cambridge. Republished: Authorama. Retrieved 2007-06-09.

[16] Footnote: Further reading: France in the 17th and 18th centuries

[17] Kris Deschouwer (January 2004). Ethnic structure, inequality and governance of the public sector in Belgium (pdf). United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). Retrieved 2007-05-22.

[18] Meredith, Mark (2005-06-06). The State of Africa, Hardcover 608pp, Free Press, pp. 95–96(?). ISBN 0-7432-3221-6.

[19] Franklin, Mark N., Trinity College, Connecticut (2001). The Dynamics of Electoral Participation — Table 10.1 Average turnout in free elections to the lower house in 40 countries, 1961-1999 (pdf) pp. p. 32. Retrieved 2007-05-29.

[constitution1-20] Belgium — Constitution — Title III Powers, Chapter II The Senate, Article 72 [King's Descendants] ; and Title III, Chapter III King and Federal Government, Section I The King ; and Section II The Federal Government, Article 99 [Composition of Government]. International Constitutional Law. Institut für öffentliches Recht, University of Berne, Switzerland (1994-02-17). Retrieved 2007-05-20. Or both:
* Title III On Power, Chapter II On the Senate, Art. 72. The Constitution of Belgium. The Federal Parliament of Belgium (1997-01-21). Retrieved 2007-05-20. And
* Title III On Power, Chapter III On the King and the Federal Government, Section I On the King ; and Section II On the Federal Government, Art. 99. The Constitution of Belgium. The Federal Parliament of Belgium (1997-01-21). Retrieved 2007-05-20.

[21] Tyler, Richard (1999-06-08). Dioxin contamination scandal hits Belgium: Effects spread through European Union and beyond. World Socialist Web Site (WSWS). International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). Retrieved 2007-05-25. – Follow-up on occasion of 2nd dioxin crisis: α

[22] School of Food Biosciences, University of Reading, UK (1999-06-16). Food Law News - EU : CONTAMINANTS - Commission Press Release (IP/99/399) Preliminary results of EU-inspection to Belgium. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.

[23] "Belgium's "rainbow" coalition sworn in", BBC News, 1999-07-12. Retrieved 2007-05-20.

[24] La Chambre des représentants — Composition (Composition of the Chamber of Representatives) (in French) (pdf). The Chamber of Representatives of Belgium (2006-03-09). Retrieved 2007-05-25.

[25] Rwanda. tiscali.reference. Tiscali UK. Retrieved 2007-05-27. The article shows an example of Belgium's recent African policies.

[26] "Belgian demand halts NATO progress", CNN News, 2003-02-16. Retrieved 2007-06-16.

[rolandwillemyns-27] Willemyns, Roland, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Germanic Languages (2002). The Dutch-French Language Border in Belgium. Journal of Multilingual and Multicutural Development Vol. 23 (Nos. 1&2): pp. 36–49.

[28] Footnote: Each municipality of the Kingdom is part of one of the four language areas (taalgebieden in Dutch, Sprachgebiete in German), occasionally called linguistic regions (régions linguistiques in French). See the three legal versions of the Constitution:
* Titel I: Het federale België, zijn samenstelling en zijn grondgebied (in Dutch). De Belgische Grondwet. Belgian Senate (2007-05-15 last update of web page). Retrieved 2007-05-31.
* Titel I: Das föderale Belgien, seine Zusammensetzung und sein Staatsgebiet (in German). Die Verfassung Belgiens. Belgian Senate (2007-05-15 last update of web page). Retrieved 2007-05-31.
* Titre Ier: De la Belgique fédérale, de ses composantes et de son territoire (in French). La Constitution Belge. Belgian Senate (2007-05-15 last update of web page). Retrieved 2007-05-31.
English translation, not recently updated and without legal value:
* Title I: On Federal Belgium, its components and its territory. the Constitution. Belgian Senate (1997-01-21 last update of main 'the Constitution' page on web site). Retrieved 2007-05-31.

[OneFlemishBody-29] 29.0 ^29.1 ^29.2 Footnote: The Constitution set out seven institutions each of which can have a parliament, government and administration. In fact there are only six such bodies because the Flemish Region merged into the Flemish Community. This single Flemish body thus exercises powers about Community matters in the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital and in the Dutch language area, and about Regional matters only in the latter.

[Lebrun-30] Footnote: Apart from the municipalities with language facilities for individuals, the French language area has three more municipalities in which the second language in education legally has to be either Dutch or German, whereas in its municipalities without special status this would also allow for English. Lebrun, Sophie (2003-01-07). Langues à l'école: imposées ou au choix, un peu ou beaucoup (in French). La Libre Belgique's web site. Retrieved 2007-08-17.

[fedgov1-31] 31.0 ^31.1 The Federal Government's Powers. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government. Retrieved 2007-05-23.

[fedgov2-32] 32.0 ^32.1 The Communities. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government. Retrieved 2007-05-23.

[fedgov3-33] 33.0 ^33.1 The Regions. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government. Retrieved 2007-05-23.

[34] Belgium — The land — Relief. Encyclopædia Britannica online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, IL, USA (© 2007). Retrieved 2007-07-03.

[35] Geography of Belgium. 123independenceday.com. Retrieved 2007-08-10.

[36] Life – Nature (pdf 3.8 MB). Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (2005). Retrieved 2007-08-10.

[37] Climate averages — Brussels. EuroWEATHER/EuroMETEO, Nautica Editrice Srl, Rome, Italy. Retrieved 2007-05-27.

[statbel2-38] Kerncijfers 2006 — Statistisch overzicht van België (in Dutch) (pdf 1.8 MB) pp. pp. 9–10. Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium. Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[39] Pearce, Fred (2003-03-05). Sewage-laden Belgian water worst in world. New Scientist. Retrieved 2006-05-09.

[40] Wallonia in 'decline' thanks to politicians. Expatica Communications BV (2005-03-9). Retrieved 2007-06-16.

[erih-41] Industrial History Belgium. European Route of Industrial Heritage. Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[usdepartmentofstate1-42] Background Note: Belgium. US Department of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (April 2007). Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[43] Vanhaverbeke, Wim. Het belang van de Vlaamse Ruit vanuit economisch perspectief The importance of the Flemish Diamond from an economical perspective (in Dutch). Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research, University of Maastricht (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration), The Netherlands. Retrieved 2007-05-19.

[44] The World Factbook — (Rank Order — Public debt). CIA (2007-04-17). Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[nbb-45] Key figures. National Bank of Belgium. Retrieved 2007-05-19.

[46] Perrin, Nicolas, UCLouvain, Study Group of Applied Demographics (Gédap) (April 2006). European Migration Network — Annual Statistical Report on migration and asylum in Belgium (Reference year 2003) — section A. 1) b) Population by citizenship & c) Third country nationals, 1 January 2004 (pdf) pp. pages 5–9. Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Interior — Immigration Office. Retrieved 2007-05-28.

[47] 5. Demographic trends — Urban population (% of total). Human Development Indicators 2006 — Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2006). Retrieved 2007-06-06.

[statbel3-48] Quelques résultats des précédents recensements — Indicateurs de logement (1991) (in French switchable to Dutch). Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium (© 1998/2007). Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[ethnologue-49] 49.0 ^49.1 Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005). Languages of Belgium. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th edition. SIL International Dallas, Texas, USA. Retrieved 2007-05-07.

[50] Footnote: Native speakers of Dutch living in Wallonia and of French in Flanders are relatively small minorities which furthermore largely balance one another, hence counting all inhabitants of each unilingual area to the area's language can cause only insignificant inaccuracies (99% can speak the language). Dutch: Flanders' 6.079 million inhabitants and about 15% of Brussels' 1.019 million are 6.23 million or 59.3% of the 10.511 million inhabitants of Belgium (2006); German: 70,400 in the German-speaking Community (which has language facilities for its less than 5% French-speakers), and an estimated 20,000–25,000 speakers of German in the Walloon Region outside the geographical boundaries of their official Community, or 0.9%; French: in the latter area as well as mainly in the rest of Wallonia (3.414 - 0.093 = 3.321 million) and 85% of the Brussels inhabitants (0.866 million) thus 4.187 million or 39.8%; together indeed 100%;

[ericcorijn-51] 51.0 ^51.1 Flemish Academic Eric Corijn (initiator of Charta 91), at a colloquium regarding Brussels, on 2001-12-05, states that in Brussels there is 91% of the population speaking French at home, either alone or with another language, and there is about 20% speaking Dutch at home, either alone (9%) or with French (11%) – After ponderation, the repartition can be estimated at between 85 and 90% French-speaking, and the remaining are Dutch-speaking, corresponding to the estimations based on languages chosen in Brussels by citizens for their official documents (ID, driving licenses, weddings, birth, death, and so on); all these statistics on language are also available at Belgian Department of Justice (for weddings, birth, death), Department of Transport (for Driving licenses), Department of Interior (for IDs), because there are no means to know precisely the proportions since Belgium has abolished 'official' linguistic censuses, thus official documents on language choices can only be estimations. For a web source on this topic, see e.g. General online sources: Janssens, Rudi

[britishcouncil-52] 52.0 ^52.1 Belgium Market background. British Council. Retrieved 2007-05-05. – Strictly, the capital is the municipality (City of) Brussels, though the Brussels-Capital Region might be intended because of its name and also its other municipalities housing institutions typical for a capital.

[53] Citizens from other countries in the German-speaking Community. The German-speaking Commmunity. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
* German (Belgium) — Overview of the language. Mercator, Minority Language Media in the European Union, supported by the European Commission and the University of Wales. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
* Leclerc, Jacques , membre associé du TLFQ (2006-04-19). Belgique • België • Belgien — La Communauté germanophone de Belgique (in French). L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), Université Laval, Quebec. Retrieved 2007-05-07.

[philippevanparijs-54] 54.0 ^54.1 Van Parijs, Philippe, Professor of economic and social ethics at the UCLouvain, Visiting Professor at Harvard University and the KULeuven. Belgium's new linguistic challenges. KVS Express (supplement to newspaper De Morgen) March–April 2007: Article from original source (pdf 4.9 MB) pages 34–36 republished by the Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium. – The linguistic situation in Belgium (and in particular various estimations of the population speaking French and Dutch in Brussels) is discussed in detail.

[standaard-55] Van autochtoon naar allochtoon. De Standaard (newspaper) online.

[calc1-56] Footnote: The Brussels region's 56% residents of foreign origin include several percents of either Dutch people or native speakers of French, thus roughly half of the inhabitants do not speak either French or Dutch as primary language.

[ibsa-57] Population et ménages (in French) (pdf 1.4 MB). IBSA Cellule statistique — Min. Région Bruxelles-Capitale (Statistical cell — Ministry of the Brussels-Capital Region). Retrieved 2007-05-05.

[58] Bayenet, Benoît, Professor at the ULB, in 2004 Economical Advisor to the federal Vice Prime Minister & Justice Minister, and to the Walloon Region's Minister of Economy and Employment; Vandendorpe, Luc, Direction Politique économique, Ministry of the Walloon Region (2004). Le plan Marshall: cinq actions prioritaires pour l’avenir wallon (The Marshall plan: five prioritary actions for the Walloon future). OVER.WERK journal of Steunpunt WAV (4/2005).

[59] Ginsburgh, Victor, Université Catholique de Louvain; Weber, Shlomo, Professor Economy and Director of the Center for Economic Studies of the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA, and having a seat in the expert panel of the IMF [1] (June 2006). La dynamique des langues en Belgique. Regards économiques, Publication préparée par les économistes de l'Université Catholique de Louvain (Numéro 42). (Summary: Slechts 19 procent van de Walen spreekt Nederlands (in Dutch). Nederlandse Taalunie (2006-06-12). Retrieved 2007-05-26. – The article shows the interest in the Ginsburg-Weber report, by the French-language Belgian newspaper Le Soir and the Algemeen Dagblad in the Netherlands)

[60] Schoors, Koen, Professor of Economics at Ghent University, the KULeuven and the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School [2]. Réformer sans tabous - Question 1: les langues — La connaissance des langues en Belgique: Reactie (in Dutch) (pdf). Itinera Institute. Retrieved 2007-06-14. – Reaction on the Ginsburgh-Weber report; Ib. Reactions (in French translation) (pdf).

[61] Table 388. Percentage of population enrolled in secondary and postsecondary institutions, by age group and country. Digest of Education Statistics — Tables and Figures. National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), US Department of Education (2005, data: 2002). Retrieved 2007-06-06.

[62] I. Monitoring Human Development: Enlarging peoples's choices... — 5. Human poverty in OECD, Eastern Europe and the CIS (pdf). Human Development Indicators pp. pp. 172–173. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2000). Retrieved 2007-06-06.

[deley-63] 63.0 ^63.1 De Ley, Herman (2000). Humanists and Muslims in Belgian Secular Society (Draft version). Centrum voor Islam in Europe (Centre for Islam in Europe), Ghent University. Retrieved 2007-06-07.

[64] See for example Belgium entry of the Catholic Encyclopedia

[65] "HEADLINERS; Out of Power", New York Times, 1990-04-08. Retrieved 2007-06-07.

[66] Members of the royal family may attend Te Deums at several locations, the King and Queen always in the Brussels-Capital Region.
* July 21 – national holiday. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government (2004-07-20). Retrieved 2007-07-07.
* Festivities for the National Holiday. .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government (2006-07-14). Retrieved 2007-07-07.

[67] 2001 Annual Report on Human Rights in Belgium.

[oldenburg-68] Bousetta, Hassan; Gsir, Sonia; Jacobs, Dirk (2005). Active Civic Participation of Immigrants in Belgium — Country Report prepared for the European research project POLITIS, Oldenburg (pdf). Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg IBKM. Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[metro-69] "België gaat plat op zijn buik voor China (Belgium bends over backwards for China)", Metro (Belgian newspaper), 2007-05-10, pp. page 2. Retrieved 2007-05-10. (written in Dutch) Alternative urls:α, β, pdf 1.1 MB:γ

[70] Belgium. International Religious Freedom Report 2004. US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2004). Retrieved 2007-05-28.

[71] Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organisation for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine 22 November2006 p. 14 [The Dutch language term 'gelovig' is in the text translated as 'religious', more precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of God in a monotheistic sense, and/or in some afterlife].

[EUROBAROMETER-72] Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11. Retrieved 2007-05-05.

[73] Rembert Dodoens: iets over zijn leven en werk — Dodoens' werken (in Dutch). Plantaardigheden — Project Rembert Dodoens (Rembertus Dodonaeus). Stichting Kruidenhoeve/Plantaardigheden, Balkbrug, the Netherlands (Revised 20 Dec, 2005). Retrieved 2007-05-17.
* O'Connor, J. J.; Robertson, E. F. (2004). Simon Stevin. School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
* Abstract (*). S. Karger AG, Basel. Retrieved 2007-05-11. (*) Free abstract for pay-per-view article by De Broe, Marc E.; De Weerdt, Dirk L.; Ysebaert, Dirk K.; Vercauteren, Sven R.; De Greef, Kathleen E.; De Broe Luc C. (1999). The Low Countries - 16th/17th Century. American Journal of Nephrology 19 (2): pp. 282–9.
* Poh Miller, Carol (Winter 2003). Study Tour Takes A Close-up Look at Sweden’s Industrial Heritage. Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter 32 (1): p. 7. Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, U.S.A..
* Midbon, Mark, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000-03-24). 'A Day Without Yesterday': Georges Lemaitre & the Big Bang pp. pp. 18–19. Commonweal, republished: Catholic Education Resource Center (CERC). Retrieved 2007-06-07.

[74] Belgium — Arts and cultural education. Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 8th edition. Council of Europe / ERICarts (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[75] Belgique (though it should have been 'Belgium'). European Culture Portal. European Commission (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-10.

[76] Low Countries, 1000–1400 C.E.. Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-10.

[77] Low Countries, 1400–1600 C.E.. Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-10.

[78] Several examples of major architectural realisations in Belgium belong to UNESCO's World Heritage List: Belgium. Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-05-15.

[79] Low Countries, 1600–1800 C.E.. Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-10.

[80] Art History: Flemish School: (1600–1800) — Artists: (biography & artworks). World Wide Arts Resources (2006-02-05). Retrieved 2007-05-10. – A general presentation of the Flemish artistic movement with a list of its artists, linking to their biographies and artworks

[81] Belgian Artists: (biographies & artworks). World Wide Arts Resources (2006-02-05). Retrieved 2007-05-10. – List of Belgian painters, linking to their biographies and artworks

[82] Baudson, Michel (1996). Panamarenko. Flammarion (Paris), quoted at presentation of the XXIII Bienal Internacional de São Paulo. Retrieved 2007-05-10.

[83] Brussels, capital of Art Nouveau (page 1), ib. (page2). Senses Art Nouveau Shop, Brussels (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-11. (for example)

[84] Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels). UNESCO's World Heritage List. UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-05-16.

[85] Western music, the Franco-Flemish school. Encyclopædia Britannica (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-15.

[86] Notte, Peter (1992). De Vlaamse kleinkunstbeweging na de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Een historisch overzicht. — 4. De schlager na de tweede wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Verhandeling voorgelegd aan de Faculteit der Letteren en Wijsbegeerte, groep Germaanse Filologie, van de Universiteit Gent, voor het verkrijgen van de graad van licentiaat (Thesis presented at the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy, Germanic Philology, Ghent University, for obtaining a licentiate [equivalent to master's] degree) Promotor: Prof. Dr Anne-Marie Musschoot. Sint-Lodewijkscholen (educational project ethesis). Retrieved 2007-05-12. (For these credentials see this thesis' presentation, retrieved on 2007-05-12)

[87] The Italian singer Adamo mainly made his career in Belgium, as confirmed by the biography on his site, retrieved on 2007-06-07.

[88] Two comprehensive discussions of rock and pop music in Belgium since the fifties:
* The Timeline — A brief history of Belgian Pop Music. The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives. Flanders Music Centre, Brussels (March 2007). Retrieved 2007-06-07.
* Belgian Culture — Rock. Vanberg & DeWulf Importing (© 2006). Retrieved 2007-05-11.

[89] Notable Belgian films based on works by Flemish authors include: De Witte (author Ernest Claes) movie by Jan Vanderheyden & Edith Kiel in 1934, remake as De Witte van Sichem directed by Robbe De Hert in 1980; De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen (Johan Daisne) André Delvaux 1965; Mira ('De teleurgang van de Waterhoek' by Stijn Streuvels) Fons Rademakers 1971; Malpertuis (aka The Legend of Doom House) (Jean Ray [pen name of Flemish author who mainly wrote in French, or as John Flanders in Dutch]) Harry Kümel 1971; De loteling (Hendrik Conscience) Roland Verhavert 1974; Dood van een non (Maria Rosseels) Paul Collet & Pierre Drouot 1975; Pallieter (Felix Timmermans) Roland Verhavert 1976; De komst van Joachim Stiller (Hubert Lampo) Harry Kümel 1976; De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (Hendrik Conscience) Hugo Claus (a famous author himself) 1985; Daens ('Pieter Daens' by Louis Paul Boon) Stijn Coninx 1992; see also Filmarchief les DVD!s de la cinémathèque (in Dutch). Retrieved on 2007-06-07.

[90] Kroniek van de Vlaamse film 1955–1990 — Perstekst naar aanleiding van de uitgave van ‘Brussels By Night’ (in Dutch) (doc). Flemish Community, Media Desk, Ghent. Retrieved 2007-05-12.

[91] A review of the Belgian cinema can be found at Cinema. .be Federal Portal. Federal government of Belgium (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-13.

[92] Fashion and the ‘Antwerp Six’. Fashion Worlds, Dorset, UK (© 2004). Retrieved 2007-05-13.

[93] Footnote: The Dutch word 'ommegang' is here used in the sense of an entirely or mainly non-religious procession, or the non-religious part thereof – see also its article on the Dutch-language Wikipedia; the Processional Giants of Brussels, Dendermonde and Mechelen mentioned in this paragraph are part of each city's 'ommegang'. The French word 'ducasse' refers also to a procession – see also its article on the French-language Wikipedia; the mentioned Processional Giants of Ath and Mons are part of each city's 'ducasse'.

[94] Processional Giants and Dragons in Belgium and France. UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-05-15.

[95] Folklore estudiantin liégeois (in French). University of Liège. Retrieved 2007-05-12.

[96] Majendie, Matt (2005-04-18). Great, but there are greater (stm). BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-09-20.

[97] Eating Out in Belgium. subsite www.hostelbelgium.com. Hostelworld.com, Dublin, Ireland (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-15.

[98] Belgium cuisine. About.com: French Cuisine. About, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-15.

[99] The Michelin stars 2007 in Belgium. Resto.be TM Dreaminvest (2007). Retrieved 2007-05-15.

[100] Confiserie Roodthooft. Confectionery, Biscuits in Belgium – Belgium Chocolate Directory. WTO Emarketplace. Retrieved 2007-07-08.

[101] InBev (2007-04-24). InBev dividend 2006: 0.72 euro per share — infobox: About InBev. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.

[102] Steak-frites. Epicurious. Retrieved 2007-08-12. Republished from Van Waerebeek, Ruth; Robbins, Maria (October 1996). Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. Workman Publishing. ISBN 1-56305-411-6 (Paperback), ISBN 0-7611-0106-3 (Cloth).

[103] Belgium. Global Gourmet. Retrieved 2007-08-12. Republished from Van Waerebeek, Ruth; Robbins, Maria (October 1996). Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. Workman Publishing. ISBN 1-56305-411-6 (Paperback), ISBN 0-7611-0106-3 (Cloth).

[104] Mussels. Visit Belgium. Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas (2005). Retrieved 2007-08-12. — Note: Contrarily to what the text suggests, the season starts as early as July and lasts through April.

[105] Mechelen viert feest! - het verslag (Fata Morgana) (in Dutch). één, primary TV channel of the official Flemish radio & television broadcast institution VRT (2007-09-02). Retrieved 2007-09-02.. — [300 different ones were required to meet the challenge] see also challenge details, retrieved on 2007-09-02

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{claimed}}{{Contracted}}
 {{Infobox Country or territory
-|native_name              = ''Koninkrijk België''<br/>''Royaume de Belgique''<br/>''Königreich Belgien''
+|native_name              = {{nl icon}} ''Koninkrijk België''<br/>{{fr icon}} ''Royaume de Belgique''<br/>{{de icon}} ''Königreich Belgien''
 |conventional_long_name  = Kingdom of Belgium
 |common_name              = Belgium
 |image_flag              = Flag of Belgium.svg
-|image_coat              = Belgium coat of arms large.png
+|image_coat              = Belgium cofa.PNG
 |symbol_type              = Coat of arms
-|national_motto          = ''Eendracht maakt macht''{{nbsp|2}}<small>([[Dutch language|Dutch]])</small><br/>''L'union fait la force''{{nbsp|2}}<small>([[French language|French]])</small><br/>''Einigkeit macht stark''{{nbsp|2}}<small>([[German language|German]])<br/>"Strength through Unity"</small>
+|national_motto          = ''Eendracht maakt macht''{{spaces|2}}<small>([[Dutch language|Dutch]])</small><br/>''L'union fait la force"''{{spaces|2}}<small>([[French language|French]])</small><br/>''Einigkeit macht stark''{{spaces|2}}<small>([[German language|German]])<br/>"Strength through Unity"</small>
-|image_map                = EU location BEL.png
+|image_map                = Location Belgium EU Europe.png
-|map_caption              = {{map_caption |region=[[Europe]] |subregion=the [[European Union]] |legend=EU location legend.png}}
+|map_caption              = {{map_caption |region=[[Europe]] |subregion=the [[European Union]] |location_color=dark green |subregion_color=light green |region_color=dark grey |legend=}}
-|national_anthem          = "[[The Brabançonne]]" (The Song of Brabant)
+|national_anthem          = [[The Brabançonne|The "Brabançonne"]]
 |official_languages      = [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]]
-|capital                 = [[Image:Armoiries Bruxelles.svg|22px]]&nbsp;[[Brussels]]
+|demonym                 = Belgian
-|largest_city            = [[Image:Armoiries Bruxelles.svg|22px]]&nbsp;[[Brussels]] <br> [[Image:Antwerpen arms.jpg|22px]]&nbsp;[[Antwerp]]<sup>1</sup>
+|capital                  = [[Brussels]]
 |latd=50 |latm=54 |latNS=N |longd=4 |longm=32 |longEW=E
-|government_type          = [[Federal constitutional monarchy]]
+|largest_settlement_type  = metropolitan area
+|largest_settlement      = [[Brussels Capital Region]]
+|government_type          = [[Federal constitutional monarchy]] and [[bicameral]] [[parliamentary democracy]]
 |leader_title1            = [[Belgian monarchy|King]]
 |leader_title2            = [[List of Prime Ministers of Belgium|Prime Minister]]
 |leader_name1            = [[Albert II of Belgium|Albert II]]
 |leader_name2            = [[Guy Verhofstadt]]
-|area                     = 30,528
+|area_km2                     = 30,528
-|areami²                 = 11,787 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]—>
+|area_sq_mi                 = 11,787 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]—>
 |area_rank                = 139th
 |area_magnitude          = 1 E10
 |percent_water            = 6.4
-|population_estimate      = 10,419,000 <!—UN estimate for mid-2005-->
+|population_estimate      = <span style="white-space:nowrap;">10,584,534<ref name=statbel1>
-|population_estimate_year = 2005
+ {{cite web
-|population_estimate_rank = 76th
+ |title=Structuur van de bevolking — België / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest / Vlaams Gewest / Waals Gewest / De 25 bevolkingsrijkste gemeenten (2000–2006)
+ |date=© 1998/2007
+ |language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+ |publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium
+ |url=http://statbel.fgov.be/figures/d21_nl.asp#2
+ |format=asp
+ |accessdate=2007-05-23
+ }}</ref><br/></span>
+|population_estimate_year = 2007
+|population_estimate_rank = 76th<small>&nbsp;[2005]</small>
 |population_census        = 10,296,350
 |population_census_year  = 2001
-|population_density       = 339.50 (2005)<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/be.html CIA The World Factbook, 2005]</ref>
+|population_density_km2       = 344.32<!--Infobox template cannot properly show: ref name=statbel2—>
-|population_densitymi²   = 886 <!--Do not remove [[WP:MOSNUM]]—>
+|population_density_rank  = <small>2006</small>) (29th&nbsp;<small>[2005]</small>
-|population_density_rank  = 29th
+|population_density_sq_mi   = 892 <!--Do not remove [[WP:MOSNUM]]—>
 |GDP_PPP_year            = 2004
 |GDP_PPP                  = $316.2&nbsp;[[1 E9|billion]]
 |GDP_PPP_rank            = 30th
 |GDP_PPP_per_capita      = $31,400
-|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank  = 12th
+|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank  = 13th
+|Gini                    = 33
+|Gini_year                = 2000
+|Gini_rank                = 33rd
+|Gini_category            = <span style="color:#dede00">medium</span>
 |HDI_year                = 2004
 |HDI                      = {{steady}} 0.945
 |HDI_rank                = 13th
-|HDI_category            = <font color="#009900">high</font>
+|HDI_category            = <span style="color:#009900">high</span>
 |sovereignty_type        = [[Belgian Revolution|Independence]]
 |sovereighty_note        = from the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands|Netherlands]]
 |established_event1      = Declared
-|established_date1        = [[October 4]] [[1830]]
+|established_date1        = [[4 October]] [[1830]]
-|established_event2      = [[Treaty of London, 1839|Recognised]]
+|established_event2      = [[Treaty of London, 1839|Recognized]]
-|established_date2        = [[April 19]], [[1839]]
+|established_date2        = [[19 April]] [[1839]]
-|accessionEUdate          = [[March 25]], [[1957]]
+|accessionEUdate          = [[25 March]] [[1957]]
-|currency                = [[Euro]] ([[Euro sign|€]])<sup>2</sup>
+|EUseats                  = 24
+|currency                = [[Euro]] ([[Euro sign|€]])<sup>1</sup>
 |currency_code            = EUR
 |time_zone                = [[Central European Time|CET]]
@@ Line 55: / Line 71: @@
 |time_zone_DST            = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
 |utc_offset_DST          = +2
-|cctld                    = [[.be]]<sup>3</sup>
+|cctld                    = [[.be]]²
 |calling_code            = 32
-|footnotes               = <sup>1</sup> Brussels is the largest urban area, Antwerp is the largest city with legal status.<br/><sup>2</sup> Prior to 1999: [[Belgian franc]].<br/><sup>3</sup> The [[.eu]] domain is also used, as it is shared with other [[European Union]] member states.</sup>
+|footnote1               = Prior to 1999: [[Belgian franc]].
+|footnote2                = The [[.eu]] domain is also used, as it is shared with other [[European Union]] member states.
 }}
-The '''Kingdom of Belgium'''  is a country in [[Western Europe|northwest Europe]] bordered by [[Netherlands|the Netherlands]], [[Germany]], [[Luxembourg]] and [[France]] and is one of the founding and core members of the [[European Union]]. Belgium has a population of over ten million people, in an area of around 30,000 [[square kilometre]]s (11,700&nbsp;square miles).
+The '''Kingdom of Belgium''' is a [[country]] in [[Western Europe|northwest Europe]] bordered by [[Netherlands|the Netherlands]] (450 km), [[Germany]] (167 km), [[Luxembourg]] (148 km), and [[France]] (620 km), with a short coastline on the [[North Sea]]. It is one of the founding members of the [[European Union]] and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major [[international organization]]s, including [[NATO]].<ref>Footnote: Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many international organizations, including [[ACCT]], [[AfDB]], [[AsDB]], [[Australia Group]], [[Benelux]], [[Bank for International Settlements|BIS]], [[Convention on Cybercrime|CCC]], [[Council of Europe|CE]], [[CERN]], [[Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council|EAPC]], [[EBRD]], [[European Investment Bank|EIB]], [[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union|EMU]], [[ESA]], [[EU]], [[FAO]], [[Group of Ten (economic)|G-10]], [[IAEA]], [[IBRD]], [[ICAO]], [[International Criminal Court|ICC]], [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|ICRM]], [[International Development Association|IDA]], [[Inter-American Development Bank|IDB]], [[International Energy Agency|IEA]], [[IFAD]], [[International Finance Corporation|IFC]], [[IFRCS]], [[IHO]], [[International Labour Organization|ILO]], [[IMF]], [[International Maritime Organization|IMO]], [[IMSO]], [[Intelsat]], [[Interpol]], [[IOC]], [[International Organization for Migration|IOM]], [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]], [[ITU]], [[MONUC]] (observers), [[NATO]], [[Nuclear Energy Agency|NEA]], [[Nuclear Suppliers Group|NSG]], [[Organization of American States|OAS]] (observer), [[OECD]], [[OPCW]], [[OSCE]], [[Permanent Court of Arbitration|PCA]], [[UN]], [[UNCTAD]], [[UNECE]], [[UNESCO]], [[UNHCR]], [[United Nations Industrial Development Organization|UNIDO]], [[UNMIK]], [[UNMOGIP]], [[UNRWA]], [[UNTSO]], [[UPU]], [[West African Development Bank|WADB]] (non-regional), [[WEU]], [[WHO]], [[WIPO]], [[WMO]], [[WTrO]], [[Zangger Committee|ZC]].</ref> Belgium covers an area of 30,528 [[square kilometer]]s (11,787 square miles) and has a population of about 10.5 million.
-Straddling the cultural boundary between [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] and [[Romance languages|Romance]] Europe, Belgium is linguistically divided. It has two main languages: 59% of its population, being 6.18 million people in the north, mainly in the region [[Flemish region|Flanders]], speak [[Dutch language|Dutch]] (while Belgians of both major languages often refer to it as [[Flemish]]); [[French language|French]] is spoken by 40%: 3.29 million in the southern region [[Walloon Region|Wallonia]] and an estimated 0.88 million in the officially bilingual [[Brussels-Capital Region]] or 85-90% of its residents – thus a minority there speaks Dutch, its local language till shortly before Belgium's independence. Less than 1% of the Belgians, around 70,000 live in the [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking Community]] in the east of the [[Walloon Region]]. This linguistic diversity often leads to political and cultural conflict and is reflected in Belgium's complex [[Communities and regions of Belgium|system of government]] and [[history of Belgium|political history]].
+Straddling the cultural boundary between [[Germanic Europe|Germanic]] and [[Latin Europe]], Belgium's two largest regions are [[Dutch language|Dutch]]-speaking [[Flemish Region|Flanders]] in the north, with 58% of the population, and the [[French language|French]]-speaking southern region of [[Walloon Region|Wallonia]], inhabited by 32%. The [[Brussels-Capital Region]] is an officially bilingual [[List of enclaves and exclaves#Subnational enclaves which are not exclaves|enclave]] within the [[Flemish region|Flemish]] and near the [[Walloon Region]], and has 10% of the population.<ref name=jacquesleclerc1>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgique • België • Belgien — Région de Bruxelles-Capitale • Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
+|quote=C'est une région officiellement bilingue formant au centre du pays une enclave dans la province du Brabant flamand (Vlaams Brabant)
+|work=L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|date=[[2007-01-18]]
+|author=Leclerc, Jacques <!--NO LINK: this is not the wellknown general—>, membre associé du TLFQ
+|publisher=Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), [[Université Laval]], [[Quebec]]
+|url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/EtatsNsouverains/bruxelles-capitale.htm
+|accessdate=2007-06-18}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=About Belgium
+|quote=the Brussels-Capital Region is an enclave of 162&nbsp;km2 within the Flemish region.
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) / Embassy of Belgium in the Republic of Korea
+|url=http://www.belgium.or.kr/page60.html
+|accessdate=2007-06-21}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Flanders (administrative region)
+|quote=The capital of Belgium, Brussels, is an enclave within Flanders.
+|work=Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia
+|year=2007
+|publisher=Microsoft
+|url=http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArtTextonly.aspx?refid=781531490
+|accessdate=2007-06-21}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=The FIT Invasions of Mons
+|quote=The country is divided into three increasingly autonomous regions: Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north; mostly French-speaking Brussels in the center as an enclave within Flanders; and French-speaking Wallonia in the south (plus the German-speaking ''Cantons de l'Est'').
+|year=1999 |month=October
+|author=McMillan, Eric
+|work=Capital translator, Newsletter of the <span style="font-size:92%;">NCATA</span>, Vol. 21, No. 7, p. 1
+|publisher=National Capital Area Chapter of the American Translators Association (<span style="font-size:87%;">NCATA</span>)
+|url=http://www.ncata.org/doc/Oct99.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-06-21}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Language Facilities in the Brussels Periphery
+|quote=Brussels is a kind of enclave within Flanders – it has no direct link with Wallonia.
+|author=[http://perswww.kuleuven.be/~u0025631/ Van de Walle, Steven], lecturer at University of Birmingham Institute of Local Government Studies, School of Public Policy
+|publisher=[[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven|KULeuven]] - Leuvens Universitair Dienstencentrum voor Informatica en Telematica
+|url=http://perswww.kuleuven.be/~u0025631/pdf/RANDBRUS.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-06-21}}</ref> A small [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking Community]] exists in eastern Wallonia.<ref name=germanspeakingcommunity1>
+{{cite web
+|title=The German-speaking Community
+|publisher=The German-speaking Community
+|url=http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1263/2264_read-27181/
+|accessdate=2007-05-05}} The (original) [http://www.dglive.be/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-84/186_read-448/ version in German language] (already) mentions 73,000 instead of 71,500 inhabitants.</ref> Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the [[history of Belgium|political history]] and a complex [[Communities and regions of Belgium|system of government]].<ref name=bbcnews1>
+{{cite web
+|title=Language dispute divides Belgium
+|author=Morris, Chris<!--NO LINK unless it goes to a British TV journalist—>
+|publisher=BBC News
+|date=[[2005-05-13]]
+|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4545433.stm
+|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref><ref name=paulderidder>
+{{cite web
+|title=Linguistic Usages in Brussels before 1794
+|author=[http://www.smk.be/boeken/brusselN.html De Ridder, Paul]<!--DUTCH: English version lacks biography—>, Doctor in Medieval History, [[Royal Library of Belgium]]
+|publisher=Vereniging voor Brusselse Geschiedenis (Society for History of Brussels)
+|url=http://www.paulderidder.be/history.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-01}}</ref><ref name=simonpetermann>
+{{cite web
+|title=Langues majoritaires, langues minoritaires, dialectes et NTIC
+|date=[[2001-09-25]]
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|author=Petermann, Simon, Professor at the University of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium — at colloquium ''IX<sup>e</sup> Sommet de la francophonie — Intitiatives 2001 — Ethique et nouvelles technologies, session 6 Cultures et langues, la place des minorités'', [[Bayreuth]]
+|url=http://www.initiatives.refer.org/Initiatives-2001/_notes/sess604.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-04}}</ref>
-Belgium derives its name from the [[Latin]] name of the northernmost part of [[Gaul]], ''[[Gallia Belgica]]'', named after a group of mostly [[Celt]]ic tribes, ''[[Belgae]]''. Historically, Belgium has been a part of the [[Low Countries]], which also include the Netherlands and Luxembourg and used to cover a somewhat larger region than the current [[Benelux]] group of states. From the end of the [[Middle Ages]] until the seventeenth century, it was a prosperous centre of commerce and culture. From the sixteenth century until the Belgian revolution in 1830, the area at that time called the [[Southern Netherlands]], was the site of many battles between the European powers, and has been dubbed "the battlefield of Europe"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.diplomatie.be/en/belgium/belgiumdetail.asp?TEXTID=49019|title=Belgian economy|publisher=Belgian federal ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation}}</ref> or "the cockpit of Europe".<ref>[[Nuttall encyclopedia]]</ref> More recently, Belgium was a founding member of the [[European Union]], hosting its headquarters, as well as those of many other major [[international organization]]s, such as [[NATO]].
+The name 'Belgium' is derived from ''[[Gallia Belgica]]'', a [[Roman province]] in the northernmost part of [[Gaul]] that was inhabited by the ''[[Belgae]]'', a mix of [[Celts|Celtic]] and [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]]<!--keep link on 1 word, else needs elsewhere linking again—> peoples.<ref>
+{{cite book
+|title=Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire
+|author=Bunson, Matthew
+|year=1994
+|pages=p. 169
+|edition=Hardcover 352pp
+|publisher=Facts on File, New York
+|isbn=0 8160 2135 X [Paperback 512pp, ISBN 0-8160-3182-7; Revised edition (2002), Hardcover 636pp, ISBN 0-8160-4562-3]}}<!--reference 2007-08-15 borrowed from WP article 'Gallia Belgica', version 2007-05-12 id=128931276, at "Agrippa made the divisions on what he perceived to be distinctions in language, race and community - Gallia Belgica was meant to be a mix of Celtic and Germanic peoples."; not doublechecked—></ref><ref>Footnote: The Celtic and/or Germanic influences on and origin(s) of the Belgae remains disputed. Further reading e.g.
+{{cite web
+|title=Ethnic and Cultural Identity
+|work=Barbarians on the Greek Periphery? — Origins of Celtic Art
+|year=1997 |month=May
+|author=Witt, Constanze Maria
+|publisher=Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, [[University of Virginia]]
+|url=http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/Barbarians/Essays/ethnic_main.html
+|accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the [[Low Countries]], which used to cover a somewhat larger area than the current [[Benelux]] group of states. From the end of the [[Middle Ages]] until the seventeenth century, it was a prosperous centre of commerce and culture. From the sixteenth century until the Belgian revolution in 1830, many battles between European powers were fought in the area of Belgium, causing it to be dubbed "the battlefield of Europe"<ref name=diplomatbe1>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgian economy
+|work=Belgium
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
+|url=http://www.diplomatie.be/en/belgium/belgiumdetail.asp?TEXTID=49019
+|accessdate=2007-05-21}}</ref> and "the cockpit of Europe"<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Rezention zu (Review of) Cook, Bernard: Belgium. A History ISBN 0-8204-5824-4
+|date=[[2003-02-17]]
+|quote=die Bezeichnung Belgiens als „the cockpit of Europe” (James Howell, 1640), die damals noch auf eine kriegerische Hahnenkampf-Arena hindeutete
+|language=[[German language|German]]
+|author=Haß, Torsten, Head of the [[:de:Fachhochschule Kehl|Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) of Kehl]] Library, [[Kehl]], Germany
+|publisher=FH-Zeitung (journal of the [[Fachhochschule]])
+|url=http://www.fh-kehl.de/zeitung/rezensionen/2003/cook,belgium.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-24}} – The book reviewer, Haß, attributes the expression in English to [[James Howell]] in 1640. Howell's original phrase "the cockpit of Christendom" became modified afterwards, as shown by:<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;
+{{cite web
+|title=The Hydra No.1 New Series (November 1917) — Arras And Captain Satan
+|author=Carmont, John
+|work=War Poets Collection
+|publisher=Napier University’s Business School
+|url=http://www.napier.ac.uk/warpoets/Hydraissues/Hyn01/hyn01a03.html
+|accessdate=2007-05-24}} – and as such coined for Belgium:<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;
+{{cite web
+|title=Nuttall Encyclopaedia of General Knowledge — Cockpit of Europe
+|quote=Cockpit of Europe, Belgium, as the scene of so many battles between the Powers of Europe.
+|author=Wood, James
+|year=1907
+|url=http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Wood-NuttallEncyclopaedia/c/cockpitofeurope.html
+|accessdate=2007-05-24}} (See also [[The Nuttall Encyclopaedia]])</ref> – a reputation strengthened by both World Wars. Upon its independence, Belgium eagerly participated in the [[Industrial Revolution]],<ref name="Fitzmaurice">
+{{cite web
+|title=New Order? International models of peace and reconciliation – Diversity and civil society
+|author=[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/dd/report9/report9h.htm Fitzmaurice, John], at the [[Secretariat-General of the European Commission]], teached at the [[Université Libre de Bruxelles]]
+|year=1996
+|publisher=Democratic Dialogue ''Northern Ireland's first think tank'', Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
+|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/dd/report9/report9d.htm
+|accessdate=2007-08-12}}</ref><ref name="EUbusiness">
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgium country profile
+|date=[[2006-08-27]]
+|publisher=[http://www.eubusiness.com/aboutus EUbusiness], Richmond, UK
+|url=http://www.eubusiness.com/Belgium/belgium-country-profile/
+|accessdate=2007-08-12}}</ref> generating wealth and also a demand for raw materials; the latter was a factor during [[Belgian colonial empire|the era of its African colonies]].<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Chapter 27. The Age of Imperialism (Section 2. The Partition of Africa)
+|work=World History II
+|author=Karl, Farah ''(text)''; Stoneking, James'' (course)''
+|year=1999
+|publisher=Appomatox Regional Governor's School (History Department), Petersburg, VA, USA
+|url=http://www.args.k12.va.us/academics/history/Stoneking/chapters/world2/world27.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-08-16}}</ref>
 ==History==
 {{main|History of Belgium}}
-Over the past two millennia, the area that is now known as Belgium has seen significant demographic, political and cultural upheavals. The first well-documented population move was the conquest of the region by the [[Roman Republic]] in the 1st century [[Anno Domini|BC]], followed in the 5th century by the [[Germanic people|Germanic]] [[Franks]]. The Franks established the [[Merovingian]] kingdom, which became the [[Carolingian Empire]] in the 8th century. During the Middle Ages, the Low Countries were split into many small [[feudal]] states. Most of them were united in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries by the house of [[Burgundy]] as the [[Burgundian Netherlands]]. These states gained a degree of autonomy in the 15th century and were thereafter named the [[Seventeen Provinces]].
+[[Image:Map-1477 Low Countries.png|thumb|left|200px|The [[Seventeen Provinces]] (orange, brown and yellow areas) and the [[Bishopric of Liège]] (green)]]
-[[Image:Map-1477 Low Countries.png|250px|thumb|left|The [[Seventeen Provinces]] (orange, brown and yellow areas) and the [[Bishopric of Liège]] (green area). For a detailed description, see [[Seventeen Provinces]].]]
+The area of present-day Belgium has seen significant demographic, political and cultural upheavals over the course of two millenia. In the [[first century]], the [[Roman Republic|Romans]], after defeating the local tribes<!--not necessarily 'indigenous' as several sources (incl. De Bello Gallico) indicate influences from across the Rhine; the for Belgium relevant group of tribes is mentioned in the lead—>, created the province of Gallia Belgica. A [[Migration Period|gradual immigration]] by Germanic [[Franks|Frankish]] tribes during the fifth century, brought the area under the rule of the [[Merovingian]] kingdom, which evolved into the [[Carolingian Empire]] in the eighth century. During the Middle Ages small [[feudal]] states emerged, many of which rejoined as the [[Burgundian Netherlands]] in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles V]] completed the union of the [[Seventeen Provinces]] in the 1540s, and unofficially also controlled the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]].<ref>
-The history of Belgium can be distinguished from that of the Low Countries from the 16th century. The [[Eighty Years' War]] (1568&ndash;1648), divided the Seventeen Provinces into the [[Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands|United Provinces]] in the north and the [[Southern Netherlands]] in the south. The southern provinces were ruled successively by the [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish]] and the [[History of Austria#Charles VI and Maria Theresa (1711-1780)|Austrian]] [[Habsburg]]s. Until independence, the Southern Netherlands were sought after by numerous French conquerors and were the theatre of most [[Early Modern France#France in the 17th and 18th centuries|Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars]] during the 17th and 18th centuries. Following the [[French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1794|Campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars]], the Low Countries—including territories that were never under Habsburg rule, such as the [[Bishopric of Liège]]—were overrun by France, ending Spanish-Austrian rule in the region. The reunification of the Low Countries as the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] occurred at the end of the [[first French Empire|French Empire]] in 1815.
+{{cite web
+|title=Chapter II: Habsburg Rule in the Netherlands
+|work=History of Holland
+|author=Edmundson, George
+|publisher=The University Press, Cambridge. Republished: Authorama
+|year=1922
+|url=http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-4.html
+|accessdate=2007-06-09}}</ref>
-[[Image:Wappers belgian revolution.jpg|right|thumb|300px|''Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830'', [[Egide Charles Gustave Wappers]] (1834), in the Ancient Art Museum, Brussels]]
+The [[Eighty Years' War]] (1568&ndash;1648) divided the area into the northern [[Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands|United Provinces]] ('federate' ''Belgica Foederata'' in [[Latin]]) and the [[Southern Netherlands]] ('royal' ''Belgica Regia''). The latter were ruled successively by the [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish]] and the [[History of Austria#Charles VI and Maria Theresa (1711-1780)|Austrian]] [[Habsburg]]s and comprised most of modern Belgium. Until independence the area was sought after by numerous French conquerors and was the theatre of most [[Franco-Spanish War (1653)|Franco-Spanish]] and [[Franco-Austrian War|Franco-Austrian wars]]<!--disambiguation page intended: "most" wars of that list—> during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.<ref>Footnote: Further reading: [[Early Modern France#France in the 17th and 18th centuries|France in the 17th and 18th centuries]]</ref> Following the [[French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1794|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 Spanish-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.
-The 1830 [[Belgian Revolution]] led to the establishment of an
-[[independence|independent]], [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] and neutral Belgium under a [[provisional government]] and a [[national Congress of Belgium|national congress]]. Since the installation of [[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold I]] as king in 1831, Belgium has been a [[constitutional monarchy]] and [[parliamentary democracy]]. Between independence and [[World War II]], the democratic system evolved from an [[oligarchy]] characterised by two main parties, the Catholics and the Liberals, to a [[universal suffrage]] system that has included a third party, the Labour Party, and a strong role for the [[trade union]]s. Originally, French, which was the adopted language of the [[nobility]] and the [[bourgeoisie]], was the official language. The country has since developed a bilingual Dutch-French system.
-The [[Berlin Conference]] of 1885 agreed to hand over [[Colonisation of the Congo|Congo]] to [[Léopold II of Belgium|King Leopold II]] as his private possession, called the [[Congo Free State]]. In 1908, it was ceded to Belgium as a colony, henceforth called the [[Belgian Congo]]. Belgium's neutrality was violated in 1914, when Germany invaded Belgium as part of the [[Schlieffen Plan]]. The former [[German colonies]] [[Ruanda-Urundi]]—now called [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]]—were occupied by the Belgian Congo in 1916. They were mandated in 1924 to Belgium by the [[League of Nations]]. Belgium was again invaded by Germany in [[1940]] during the [[blitzkrieg]] offensive. The country was occupied until the winter of 1944-45 when it was liberated by Allied troops. The Belgian Congo gained its independence in [[1960]] during the [[Congo Crisis]], and Ruanda-Urundi became independent in 1962.
+The 1830 [[Belgian Revolution]] led to the establishment of an independent, [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]], and neutral Belgium under a [[Provisional Government of Belgium|provisional government]] and a [[national Congress of Belgium|national congress]]. Since the installation of [[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold I]] as king in 1831, Belgium has been a [[constitutional monarchy]] and [[parliamentary democracy]]. Initially an [[oligarchy]] ruled mainly by the [[Catholic Party (Belgium)|Catholic Party]] and the [[Liberal Party (Belgium)|Liberals]], the country had evolved towards [[universal suffrage]] by [[World War II]] with the rise of the [[Belgische Werkliedenpartij|Labour Party]] and [[trade union]]s playing a strong role. French, once the single official language and adopted by the [[nobility]] and the [[bourgeoisie]], had by then lost its overall importance as Dutch had become recognized as well. However, it was not until 1967 that an official Dutch version of the [[Belgian Constitution|Constitution]] was accepted.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Ethnic structure, inequality and governance of the public sector in Belgium
+|author=[http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BC203/(httpPeople)/417C5EAAE7060027C1256F2000472415?OpenDocument Kris Deschouwer]
+|publisher=United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (<span style="font-size:87%;">UNRISD</span>)
+|month=January
+|year=2004
+|url=http://www.unrisd.org/UNRISD/website/document.nsf/ab82a6805797760f80256b4f005da1ab/ec506a59176be044c1256e9e003077c3/$FILE/Deschou.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-05-22}}</ref>
-After [[World War II]], Belgium joined NATO and, together with the Netherlands and Luxembourg, formed the [[Benelux]] group of nations. Belgium is also one of the six founding members of the 1951 established [[European Coal and Steel Community]], and the 1957 established [[European Economic Community]] and [[European Atomic Energy Community]]. Belgium hosts the headquarters of NATO and a major part of the [[European Union]]'s institutions and administrations, including the [[European Commission]], the [[Council of the European Union]] and the extraordinary and committee sessions of the [[European Parliament]], as well as parts of its administration.
+[[Image:Wappers belgian revolution.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830'' (1834)<br/>by [[Egide Charles Gustave Wappers]],<br/>in the Ancient Art Museum, Brussels.]]
+The [[Berlin Conference]] of 1885 gave the [[Congo Free State]] to [[Léopold II of Belgium|King Leopold II]] as his private possession. In 1908, it was ceded to Belgium as a colony, henceforth called the [[Belgian Congo]]. Belgian control of the Congolese population, particularly under Leopold II, was savage, and the country was plundered of resources such as ivory and rubber.<ref>
+{{cite book
+|title=The State of Africa
+|pages=pp. 95–96(?)
+|edition=Hardcover 608pp
+|date=[[2005-06-06]]
+|author=Meredith, Mark
+|publisher= Free Press
+|isbn=0-7432-3221-6}}<!--Original 2007-06-21 entry here as publisher=Simon & Schuster, year=2006, pages=95–96, isbn=978-0-7432-3222-7: ref not found on that date—></ref>
-During the 20th century, and in particular since World War II, the history of Belgium has been increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main communities. This period saw a rise in intercommunal tensions, and the unity of the Belgian state has come under scrutiny.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4545433.stm Language dispute divides Belgium, BBC News, 13 May, 2005]</ref> Through constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s, [[regionalisation]] of the unitary state had led to the establishment of a three-tiered system of [[federalism]], linguistic-community and regional governments, a compromise designed to minimise linguistic tensions. Nowadays, these federal entities uphold more legislative power than the national bicameral parliament, whereas national government still controls nearly all taxation, over 80% of the finances of the community and region governments, and 100% of the social security.
+Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, as part of the [[Schlieffen Plan]], and much of the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] fighting of [[World War I]] occurred in western parts of the country. Belgium took over the [[German colonies]] of [[Ruanda-Urundi]] (modern day [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]]) during the war, and they were mandated to Belgium in 1924 by the [[League of Nations]], of which it was a founding member. The [[Treaty of Versailles]] had subjected several German border towns, most notably [[Eupen]] and [[Malmedy]], to a [[plebiscite]], which led to their annexation by Belgium in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a small German community. Belgium was again invaded by Germany in 1940 during the [[Blitzkrieg]] offensive, and occupied until its liberation by [[Allies|Allied]] troops in the winter of 1944–45. The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the [[Congo Crisis]]; Ruanda-Urundi followed two years later.
+After [[World War II]], Belgium joined [[NATO]], headquartered at Brussels, and formed the [[Benelux]] group of nations with the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Belgium became one of the six founding members of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] in 1951, and of the 1957 established [[European Atomic Energy Community]] and [[European Economic Community]]. The latter is now 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]].
 ==Government and politics==
+{{main|Politics of Belgium}}
+{{seealso|Belgian federal parliament|Belgian federal government|Political parties in Belgium}}
+{{further|[[List of Belgian monarchs]], [[List of Belgian Prime Ministers]], [[Foreign relations of Belgium]]}}
+Belgium is a [[constitutional monarchy|constitutional]], [[popular monarchy]] and a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]].
-[[Image:Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Guy Verhofstadt]], Prime Minister since July 1999]]
+In the nineteenth century, the [[Francophile]] political and economic elite treated the Dutch-speaking population as second class citizens.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} At the end of the nineteenth century, and during much of the twentieth century, the [[Flemish movement]] evolved to counter this situation. A very sensitive issue is that fractions of this movement, as well as the Wallonian Rex-movement and the financial and economical leaders of the country, were not unsympathetic to the German occupation during World War II.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} Following World War II, Belgian politics became increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main language communities. Intercommunal tensions rose and even the [[Partition of Belgium|unity of the Belgian state]] became scrutinized.<ref name=bbcnews1/> Through constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s,
+[[regionalism|regionalisation]] of the [[unitary state]] led to a three-tiered [[federation]]: [[federalism|federal]], regional, and community governments were created, a compromise designed to minimize linguistic, cultural, social and economic tensions.[http://www.flanders.be/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=MVG_FL/Template/MVG_FL_Html_Detail&cid=1072097196838&enablelasturl=1&p=1053963211306]
-Belgium is a [[constitutional monarchy|constitutional]] [[popular monarchy]] and [[parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]] that evolved after World War II from a [[unitary state]] to a [[federation]]. The [[bicameralism|bicameral]] [[parliament]] is composed of a [[Senate]] and a [[Chamber of Representatives]]. The former is a mix of directly elected senior politicians and representatives of the communities and regions; while the latter represents all Belgians over the age of eighteen in a [[proportional voting]] system. Belgium is one of the few countries that has [[compulsory voting]], thus having one of the highest rates of [[voter turnout]] in the world.<ref>[[Voter turnout|Election turnout]] in national lower house elections from 1960 to 1995, numbers from Mark N. Franklin's "Electoral Participation".</ref>
-The federal government, formally nominated by the king, must have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives. It is led by the [[Prime Minister]]. The numbers of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers are equal as prescribed by the Constitution.<ref>[http://www.fed-parl.be/gwuk0006.htm#E11E6 Constitution of Belgium] Art. 99</ref> The King or Queen is the [[head of state]], though with limited [[Royal Prerogative|prerogatives]]. Actual power is vested in the Prime Minister and the [[list of Governments in Belgium|different governments]], who govern the country. The judicial system is based on [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] and originates from the [[Napoleonic code]]. The [[Court of Appeals|Court of Appeal]] is one level below the [[Court of Cassation (Belgium)|Court of Cassation]], an institution based on the [[Court of Cassation (France)|French Court of Cassation]].
-Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power is organized around the need to represent the main language communities. Since around 1970, the significant national Belgian [[political party|political parties]] have split into distinct components that mainly represent the interests of these communities. The major parties in each community, though close to the [[centrism|political centre]], belong to three main political families: the [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] [[Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten|Liberals]], the [[Social conservatism|social conservative]] [[Christian Democracy|Christian Democrats]], and the [[Democratic Socialism|Socialists]] as [[left-wing politics|left-wing]]. Other important younger parties are the [[worldwide green parties|Green party]] and, especially in Flanders, the [[nationalism|nationalist]] and [[far-right]], [[Vlaams Belang|Flemish Interest]] party. Politics is influenced by lobby groups, such as [[trade union]]s and business interests in the form of the [[Trade Federation of Enterprises in Belgium]].
+[[Image:Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Guy Verhofstadt]], Prime Minister of mainly Liberal - Social Democrat governments for two full terms]]
+The federal [[bicameralism|bicameral]] parliament is composed of a [[Belgian Senate|Senate]] and a [[Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives|Chamber of Representatives]]. The former is made up of 40 directly elected politicians and 21 representatives appointed by the [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|3 community parliaments]], 10 [[Belgian Senate#Coopted Senators|coopted senators]] and as [[Belgian Senate#Senators by Right|senators by Right]] who in practice do not cast their vote, currently [[Philippe, Duke of Brabant|Prince Philippe]], [[Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este|Princess Astrid]] and [[Prince Laurent of Belgium|Prince Laurent]], children of the King. The Chamber's 150 representatives are elected under a [[proportional voting]] system from 11 [[Arrondissements of Belgium|electoral districts]]. Belgium is one of the few countries that has [[compulsory voting]], and thus holds one of the highest rates of [[voter turnout]] in the world.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=The Dynamics of Electoral Participation — Table 10.1 Average turnout in free elections to the lower house in 40 countries, 1961-1999
+|pages=p.&nbsp;32
+|year=2001
+|author=Franklin, Mark N., [[Trinity College (Connecticut)|Trinity College, Connecticut]]
+|url=http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cache/papers/cs/25027/http:zSzzSzwww2.trincoll.eduzSz~mfranklizSzParticipation.pdf/franklin01dynamics.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-05-29}}</ref>
-The current king, [[Albert II of Belgium|Albert II]], succeeded King [[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin]] (''Boudewijn'' in Dutch) in 1993. Since 1999, Prime Minister [[Guy Verhofstadt]] from the [[Flemish Liberals and Democrats|VLD]] has led a six-party Liberal-Social Democrat-Greens [[coalition]], often referred to as 'the rainbow government'. This was the first government without the Christian Democrats since 1958.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/392004.stm Belgium's "rainbow" coalition sworn in, BBC News, 12 July, 1999]</ref> In the [[Belgian general election, 2003|2003 elections]], Verhofstadt won a second term in office and has led a Liberal-Social Democrat coalition of four parties.<ref>[http://www.lachambre.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/pri/fiche/10F.pdf Composition of the Chamber of Representatives, on the official homepage of the Chamber, in French]</ref> In recent years, there has also been a steady rise of the Flemish far right nationalist [[separatism|separatist]] party [[Flemish Block|Vlaams Blok]], meanwhile superseded by [[Vlaams Belang]] amidst allegations of racism promoted by the party.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3994867.stm Court rules Vlaams Blok is racist, BBC News, 9 November, 2004]</ref>
+The [[Monarchy of Belgium|King]] (currently [[Albert II of Belgium|Albert II]]) is the [[head of state]], though with limited [[Royal Prerogative|prerogatives]]. He appoints ministers, including a [[Prime Minister]], that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government. The numbers of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers are equal as prescribed by the Constitution.<ref name=constitution1>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgium — Constitution — Title III Powers, Chapter II The Senate, Article 72 <nowiki>[</nowiki>King's Descendants<nowiki>]</nowiki>&nbsp;; and Title III, Chapter III King and Federal Government, Section I The King&nbsp;; and Section II The Federal Government, Article 99 <nowiki>[</nowiki>Composition of Government<nowiki>]</nowiki>
+|work=International Constitutional Law
+|publisher=Institut für öffentliches Recht, [[University of Berne]], [[Switzerland]]
+|date=[[1994-02-17]]
+|url=http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/be00000_.html
+|accessdate=2007-05-20}} Or both:<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Title III On Power, Chapter II On the Senate, Art. 72
+|work=The Constitution of Belgium
+|publisher=The Federal Parliament of Belgium
+|date=[[1997-01-21]]
+|url=http://www.fed-parl.be/gwuk0004.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-20}} And<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Title III On Power, Chapter III On the King and the Federal Government, Section I On the King&nbsp;; and Section II On the Federal Government, Art. 99
+|work=The Constitution of Belgium
+|publisher=The Federal Parliament of Belgium
+|date=[[1997-01-21]]
+|url=http://www.fed-parl.be/gwuk0006.htm#E11E6
+|accessdate=2007-05-20}}</ref> The judicial system is based on [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] and originates from the [[Napoleonic code]]. The [[Court of Cassation (Belgium)|Court of Cassation]] is the court of last resort, with the [[Court of Appeals|Court of Appeal]] one level below.
-A significant achievement of the two successive Verhofstadt governments has been the achievement of a balanced budget; Belgium is one of the few member-states of the EU to have done so. This policy was applied by the successive governments during the 1990s under pressure from the [[European Council]]. The fall of the previous government was mainly because of the [[dioxin]] crisis,<ref>[http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jun1999/belg-j08.shtml Dioxin contamination scandal hits Belgium: Effects spread through European Union and beyond, World Socialist Web Site, 8 June, 1999]</ref> a major food intoxication scandal in 1999 that led to the establishment of the Belgian Food Agency.<ref>[http://www.favv-afsca.fgov.be/portal/page?_pageid=34,66751&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL History of the Federal Food Agency, at its official homepage]</ref> This event resulted in an atypically large representation by the Greens in parliament, and a greater emphasis on environmental politics during the first Verhofstadt government. One Green policy, for example, resulted in [[nuclear power phase-out#Belgium|nuclear phase-out]] legislation, which has been modified by the current government. The absence of Christian Democrats from the ranks of the government has enabled Verhofstadt to tackle social issues from a more [[liberalism|liberal]] point of view and to develop new legislation on the use of [[soft drug]]s, [[same-sex marriage in Belgium|same-sex marriage]] and [[euthanasia#Belgium|euthanasia]]. During the two most recent parliaments, the government has promoted active diplomacy in Africa,<ref>[http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0019846.html The Rwanda article at Tiscali.References] shows an example of Belgium's recent African policies.</ref> opposed a military intervention during the [[Iraq disarmament crisis]], and has passed legislation concerning [[War Crimes Law (Belgium)|war crimes]]. Both of Verhofstadt's terms have been marked by disputes between the Belgian communities. The major points of contention are the nocturnal air traffic routes at [[Brussels Airport]] and the status of the electoral district of [[Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde]].
+Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power is organized around the need to represent the main cultural communities. Since around 1970, the significant national Belgian [[political party|political parties]] have split into distinct components that mainly represent the political and linguistic interests of these communities. The major parties in each community, though close to the [[centrism|political centre]], belong to three main groups: the [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] [[Liberals]], the [[Social conservatism|socially conservative]] [[Christian democracy|Christian Democrats]], and the [[Social democracy|Socialists]] forming the [[left-wing politics|left-wing]]. Further notable parties came to be well after the middle of last century, mainly around [[List of political parties in Belgium#Linguistic parties|linguistic]], [[nationalism|nationalist]], or [[worldwide green parties|environmental]] themes, and recently smaller ones of [[Liberalism in Belgium#Timeline|some specific liberal]] nature.
-{{seealso|list of Belgian monarchs|Belgian federal parliament|Belgian federal government|list of Belgian Prime Ministers|Political parties in Belgium}}
+A string of Christian Democrat coalition governments from 1958 was broken in [[Belgian general election, 1999|1999]] after the first [[dioxin]] crisis, a major food contamination scandal which led to the establishment of the Belgian Food Agency.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Dioxin contamination scandal hits Belgium: Effects spread through European Union and beyond
+|work=World Socialist Web Site (<small>WSWS</small>)
+|publisher=International Committee of the Fourth International (<small>ICFI</small>)
+|author=Tyler, Richard <!--Do NOT link to fictional character or The Daily Telegraph's Enterprise Editor, this R.T.=WSWS correspondent—>
+|date=[[1999-06-08]]
+|url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jun1999/belg-j08.shtml
+|accessdate=2007-05-25}} – Follow-up on occasion of 2nd dioxin crisis: [http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?id=65481-belgium-netherlands-dioxin α]</ref><ref>
+{{cite press release
+|title=Food Law News - EU&nbsp;: <small>CONTAMINANTS</small> - Commission Press Release (IP/99/399) Preliminary results of EU-inspection to Belgium
+|date=[[1999-06-16]]
+|author=[[European Commission]]
+|publisher=School of Food Biosciences, University of Reading, UK
+|url=http://www.foodlaw.rdg.ac.uk/news/eu-99-40.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-29}}</ref> A 'rainbow [[coalition]]' emerged from six parties: the Flemish and the French-speaking Liberals, Social Democrats, Greens.<ref>
+{{cite news
+|title=Belgium's "rainbow" coalition sworn in
+|publisher=BBC News
+|date=[[1999-07-12]]
+|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/392004.stm
+|accessdate=2007-05-20}}</ref> Later, a 'purple coalition' of Liberals and Social Democrats formed after the Greens lost most of their seats in the [[Belgian general election, 2003|2003 election]].<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=La Chambre des représentants — Composition (''Composition of the Chamber of Representatives'')
+|date=[[2006-03-09]]
+|publisher=The Chamber of Representatives of Belgium
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|url=http://www.lachambre.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/pri/fiche/10F.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-05-25}}<!--REF FAILS TO CONFIRM TEXT (counting seats does not exclude possibility of Ecolo/NVA/FN as 5th etc parties)—></ref> 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 energy policy#Europe|nuclear phase-out]], and instigated legislation allowing more stringent [[War Crimes Law (Belgium)|war crime]] and more lenient [[soft drugs|soft drug usage]] prosecution. Restrictions on withholding [[euthanasia#Belgium|euthanasia]] were reduced and [[same-sex marriage in Belgium|same-sex marriage]] legalized. The government promoted active diplomacy in Africa<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Rwanda
+|work=tiscali.reference
+|publisher=Tiscali UK
+|url=http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0019846.html
+|accessdate=2007-05-27}} The article shows an example of Belgium's recent African policies.</ref> and opposed the invasion of Iraq.<ref>{{cite news
+|title=Belgian demand halts NATO progress
+|publisher=CNN News
+|date=[[2003-02-16]]
+|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/16/sprj.irq.nato.belgium.ap/
+|accessdate=2007-06-16}}</ref> Verhofstadt's coalition fared badly in the [[Belgian general election, 2007|elections of 2007]].  Since then, as of November 2007, the country has been experiencing a long lasting [[2007 Belgian government formation |political crisis]].  This crisis is such that many observers have speculated a possible [[partition of Belgium]].
-==Administrative divisions==
+In its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, [[Reporters Without Borders]] ranked Belgium (along with [[Finland]] and [[Sweden]]) 5th out of 169 countries.
-{{main|Communities and regions of Belgium}}
-{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" align="right" style="vertical-align:top;"
+==Communities and regions==
-|+ '''Belgium is divided into three communities and into three regions.'''
+{{main|Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium}}
-||[[Image:Vlaamse GemeenschapLocatie.png|150px]]<br/>'''[[Flemish Community]]'''
+{{seealso|Language legislation in Belgium|Municipalities with language facilities}}
-('''[[Dutch language|Dutch]] speaking''')
+{| class="wikitable" align="right" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:5px;margin-left:15px;text-align:center;font-size:87%;line-height:1em;background-color:transparent;"
-||[[Image:Franse GemeenschapLocatie.png|150px]]<br/>'''[[French Community of Belgium|French Community]]'''
+|[[Image:Vlaamse GemeenschapLocatie.png|120px]]<br/>[[Flemish Community]]<br/>([[Dutch language|Dutch]]-speaking)
-('''[[French language|French]] speaking''')
+|[[Image:Franse GemeenschapLocatie.png|120px]]<br/>[[French Community of Belgium|French Community]]<br/>([[French language|French]]-speaking)
-||[[Image:Duitstalige GemeenschapLocatie.png|150px]]<br/>'''[[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking <br/>Community]]'''
+|[[Image:Duitstalige GemeenschapLocatie.png|120px]]<br/>[[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking<br/>Community]]
 |-
-||[[Image:Vlaams GewestLocatie.png|150px]]<br/>[[Flemish Region]]
+|[[Image:Vlaams GewestLocatie.png|120px]]<br/>[[Flemish Region]]
-||[[Image:Wallonia (Belgium).png|150px]]<br/>[[Walloon Region]]
+|[[Image:Wallonia (Belgium).png|120px]]<br/>[[Walloon Region]]
-||[[Image:BelgiumBrussels.png|150px]]<br/>[[Brussels-Capital Region]]
+|<br/>[[Image:BelgiumBrussels.png|120px]]<br/>[[Brussels-Capital Region|Brussels-Capital<br/>Region]]
 |}
+Based on the four language areas defined in 1962-63, consecutive revisions of [[Constitution of Belgium|the country's constitution]] in 1970, 1980, 1988 and 1993 established a unique federal state with segregated political power into three levels:<ref name=rolandwillemyns>
-The country's [[Constitution of Belgium|constitution]] was revised on [[14 July]] [[1993]] to create a unique federal state, based on three levels:
+{{cite journal
-#The federal [[government]], based in Brussels.
+|title=The Dutch-French Language Border in Belgium
+|journal=Journal of Multilingual and Multicutural Development
+|volume=Vol. 23
+|issue=Nos. 1&2
+|year=2002
+|pages=pp. 36–49
+|author=Willemyns, Roland, [[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]], Germanic Languages
+|url=http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/023/0036/jmmd0230036.pdf
+|accessdate=2007-06-22}}</ref><ref>Footnote: Each municipality of the Kingdom is part of one of the four [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|language areas (''taalgebieden'' in Dutch, ''Sprachgebiete'' in German), occasionally called linguistic regions (''régions linguistiques'' in French)]]. See the three legal versions of the Constitution:<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Titel I: Het federale België, zijn samenstelling en zijn grondgebied
+|quote=Art.&nbsp;4 België omvat vier taalgebieden
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|date=[[2007-05-15]] last update of web page
+|work=De Belgische Grondwet
+|publisher=Belgian Senate
+|url=http://www.senate.be/doc/const_nl.html#t1
+|accessdate=2007-05-31}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Titel I: Das föderale Belgien, seine Zusammensetzung und sein Staatsgebiet
+|quote=Art.&nbsp;4 Belgien umfaßt vier Sprachgebiete
+|language=[[German language|German]]
+|date=[[2007-05-15]] last update of web page
+|work=Die Verfassung Belgiens
+|publisher=Belgian Senate
+|url=http://www.senate.be/deutsch/const_de.html#t1
+|accessdate=2007-05-31}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Titre Ier: De la Belgique fédérale, de ses composantes et de son territoire
+|quote=Art.&nbsp;4 La Belgique comprend quatre régions linguistiques
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|date=[[2007-05-15]] last update of web page
+|work=La Constitution Belge
+|url=http://www.senate.be/doc/const_fr.html#t1
+|publisher=Belgian Senate
+|accessdate=2007-05-31}}<br />&nbsp; English translation, not recently updated and without legal value:<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Title I: On Federal Belgium, its components and its territory
+|quote=Art.&nbsp;4 Belgium has four linguistic regions
+|date=[[1997-01-21]] last update of main 'the Constitution' page on web site
+|work=the Constitution
+|publisher=Belgian Senate
+|url=http://www.fed-parl.be/gwuk0001.htm#E12E1
+|accessdate=2007-05-31}}</ref>
+#The [[Belgian federal government|federal government]], based in Brussels.
 #The three language communities:
-#* the [[Flemish Community|Flemish (i.e., Dutch-speaking) Community]];
+#* the [[Flemish Community]] (Dutch-speaking);
 #* the [[French Community of Belgium|French (i.e., French-speaking) Community]];
 #* the [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking Community]].
-# The three regions (which differ from the language communities with respect to the German-speaking community and the Brussels region):
+#The three regions:
-#* the [[Flemish Region]];
+#* the [[Flemish Region]], subdivided into five [[provinces of Belgium|provinces]];
-#* the [[Walloon Region]]; and
+#* the [[Walloon Region]], subdivided into five provinces;
 #* the [[Brussels-Capital Region]].
-Conflicts between the bodies are resolved by the [[Court of Arbitration of Belgium|Court of Arbitration]]. The setup allows a compromise so distinctly different cultures can live together peacefully.
-The Flemish Community absorbed the Flemish Region in 1980 to form the government of [[Flanders]].<ref>[http://www.flanders.be/ The official homepage of Flanders (Community and Region)]</ref> The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region is included in both Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region. Flemish and Walloon regions are furthermore subdivided in administrative entities, the [[provinces of Belgium|provinces]].
+The constitutional language areas determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the for specific matters empowered institutions:
+{{clear}}
+{|class="wikitable" style="line-height:1em;border:0px none;"
+|- style="text-align:center;height:1.25em;"
+!rowspan="3" style="border-left:0px none;border-top:0px none;background-color:#ffffff;"|<br />!!rowspan="2" colspan="3" style="padding-bottom:2px;border-bottom:0px none;border-left:2px;border-right:2px;"|[[Public services|Public&nbsp;services]]&nbsp;rendered in&nbsp;the&nbsp;language&nbsp;of<br />individuals expressing&nbsp;themselves…!!colspan="3" style="border-bottom:0px none;vertical-align:top;"|the Communities!!colspan="3" style="border-left:2px;border-bottom:0px none;border-right:2px;vertical-align:top;"|the Regions (and&nbsp;their&nbsp;provinces)!!rowspan="3" style="border-bottom:none 0px;vertical-align:top;"|the<br />Federal<br />State||rowspan="7" style="width:0px;padding:0px;border:0px none;border-left:2px solid;"|<br />
+|- style="text-align:center;height:1.25em;"
+!rowspan="2" style="border-top:0px none;"|Flemish<br /><span style="vertical-align:-.3em;"><ref name="OneFlemishBody">Footnote: The Constitution set out seven institutions each of which can have a parliament, government and administration. In fact there are only six such bodies because the Flemish Region merged into the Flemish Community. This single Flemish body thus exercises powers about Community matters in the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital and in the Dutch language area, and about Regional matters only in the latter.</ref></span>!!rowspan="2" style="border-top:0px none;vertical-align:top;"|&nbsp;French&nbsp;!!rowspan="2" style="border-top:0px none;"|German-<br />speaking!!rowspan="2" style="border-left:2px;border-top:0px none;"|Flemish<br /><ref name="OneFlemishBody"/>!!rowspan="2" style="border-top:0px none;vertical-align:top;"|Walloon!!rowspan="2" style="border-right:2px;border-top:0px none;"|Brussels-<br />Capital
+|- style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;height:1.25em;"
+!style="border-top:0px none;border-left:2px;"|…in Dutch||style="border-top:0px none;"|…in French||style="border-top:0px none;border-right:2px;"|…in German
+|- style="text-align:center;"
+|style="text-align:left;font-weight:700;background-color:#f2f2f2;"|Dutch language&nbsp;area||style="border-left:2px;"|{{Y}}||style="font-size:76%;line-height:1.1em;padding-top:1px;padding-bottom:1px;white-space:nowrap;"|in 12 municipalities<br />(limited to 'facilities')||style="border-right:2px;"|-||{{Y}}||-||style="border-right:2px;"|-||{{Y}}||-||style="border-right:2px;"|-||{{Y}}
+|- style="text-align:center;"
+|style="text-align:left;font-weight:700;background-color:#f2f2f2;"|French language&nbsp;area||style="border-left:2px;font-size:76%;line-height:1.1em;padding-top:1px;padding-bottom:1px;white-space:nowrap;"|in 4 municipalities<br />(limited to 'facilities')||{{Y}}||style="border-right:2px;font-size:76%;line-height:1.1em;padding-top:1px;padding-bottom:1px;white-space:nowrap;"|in 2 municipalities<br />(limited to 'facilities')||-||{{Y}}||style="border-right:2px;"|-||-||{{Y}}||style="border-right:2px;"|-||{{Y}}
+|- style="text-align:center;"
+|style="text-align:left;font-weight:700;background-color:#f2f2f2;"|Bilingual&nbsp;area <span style="white-space:nowrap;">Brussels-Capital</span>||style="border-left:2px;"|{{Y}}||{{Y}}||style="border-right:2px;"|-||{{Y}}||{{Y}}||style="border-right:2px;"|-||-||-||style="border-right:2px;"|{{Y}}||{{Y}}
+|- style="text-align:center;"
+|style="text-align:left;font-weight:700;background-color:#f2f2f2;"|German language&nbsp;area||style="border-left:2px;"|-||style="font-size:76%;line-height:1.1em;padding-top:1px;padding-bottom:1px;white-space:nowrap;"|in all 9 municipalities<br />(limited to 'facilities')||style="border-right:2px;"|{{Y}}||-||-||style="border-right:2px;"|{{Y}}||-||{{Y}}||style="border-right:2px;"|-||{{Y}}
+|- style="line-height:.9em;background-color:#ffffff;"
+|style="border-left:none 0px;border-right:none 0px;border-bottom:none 0px;"|&nbsp;||colspan="10" style="font-size:87%;line-height:1.23em;border-left:none 0px;border-right:none 0px;border-bottom:none 0px;white-space:nowrap;"|By Law, inhabitants of 27<span style="vertical-align:-.2em;"><ref name="Lebrun">Footnote: Apart from the municipalities with language facilities for individuals, the French language area has three more municipalities in which the second language in education legally has to be either Dutch or German, whereas in its municipalities without special status this would also allow for English. {{cite web
+|title=Langues à l'école: imposées ou au choix, un peu ou beaucoup
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|author=Lebrun, Sophie
+|publisher=[[La Libre Belgique]]'s web site
+|date=[[2003-01-07]]
+|url=http://www.lalibre.be/article.phtml?id=10&subid=90&art_id=97822
+|accessdate=2007-08-17}}</ref></span> municipalities can ask limited services to be rendered in a neighbour language, forming '[[Municipalities with language facilities|facilities]]' for them.<br />'Facilities' exist only in specific municipalities near the borders of the Flemish with the Walloon and with the Brussels-Capital Regions,<br />and in Wallonia also in 2 municipalities bordering its German language area as well as for French-speakers throughout the latter area.
+|}
+Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments, when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge both; thus in the Flemish Region a single institutional body of parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and specific municipal matters.<ref name="OneFlemishBody"/>
+<!-- <ref name="StateStructure"/> —>
+The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region (which came into existence nearly a decade after the other regions) is included in both the Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region.
+Conflicts between the bodies are resolved by the [[Constitutional Court of Belgium]]. The structure is intended as a compromise to allow different cultures to live together peacefully.<ref name="Fitzmaurice"/>
-At the highest level of this three-tiered setup is the [[Belgian federal government|federal government]] which manages [[foreign affairs]], [[development aid]], [[defense (military)|defence]], [[Belgium/Military|military]], police, economic management, [[social welfare]], [[social security]] transport, energy, telecommunications, and scientific research, limited competencies in education and culture, and the supervision of taxation by regional authorities. The federal government controls more than 90 per cent of all taxation. The community governments are responsible for the promotion of language, culture and education in mostly schools, libraries and theatres. The third tier is the Regional governments, who manage mostly land and property based issues such as housing, transportation etc. For example, the building permit for a school building in Brussels belonging to the public school system would be regulated by the regional government of Brussels. However, the school as an institution would fall under the regulations of the Flemish government if the primary language of teaching is Dutch, but under the French Community government if the primary language is French.
+===Political authority===
+The Federal State retains a considerable "common heritage". This  includes justice, defense, federal police, social security, nuclear energy, monetary policy and public debt, and other aspects of public finances. State-owned companies include the Post Office and <!-- Commented out the following "– an exception to regionalized transport –" because the clause is unclear in this context. For future repair. --> [[Rail transport in Belgium|Belgian Railways]]. The Federal Government is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs.<ref name=fedgov1>
+{{cite web
+|title=The Federal Government's Powers
+|work=.be Portal
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government
+|url=http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?origin=navigationBanner.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.refresh&pageid=indexPage&navId=6188
+|accessdate=2007-05-23}}</ref>
+Communities exercise their authority only within linguistically determined geographical boundaries, originally oriented towards the individuals of a Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education, and the use of the relevant language. Extensions to personal matters less directly connected with language comprise health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc.).<ref name=fedgov2>
+{{cite web
+|title=The Communities
+|work=.be Portal
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government
+|url=http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?origin=navigationBanner.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.refresh&pageid=indexPage&navId=2686
+|accessdate=2007-05-23}}</ref>
+Regions have authority in fields that can be broadly associated with their territory. These include economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit, and foreign trade. They supervise the provinces, municipalities, and intercommunal utility companies.<ref name=fedgov3>
+{{cite web
+|title=The Regions
+|work=.be Portal
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government
+|url=http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?origin=navigationBanner.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.refresh&pageid=indexPage&navId=2690
+|accessdate=2007-05-23}}</ref>
+In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specifics. With education, for instance, the autonomy of the Communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor allows for setting minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters.<ref name=fedgov1/> Each level of government can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers.<ref name=fedgov2/><ref name=fedgov3/>
 ==Geography, climate, and environment==
 {{main|Geography of Belgium}}
-[[Image:Be-map.png|thumb|200px|[[Brussels]], [[Antwerp]] (Antwerpen), [[Ghent]] (Gent), [[Charleroi]], [[Liège (city)|Liège]], [[Bruges]] (Brugge) and [[Namur (city)|Namur]] are the seven largest cities of Belgium, with populations above 100,000]]
+Belgium shares borders with [[France]] (620&nbsp;km), [[Germany]] (167&nbsp;km), [[Luxembourg]] (148&nbsp;km) and the [[Netherlands]] (450&nbsp;km). Its total area, including surface water area, is 33,990 [[square kilometre]]s; land area alone is 30,528&nbsp;km². Belgium has three main geographical regions: the coastal plain in the north-west and the central plateau both belong to the Anglo-Belgian Basin; the [[Ardennes]] uplands in the south-east are part of the [[Variscan orogeny|Hercynian orogenic belt]]. The [[Paris Basin (geology)|Paris Basin]] reaches a small fourth area at Belgium's southernmost tip, [[Gaume|Belgian Lorraine]].<ref>
+{{cite web
-Belgium, with a land area of 30&nbsp;528 [[square kilometre]]s (33,990 km² in total), has three main geographical regions: the coastal plain in the north-west, the central plateau, and the [[Ardennes]] uplands in the south-east. The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and [[polder]]s. Polders are areas of land, close to or below sea level that have been reclaimed from the sea, from which they are protected by [[Dike (construction)|dikes]] or, further inland, by fields that have been drained with canals. The second geographical region, the central plateau, lies further inland. This is a smooth, slowly rising area that has many fertile valleys and is irrigated by many waterways. Here one can also find rougher land, including caves and small [[gorge]]s.Belgium shares borders with [[France]] 620 km, [[Germany]] 167 km, [[Luxembourg]] 148 km and [[Netherlands]] 450 km.
+|title=Belgium — The land — Relief
+|work=Encyclopædia Britannica online
+|year=© 2007
+|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, IL, USA
+|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109741/Belgium#24981.toc
+|url2=https://edit.britannica.com/getEditableToc?tocId=24981
+|accessdate=2007-07-03}}</ref>
-[[Image:Hautes-Fagnes.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Landscape in the [[High Fens]], in the Ardennes]]
+[[Image:Hautes-Fagnes.jpg|thumb|left|170px|High Fens (''Hautes Fagnes'')]]
+The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and [[polder]]s. Further inland lies a smooth, slowly rising landscape irrigated by numerous waterways, with fertile valleys and the northeastern sandy plain of the [[Campine]] (''Kempen''). The thickly forested hills and plateaus of the Ardennes are more rugged and rocky with caves and small [[gorge]]s, and offer much of Belgium's wildlife but little agricultural capability. Extending westernly into France, this area is eastwardly connected to the [[Eifel]] in Germany by the [[High Fens]] plateau, on which the [[Signal de Botrange]] forms the country's highest point at 694&nbsp;[[metre]]s (2,277&nbsp;[[foot (unit of length|ft]]).<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Geography of Belgium
+|year=<!--unknown—>
+|publisher=123independenceday.com
+|url=http://www.123independenceday.com/belgium/geography.html
+|accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Life – Nature
+|year=2005
+|publisher=Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
+|url=http://kp.org.pl/n2k/pdf/15.pdf
+|format=pdf <small>3.8&nbsp;MB</small>
+|accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref>
-The third geographical region, called the Ardennes, is more rugged than the first two. It is a thickly forested plateau, very rocky and not very good for farming, which extends into northern France and in Germany where it is named [[Eifel]]. This is where much of Belgium's wildlife can be found. Belgium's highest point, the [[Signal de Botrange]] is located in this region at only 694&nbsp;[[metre]]s (2,277&nbsp;[[foot (unit of length|ft]]).
+The climate is [[Oceanic climate|maritime temperate]], with significant precipitation in all seasons ([[Köppen climate classification]]: ''Cfb''). The average temperature is lowest in January at 3&nbsp;°[[Celsius|C]] (37&nbsp;°[[Fahrenheit|F]]), and highest in July at eighteen &nbsp;°C (sixty four &nbsp;°F). The average precipitation per month varies between 54&nbsp;[[millimetre]]s (2.1&nbsp;[[inch|in]]) in February or April, to 78&nbsp;millimetres (3.1&nbsp;in) in July.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Climate averages — Brussels
+|publisher=Euro<span style="font-size:87%;">WEATHER</span>/Euro<span style="font-size:87%;">METEO</span>, Nautica Editrice Srl, Rome, Italy
+|url=http://www.euroweather.net/english/climate/city_EBBR/id_GT/meteo_brussels%20belgium
+|accessdate=2007-05-27}}</ref> Averages for the years 2000 to 2006 show daily temperature minimums of 7&nbsp;°C (45&nbsp;°F) and maximums of 14&nbsp;°C (57&nbsp;°F), and monthly rainfall of 74&nbsp;millimetres (2.9&nbsp;[[inch|in]]); these are about 1 degree Celsius and nearly 10 millimetres above last century's normal values, respectively.<ref name=statbel2>
+{{cite web
+|title=Kerncijfers 2006 — Statistisch overzicht van België
+|pages=pp. 9–10
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium
+|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/pub/d0/p007y2006_nl.pdf
+|format=pdf <small>1.8&nbsp;MB</small>
+|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref>
-The climate is maritime [[temperate]], with significant precipitation in all seasons ([[Köppen climate classification]]: ''Cfb''; the average temperature is 3&nbsp;°C (37°F) in January, and 18°&nbsp;[[Celsius|C]] (64&nbsp;°[[Fahrenheit|F]]) in July; the average precipitation is 65&nbsp;[[millimetre]]s (2.6&nbsp;[[inch|in]]) in January, and 78&nbsp;millimetres (3.1&nbsp;in) in July).<ref>[http://www.eurometeo.com/english/climate/city_EBBR/id_GT/meteo_brussels_belgium Eurometeo: The meteo at Brussels]</ref>
+Because of its high [[population density]], location in the centre of Western Europe, and inadequate political effort, Belgium faces serious [[Environment of Belgium|environmental problems]]. A 2003 report suggested Belgian rivers to have the lowest water quality of the 122 countries studied.<ref>
+{{cite web
-Because of its high population density and location in the centre of Western Europe, Belgium faces serious [[Environment of Belgium|environmental problems]]. A 2003 report<ref>{{cite web
-|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3458
 |title=Sewage-laden Belgian water worst in world
+|last=Pearce |first=Fred
+|publisher=[[New Scientist]]
 |date=[[2003-03-05]]
-|accessdate=2006-05-09
+|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3458
-|last=Pearce
+|accessdate=2006-05-09}}</ref>
-|first=Fred
-|publisher=New Scientist}}</ref> suggested that the water in Belgium's rivers was of the lowest quality in Europe, and bottom of the 122 countries studied.
 ==Economy==
 {{main|Economy of Belgium}}
-Densely populated, Belgium is located at the heart of one of the world's most highly industrialised regions. Currently, the Belgium economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature with a dynamic [[Flanders|Flemish]] part and [[Brussels]] as its main multilingual and multi-ethnic centre and a GNP/person which is one of the highest in the [[European Union]], and a [[Wallonia|Walloon]] economy that lags roughly one quarter behind (in GNP/person).
+Belgium's economy and its [[transportation in Belgium|transportation infrastructure]] are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helps make it one of the world's ten largest trading nations. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high [[GNP]], and high exports [[per capita]].<ref name=diplomatbe1/> Belgium's main imports are food products, machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing and accessories, and textiles. Its main exports are automobiles, food and food products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and nonferrous metals. The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic [[Flanders|Flemish]] economy, with [[Brussels]] as its main multilingual and multi-ethnic centre, and a [[Wallonia|Walloon]] economy that lags behind.<ref name="Fitzmaurice"/><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Wallonia in 'decline' thanks to politicians
+|publisher=Expatica Communications BV
+|date=2005-03-9
+|url=http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=17824
+|accessdate=2007-06-16}}</ref> 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. In 1999, Belgium adopted the [[euro]], the single European currency, which fully replaced the [[Belgian franc]] in 2002. Since 1922, Belgium and [[Luxembourg]] have been a single trade market within a [[customs union|customs]] and [[currency union]]: the [[Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union]].
+[[Image:Ougree 16.jpg|thumb|300px|Steelmaking along the [[Meuse River]] at [[Ougrée]], near [[Liège (city)|Liège]]]]
+Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the [[Industrial Revolution]], in the early 1800s.<ref name=erih>
+{{cite web
+|title=Industrial History Belgium
+|publisher=European Route of Industrial Heritage
+|url=http://en.erih.net/index.php?pageId=114
+|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref> [[Liège (city)|Liège]] and [[Charleroi]] rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis and the region experienced famine from 1846&ndash;50.
+After World War II, [[Ghent]] and [[Antwerp]] experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The [[1973 oil crisis|1973]] and [[1979 oil crisis|1979 oil crises]] sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced serious decline.<ref name=usdepartmentofstate1>
+{{cite web
+|title=Background Note: Belgium
+|publisher=[[US Department of State]], Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
+|year=2007 |month=April
+|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref> In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous [[Flemish Diamond]] area.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Het belang van de Vlaamse Ruit vanuit economisch perspectief ''The importance of the Flemish Diamond from an economical perspective''
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|author=Vanhaverbeke, Wim
+|url=http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264
+|publisher=Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research, [[University of Maastricht]] (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration), [[The Netherlands]]
+|accessdate=2007-05-19}}</ref>
+By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of [[GDP]]. As of 2006, the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to 90.30% of GDP.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=The World Factbook — (Rank Order — Public debt)
+|date=[[2007-04-17]]
+|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html
+|publisher=CIA
+|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref> In 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth rates of 1.5% and 3.0%, respectively, were slightly above the average for the euro area. Unemployment rates of 8.4% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2006 were close to the area average.<ref name=nbb>
+{{cite web
+|title=Key figures
+|publisher=[[National Bank of Belgium]]
+|url=http://www.nbb.be/pub/00_00_00_00_02/?l=en&t=ho
+|accessdate=2007-05-19}}</ref>
+== Demographics ==
+{{main|Demographics of Belgium}}
+At the start of 2004 nearly 92% of the Belgian population were national citizens, and around 6% were citizens from other [[European Union]] member countries. The prevalent foreign nationals were [[Italian people|Italian]] (183,021), [[French people|French]] (114,943), [[Dutch people|Dutch]] (100,700), [[Morocco|Moroccan]] (81,763), [[Spanish people|Spanish]] (43,802), [[Turkish people|Turkish]] (41,336), and [[German people|German]] (35,530).<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=European Migration Network — Annual Statistical Report on migration and asylum in Belgium (Reference year 2003) — section A. 1) b) Population by citizenship & c) Third country nationals, 1 January 2004
+|year=2006 |month=April
+|author=Perrin, Nicolas, [[Université Catholique de Louvain|UCLouvain]], Study Group of Applied Demographics (Gédap)
+|pages=pages 5–9
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Interior — Immigration Office
+|url=http://www.dofi.fgov.be/nl/statistieken/belgian%20migration%20point/punt%208%20Belgian%20Statistical%20Report%20on%20Asylum%20and%20Migration%202003.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-05-28}}</ref>
+[[Image:Be-map.png|thumb|left|275px|Main areas and places in Belgium]]
+===Urbanization===
+Almost all of the Belgian population is urban - 97% in 2004.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=5. Demographic trends — Urban population (% of total)
+|work=Human Development Indicators 2006 — Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis
+|year=2006
+|publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] (<span style="font-size:87%;">UNDP</span>)
+|url=http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/indicators/42.html
+|accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> Statistics for 1991 indicate two out of three residents were owners of their dwelling in Flanders and Wallonia, compared to 40% in the Brussels-Capital Region.<ref name=statbel3>
+{{cite web
+|title=Quelques résultats des précédents recensements — Indicateurs de logement (1991)
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium
+|year=© 1998/2007
+|language=[[French language|French]] switchable to [[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/census/previous_fr.asp
+|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref> The population density of Belgium is 342 per square kilometre (886 per square mile) – one of the highest in Europe, after that of the Netherlands and some microstates such as [[Monaco]]. The most densely inhabited area is the [[Flemish Diamond]], outlined by the [[Antwerp]]-[[Leuven]]-Brussels-[[Ghent]] agglomerations. The Ardennes have the lowest density. As of 2006, the Flemish Region had a population of about 6,078,600, with Antwerp (457,749), Ghent (230,951) and [[Bruges]] (117,251) its most populous cities; Wallonia had 3,413,978, with [[Charleroi]] (201,373), [[Liège]] (185,574) and [[Namur (city)|Namur]] (107.178) its most populous. Brussels houses 1,018,804 in the Capital Region's 19 municipalities, two of which have over 100,000 residents.<ref name=statbel1/>
+===Languages===
+Both the [[Flemish (linguistics)|Dutch spoken in Belgium]] and the [[Belgian French]] have minor differences in [[vocabulary]] and [[semantic]] nuances from the varieties spoken in the Netherlands and France. Many Flemish people still speak [[dialects]] of [[Dutch language|Dutch]] in their local environment. [[Walloon language|Walloon]], once the main [[regional language]] of [[Wallonia]], is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. Its dialects, along with those of [[Picard language|Picard]],<ref name=ethnologue>
+{{cite web
+|title=Languages of Belgium
+|work=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th edition
+|author=Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.)
+|year=2005
+|publisher=[[SIL International]] Dallas, Texas, USA
+|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE
+|accessdate=2007-05-07}}</ref> are not used in public life.
+As no [[census]] exists, there are no official statistics on Belgium's three official languages or their dialects. Various criteria, including the language(s) of parents, of education, or the second-language status of foreign born, may affect suggested figures. An estimated 59%<ref>Footnote: Native speakers of Dutch living in Wallonia and of French in Flanders are relatively small minorities which furthermore largely balance one another, hence counting all inhabitants of each unilingual area to the area's language can cause only insignificant inaccuracies (99% can speak the language). Dutch: Flanders' 6.079 million inhabitants and about 15% of Brussels' 1.019 million are 6.23 million or 59.3% of the 10.511 million inhabitants of Belgium (2006); German: 70,400 in the German-speaking Community (which has [[Municipalities with language facilities|language facilities]] for its less than 5% French-speakers), and an estimated 20,000–25,000 speakers of German in the Walloon Region outside the geographical boundaries of their official Community, or 0.9%; French: in the latter area as well as mainly in the rest of Wallonia (3.414 - 0.093 = 3.321 million) and 85% of the Brussels inhabitants (0.866 million) thus 4.187 million or 39.8%; together indeed 100%;</ref> of the Belgian population speaks [[Dutch language|Dutch]] (often referred to as [[Flemish (linguistics)|Flemish]]), and [[French language|French]] is spoken by 40%. Total Dutch speakers are 6.23 million, concentrated in the northern [[Flemish Region|Flanders]] region, while French speakers comprise 3.32 million in [[Walloon Region|Wallonia]] and an estimated 0.87 million or 85% of the officially bilingual [[Brussels-Capital Region]].<ref name=ericcorijn>Flemish Academic Eric Corijn (initiator of [http://www.charta91.be/ Charta 91]), at a colloquium regarding Brussels, on [[2001-12-05]], states that in Brussels there is 91% of the population speaking French at home, either alone or with another language, and there is about 20% speaking Dutch at home, either alone (9%) or with French (11%) – After ponderation, the repartition can be estimated at between 85 and 90% French-speaking, and the remaining are Dutch-speaking, corresponding to the estimations based on languages chosen in Brussels by citizens for their official documents (ID, driving licenses, weddings, birth, death, and so on); all these statistics on language are also available at Belgian Department of Justice (for weddings, birth, death), Department of Transport (for Driving licenses), Department of Interior (for IDs), because there are no means to know ''precisely'' the proportions since Belgium has abolished 'official' linguistic censuses, thus official documents on language choices can only be estimations. For a web source on this topic, see e.g. [[#General online sources|General online sources: Janssens, Rudi]]</ref><ref name=britishcouncil>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgium Market background
+|quote=The capital Brussels, 80–85 percent French-speaking, ...
+|publisher=[[British Council]]
+|url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-information-background-belgium.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-05}} – Strictly, the capital is the municipality [[Brussels|(City of) Brussels]], though the Brussels-Capital Region might be intended because of its name and also its other municipalities housing institutions typical for a capital.</ref> The [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|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 language|German]]. Roughly 23,000 more of German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community.<ref name=germanspeakingcommunity1/><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Citizens from other countries in the German-speaking Community
+|publisher=The German-speaking Commmunity
+|url=http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1408/2267_read-27184/
+|accessdate=2007-05-05}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=German (Belgium) — Overview of the language
+|publisher=Mercator, Minority Language Media in the European Union, supported by the [[European Commission]] and the [[University of Wales]]
+|url=http://www.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/user/merwww/index.pl?rm=lang_detail;id=112;lang=1
+|accessdate=2007-05-07}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgique • België • Belgien — La Communauté germanophone de Belgique
+|work=L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|date=[[2006-04-19]]
+|author=Leclerc, Jacques <!--NO LINK: this is not the wellknown general—>, membre associé du TLFQ
+|publisher=Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), [[Université Laval]], [[Quebec]]
+|url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/AXL/europe/belgiqueger.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-07}}</ref>
+[[Image:Brussels signs.jpg|thumb|200px|Bilingual signs in Brussels.]]
+The Capital Region having bilingual status obliges its authorities to attend to people and organisations in French or Dutch language as these prefer, and to show street names in both languages on the plates, but does not allow a bilingual school as education belongs to either the French Community or the Flemish one. Geographically, it is an [[enclave]] in the Flemish Region though near Wallonia. Constitutionally, it is a politically distinct Region, while within its boundaries both the Flemish and French Communities exercise their authority. Its local language until shortly before Belgium's independence used to be Dutch, now mainly spoken by approximately 0.15 million residents, or a 15% minority.<ref name=jacquesleclerc1/><ref name=paulderidder/><ref name=simonpetermann/><ref name=ericcorijn/><ref name=britishcouncil/> Recent immigration, usually from a neither French nor Dutch-speaking country, has brought its population of foreign origin to 56%; thus the first language of roughly half of the inhabitants is not an official one of the Capital Region. Nevertheless, about three out of four residents have the Belgian nationality.<ref name=philippevanparijs>
+{{cite journal
+|title=Belgium's new linguistic challenges
+|author=[[Philippe Van Parijs|Van Parijs, Philippe]], Professor of economic and social ethics at the [[Université Catholique de Louvain|UCLouvain]], Visiting Professor at [[Harvard University]] and the [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven|KULeuven]]
+|journal=KVS Express (supplement to newspaper [[De Morgen]]) March–April 2007
+|pages=Article from [http://www.kvs.be/kvs_express/KVS_EXPRESS_13_WEB.pdf original source (pdf <small>4.9&nbsp;MB</small>)] pages 34–36 republished by the Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium
+|url=http://www.statbel.fgov.be/studies/ac699_en.pdf
+|format=pdf <small>0.7&nbsp;MB</small>
+|accessdate=2007-05-05}} – The linguistic situation in Belgium (and in particular various estimations of the population speaking French and Dutch in Brussels) is discussed in detail.</ref><ref name=standaard>
+{{cite journal
+|title=Van autochtoon naar allochtoon
+|quote=''Meer dan de helft van de Brusselse bevolking is van vreemde afkomst. In 1961 was dat slechts 7 procent.'' (More than half of the Brussels' population is of foreign origin. In 1961 this was only 7 percent.)
+|journal=[[De Standaard]] (newspaper) online
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|url=http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=641B1LAQ&word=brussel+bevolking
+|accessdate=2007-05-05}}</ref><ref name=calc1>Footnote: The Brussels region's 56% residents of foreign origin include several percents of either [[Netherlands<!--must link nationality, not 'ethnic group'—>|Dutch people]] or native speakers of French, thus roughly half of the inhabitants do not speak either French or Dutch as primary language.</ref><ref name=ibsa>
+{{cite web
+|title=Population et ménages
+|publisher=IBSA Cellule statistique — Min. Région Bruxelles-Capitale (Statistical cell — Ministry of the Brussels-Capital Region)
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|url=http://www.bruxelles.irisnet.be/cmsmedia/fr/is_2006_population_menages.pdf?uri=43742a9611346ccd0111374fb94f0351
+|format=pdf <small>1.4&nbsp;MB</small>
+|accessdate=2007-05-05}}</ref> In general the population of Brussels is younger and the gap between rich and poor is wider. Brussels also has a large concentration of Muslims, mostly of Turkish and Moroccan ancestry, and mainly French-speaking black Africans. However, Belgium does not collect statistics by ethnic background, so exact figures are unknown.
-[[Image:Ougree_16.jpg|thumb|300px|Steelmaking along the [[Meuse River]] at [[Ougrée]], near [[Liège (city)|Liège]].]]
+In 2006, the [[Université Catholique de Louvain|UCL]], the country's largest French-speaking university, published a report with this introduction ''(here translated)'': "This issue of Regards économiques is devoted to the demand for knowledge of languages in Belgium and in its three regions (Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia). The surveys show that Flanders is clearly more [[Multilingualism|multilingual]], which is without doubt a wellknown fact, but the difference is considerable&nbsp;: whereas 59% and 53% of the Flemings know French or English respectively, only 19% and 17% of the Walloons know Dutch or English. The measures advocated by the Marshall Plan go towards the proper direction, but are without doubt very insufficient to fully overcome the lag." ''(This particular 2006–2009 'Marshall Plan' was deviced in 2004 and published in 2005 to uplift the Walloon economy.<ref>
-Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the [[Industrial Revolution]], in the early 1800s. [[Liège (city)|Liège]] and [[Charleroi]] rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis and there was famine in Flanders (1846&ndash;50). After World War II, [[Ghent]] and [[Antwerp]] experienced a fast expansion of the [[chemical]] and [[petroleum]] industries. The [[1973 oil crisis|1973]] and [[1979 oil crisis|1979 oil crises]] sent the economy into a prolonged recession. The Belgian steel industry has since experienced serious decline. This has been responsible for inhibiting the economic development of [[Walloon Region|Wallonia]].<ref name="state.gov">[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm US Department of State's report]</ref> In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of the country continued to shift northwards to Flanders. Nowadays, industry is concentrated in the populous Flemish area in the north.
+{{cite journal
+|title=Le plan Marshall: cinq actions prioritaires pour l’avenir wallon (The Marshall plan: five prioritary actions for the Walloon future)
+|author=[http://www.bayenet.be/pages/carriere.htm Bayenet, Benoît], Professor at the [[ULB]], in 2004 Economical Advisor to the federal Vice Prime Minister & Justice Minister, and to the Walloon Region's Minister of Economy and Employment; Vandendorpe, Luc, ''Direction Politique économique'', Ministry of the Walloon Region
+|year=2004<!--text, not yet the publication—>
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|journal=<span style="font-size:87%;">OVER.WERK</span> journal of Steunpunt WAV
+|issue=4/2005
+|publisher=Acco
+|url=http://www.steunpuntwav.be/download/nl/122547/pdf
+|accessdate=2007-07-23}}</ref>)'' Within the report, professors in economics [[Victor Ginsburgh|Ginsburgh]] and [[Shlomo Weber|Weber]] further show that of the Brussels' residents, 95% declared they can speak French, 59% Dutch, and 41% know the non-local English. Economically significant for a further globalizing future, among people under the age of forty, in Flanders 59%, in Wallonia 10%, and in Brussels 28% can speak all three forementioned languages. In each region, Belgium's third official language, German, is notably less known than those.<ref>
+{{cite journal
+|author=[[Victor Ginsburgh|Ginsburgh, Victor]], [[Université Catholique de Louvain]]; [[Shlomo Weber|Weber, Shlomo]], Professor Economy and Director of the Center for Economic Studies of the [[Southern Methodist University]], Dallas, USA, and having a seat in the expert panel of the [[IMF]] <small>[http://www.itinerainstitute.org/cms.taf?Act=LoadPage&Param=ItineraInstituteBeXXX558]</small>
+|title=La dynamique des langues en Belgique
+|journal=Regards économiques, Publication préparée par les économistes de l'[[Université Catholique de Louvain]]
+|month=June
+|year=2006
+|issue=Numéro 42
+|quote=Ce numéro de Regards économiques est consacré à la question des connaissances linguistiques en Belgique et dans ses trois régions (Bruxelles, Flandre, Wallonie). Les enquêtes montrent que la Flandre est bien plus multilingue, ce qui est sans doute un fait bien connu, mais la différence est considérable&nbsp;: alors que 59&nbsp;% et 53&nbsp;% des Flamands connaissent le français ou l'anglais respectivement, seulement 19&nbsp;% et 17&nbsp;% des Wallons connaissent le néerlandais ou l'anglais. Les mesures préconisées par le Plan Marshall vont dans la bonne direction, mais sont sans doute très insuffisantes pour combler le retard. ... 95 pour cent des Bruxellois déclarent parler le français, alors que ce pourcentage tombe à 59 pour cent pour le néerlandais. Quant à l’anglais, il est connu par une proportion importante de la population à Bruxelles (41 pour cent). ... Le syndrome d’H (...) frappe la Wallonie, où à peine 19 et 17 pour cent de la population parlent respectivement le néerlandais et l’anglais.
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|url=http://regards.ires.ucl.ac.be/Archives/RE042.pdf
+|format=pdf <small>0.7&nbsp;MB</small>
+|accessdate=2007-05-07}} (Summary:
+{{cite web
+|title=Slechts 19 procent van de Walen spreekt Nederlands
+|date=[[2006-06-12]]
+|publisher=[[Nederlandse Taalunie]]
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|url=http://taalunieversum.org/nieuws/1349/
+|accessdate=2007-05-26}} – The article shows the interest in the Ginsburg-Weber report, by the French-language Belgian newspaper [[Le Soir]] and the [[Algemeen Dagblad]] in the Netherlands)</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Réformer sans tabous - Question 1: les langues — La connaissance des langues en Belgique: ''Reactie''
+|quote=Hoewel in beide landsdelen de jongeren inderdaad meer talen kennen dan de ouderen, is de talenkloof tussen Vlaanderen en Wallonië toch gegroeid. Dit komt omdat de talenkennis in Vlaanderen sneller is toegenomen dan die in Wallonië. ... Het probleem aan Franstalige kant is dus groot en er is, verassend genoeg, niet echt een verbetering of oplossing in zicht. ... het is met de kennis van het Engels ongeveer even pover gesteld als met de kennis van het Nederlands. Tot daar dus de verschoning van de povere talenkennis aan Waalse zijde als een rationele individuele keuze in een markt met externe effecten. Het is merkwaardig dat de auteurs dit huizenhoge probleem met hun verklaring
+expliciet toegeven, maar er bij het formuleren van beleidsadviezen dan toch maar van uit gaan dat hun model juist is. (Although in both parts of the country the young indeed know more languages than the elder, the languages chasm between Flanders and Wallonia has nevertheless grown. This is because the knowledge of languages in Flanders has increased faster than that in Wallonia. ... Thus the problem at the French-speaking side is large and there is, quite surprisingly, not really an improvement or solution in sight. ... the knowledge of English is in about as poor a state as the knowledge of Dutch. So far, about the excuse for the poor knowledge of languages on the Walloon side as a rational individual choice in a market with external effects. It is remarkable that the authors by their statement explicitly acknowledge this towering problem, but in formulating governance advices still assume their model to be correct.)
+|author=Schoors, Koen, Professor of Economics at [[Ghent University]], the [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven|KULeuven]] and the [[Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School]] <small>[http://www.itinerainstitute.org/cms.taf?Act=LoadPage&Param=ItineraInstituteBeXXX558]</small>
+|publisher=Itinera Institute
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|url=http://www.itinerainstitute.org/Sites/ItinerainstituteBe/Assets/RST/Q1_reactie.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-06-14}} – Reaction on the Ginsburgh-Weber report;
+{{cite web
+|title=Ib. ''Reactions''
+|language=[[French language|French]] translation
+|url=http://www.itinerainstitute.org/Sites/ItinerainstituteBe/Assets/RST/Q1_reaction.pdf
+|format=pdf}}<!--same accessdate 2007-06-14—></ref><ref name=philippevanparijs/>
-By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of [[GDP]]. Currently, budget is in balance and public debt is equal to 87.53% of GDP (2006).<ref>[http://nl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lijst_van_landen_naar_staatsschuld&oldid=6381950.].</ref> In 2005, the real growth rate of GDP was estimated at 1.5% while [[OECD]]'s prognose for 2006 is 2.9%.<ref>[http://www.nbb.be/pub/Home.htm?l=en&t=ho National Bank of Belgium]</ref>
+===Education===
+{{seealso|Education in Belgium}}
+Education is compulsory from six to eighteen for Belgians, but many continue to study until about 23 years of age. Among [[OECD]] countries in 2002, Belgium had the third-highest proportion of 18&ndash;21-year-olds enrolled in [[postsecondary education]], at 42%.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Table 388. Percentage of population enrolled in secondary and postsecondary institutions, by age group and country
+|work=Digest of Education Statistics — Tables and Figures
+|chapter=Chapter 6. International Comparisons of Education
+|year=2005, data: 2002
+|publisher=[[National Center for Education Statistics]], [[Institute of Education Sciences]] (<span style="font-size:87%;">IES</span>), [[US Department of Education]]
+|url=http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_388.asp
+|accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> Though an estimated 98% of the adult population is [[literate]], concern is rising over [[functional illiteracy]].<ref name=ethnologue/><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=I. Monitoring Human Development: Enlarging peoples's choices... — 5. Human poverty in OECD, Eastern Europe and the CIS
+|work=Human Development Indicators
+|year=2000
+|pages=pp. 172–173
+|publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] (<span style="font-size:87%;">UNDP</span>)
+|url=http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref>
-Belgium has a particularly [[open economy]]. It has developed an excellent [[transportation in Belgium|transportation infrastructure]] of ports, canals, [[Rail transport in Belgium|railways]] and highways to integrate its industry with that of its neighbours. Antwerp is the second-largest European port. One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate the member economies. In 1999, Belgium adopted the [[euro]], the single European currency, which replaced the [[Belgian franc]] in 2002. The Belgian economy is strongly oriented towards foreign trade, in particular of high value-added goods. The main imports are food products, machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing and accessories, and textiles. The main exports are automobiles, food and food products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and nonferrous metals. Since 1922, Belgium and [[Luxembourg]] have been a single trade market within a [[customs union|customs]] and [[currency union]]—the [[Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union]]. Its main trading partners are Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States and Spain. Belgium ranks thirteenth on the 2006 [[United Nations]] [[Human Development Index]].
+Highly politicized conflicts between freethought and Catholic segments of the population during the 1950s caused a split in educational organization. A secular branch of schooling is controlled by the Community, the province, or the municipality, while religious, mainly [[Catholic school|Catholic branch]] education, is organized by religious authorities, although [[subsidy|subsidized]] and supervised by the Community.<ref name=deley>
+{{cite web
+|title=Humanists and Muslims in Belgian Secular Society (Draft version)
+|year=2000
+|author=De Ley, Herman
+|publisher=Centrum voor Islam in Europe (Centre for Islam in Europe), [[Ghent University]]
+|url=http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/CIE/deley10.htm
+|accessdate=2007-06-07}}</ref>
-==Demographics==
+===Religion===
-[[Image:Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Belgium.jpg|250px|thumb|right|[[Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Belgium|Basilica of the Sacred Heart]], [[Brussels]] is the National [[Basilica]] of Belgium. It stands as a symbol of the historical link between the [[List of Belgian monarchs|Belgian monarchy]] and the [[Roman Catholic Church]].]]
+{{seealso|Religion in Belgium}}
-{{main|Demographics of Belgium}}
+Since independence, Catholicism, counterbalanced by strong [[freethought]] movements, has had an important role in Belgium's politics.<ref>See for example [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_%281913%29/Belgium Belgium] entry of the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]]</ref>  However Belgium is largely a [[secular]] country as the ''[[laicite|laicist]]'' [[Constitution of Belgium|constitution]] provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. Nevertheless, the monarchy has a reputation of deeply-rooted Catholicism. In 1990, for instance, as King constitutionally obliged to sign a law legalizing abortion after it had been passed by both chambers, [[Baudouin I of Belgium|Baudouin]] asked the then Christian-Democrat Prime Minister [[Wilfried Martens]] to find a way out, causing the Parliament to declare him 'temporarily unfit to reign', with his consent.<ref>
-The [[population density]] (342 per km² or 886 per sq.&nbsp;mi) of Belgium is one of the highest in Europe, after that of the Netherlands and some microstates such as [[Monaco]]. The areas with the highest population density are around the Brussels-[[Antwerp]]-[[Ghent]]-[[Leuven]] agglomerations, also known as the [[Flemish Diamond]], as well as other important urban centres as [[Liège]], [[Charleroi]], [[Mons]], [[Kortrijk]], [[Bruges]], [[Hasselt]] and [[Namur (city)|Namur]]. The Ardennes have the lowest density. As of 2005, the Flemish Region has a population of about 6,043,161, Wallonia 3,395,942 and Brussels 1,006,749.<ref name="statbel">[http://statbel.fgov.be/ Official statistics of Belgium]</ref> Almost all of the population is urban (97.3% in 1999<ref>[http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/indicator/cty_f_BEL.html United Nation Development Programme]</ref>). The main cities and their populations are Brussels (1,006,749), Antwerp (457,749), Ghent (230,951), Charleroi (201,373), and Liège (185,574).<ref name="statbel"/>
+{{cite news
+|title=<span style="font-size:87%;">HEADLINERS</span>; Out of Power
+|publisher=New York Times
+|date=[[1990-04-08]]
+|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DB1538F93BA35757C0A966958260
+|accessdate=2007-06-07}}</ref> On the yearly national holiday, the King and Queen and other members of the royal family officially attend [[Te Deum]] celebrations.<ref>Members of the royal family may attend Te Deums at several locations, the King and Queen always in the Brussels-Capital Region.<br/>*
+{{cite web
+|title=July 21 – national holiday
+|date=2004-07-20
+|work=.be Portal
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government
+|url=http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?languageParameter=en&pageid=contentPage&docId=35613
+|accessdate=2007-07-07}}<br/>*
+{{cite web
+|title=Festivities for the National Holiday
+|date=2006-07-14
+|work=.be Portal
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government
+|url=http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?pageid=contentPage&languageParameter=en&docId=43101
+|accessdate=2007-07-07}}</ref>
-Both the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] spoken in Belgium and the [[Belgian French]] have minor differences in [[vocabulary]] and [[semantic]] nuances from the varieties spoken in the Netherlands and France. Many people can still speak [[dialects]] of [[Dutch language|Dutch]], but the [[Walloon language]] that was once the main dialect of [[Wallonia]] is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. These dialects, along with some other ones like [[Picard language|Picard]] or [[Limburgish]],<ref name="ethnologue">[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE Ethnologue.com] published by [[SIL International]]</ref> are not used in public life.
+Symbolically and materially, the [[Roman Catholic Church]] remains in a favourable position. Belgium's concept of 'recognized religions'<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hrwf.net/belgium/ext/human_rights_in_belgium_2001.pdf
+|title=2001 Annual Report on Human Rights in Belgium}}</ref> caused a tedious path for [[Islam]] to acquire the treatment of [[Jewish]] and [[Protestant]] religions. While other minority religions, such as [[Hinduism]], do not yet have such status, [[Buddhism]] set the first step on this path in 2007.<ref name=deley/><ref name=oldenburg>
+{{cite web
+|author=Bousetta, Hassan; Gsir, Sonia; Jacobs, Dirk
+|title=Active Civic Participation of Immigrants in Belgium — Country Report prepared for the European research project POLITIS, Oldenburg
+|year=2005
+|publisher=[[Carl von Ossietzky]] University, Oldenburg IBKM
+|quote=In many respects, the Catholic Roman Church remains in a very advantageous situation both symbolically and materially. The long and troublesome process which eventually lead to the recognition of Islam is also illustrative of the ambiguity of the relations between the Belgian
+State and religions. For 25 years, Islam has been maintained in an unfair position in comparison to other religions.
+|url=http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/politis-europe/download/Belgium.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref><ref name=metro>
+{{cite news
+|title=België gaat plat op zijn buik voor China (Belgium bends over backwards for China)
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|date=[[2007-05-10]]
+|publisher=[[Metro (Belgian newspaper)]]
+|issue=#1455
+|pages=page 2
+|quote=''[Upon the [[Dalai Lama]] for the second time in two years canceling a visit to Belgium after being informed by the Belgian government of [[Government of the People's Republic of China|Peking]]'s diplomatic pressure, quote newspaper:]'' Uittredend Senaatsvoorzitster Anne-Marie Lizin reageert teleurgesteld: 'Gezien het belang van de vergadering waaraan u wilde deelnemen en gezien de redenen van uw beslissing, betreur ik dat ik u niet kan ontvangen in ons land, een land dat openstaat voor iedereen, ongeacht de religieuze overtuiging, en dat net een eerste stap heeft gezet in de erkenning van het'<small>[sic]</small> 'boeddhistische filosofie'. (Lawfully resigning at the end of the government's legislation, President of the Senat Anne-Marie Lizin reacts disappointed: 'In view of the importance of the meeting you wanted to attend and in view of the reasons of your decision, I regret not being able to receive you in our country, a country open for everyone regardless the religious conviction, and which has just set a first step towards the recognition of the Buddhist philosophy.')
+|url=http://www.metrotime.be/digipapernl.html?pag=2&kdate=20070510
+|accessdate=2007-05-10}} Alternative urls:[http://www.metrotime.be/digipaperArticlenl.html?storyId=3947981 α], [http://www.metrotime.be/Belgie_gaat_plat_op_br_zijn_buik_voor_China.html β], pdf <small>1.1&nbsp;MB</small>:[http://www.metrotime.be/UserFiles/DigiPaper/nl/20070510/2/MVLMP-0-20070510-02.pdf γ]<!--Retrieved same date—></ref> According to the ''2001 Survey and Study of Religion'',<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgium
+|work=International Religious Freedom Report 2004
+|year=2004
+|publisher=US Department of State, [[Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor]]
+|url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35444.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-28}}</ref> about 47% of the population identify themselves as belonging to the Catholic Church, while Islam is the second-largest religion at 4%. A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered more religious than Wallonia, showed 55% to call themselves religious, and that 36% believe that God created the world.<ref>Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organisation for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine [[22 November]][[2006]] p. 14 [The Dutch language term 'gelovig' is in the text translated as 'religious', more precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of God in a [[monotheism|monotheistic]] sense, and/or in some [[afterlife]]].</ref>
-About 86 percent of the Belgian population has the Belgian nationality; 9 percent are either (in order of their numbers) [[Italian people|Italian]], [[Morocco|Moroccan]], [[French people|French]], [[Turkish people|Turkish]] or [[Dutch people|Dutch]] and 5% has one of various other nationalities.<ref>[http://www.dofi.fgov.be/fr/statistieken/belgian%20migration/Les%20vingt%20premi%C3%A8res%20populations%20d'origine%20%C3%A9trang%C3%A8re%20repr%C3%A9sent%C3%A9es%20en%20Belgique%20au%201er%20janvier%202002.pdf Statistics (PDF).]</ref>
+According to the most recent [[Eurobarometer|Eurobarometer Poll]] [[2005]],<ref name=EUROBAROMETER>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf|title=Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11|accessdate=2007-05-05}}</ref> 43% of Belgian citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 29% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 27% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".
-Since independence, Catholicism, counterbalanced by strong [[freethought]] movements, has had an important role in Belgium's politics. The ''[[laicite|laicist]]'' [[Constitution of Belgium|constitution]] provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. According to the ''2001 Survey and Study of Religion'',<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35444.htm International Religious Freedom Report 2004 at the US Department of State]</ref> about 47 percent of the population identify themselves as belonging to the Catholic Church while Islam is the second-largest religion at 3.5 percent. A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered more religious than Wallonia, showed 55% to call themselves religious, 36% believe that God created the world.<ref>Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organisation for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine [[22 November]][[2006]] p.14 [The Dutch language term 'gelovig' is in the text translated as 'religious', more precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of God in a [[monotheism|monotheistic]] sense, and/or in some [[afterlife]]].</ref> (See also [[Religion in Belgium]].)
+==Science and technology==
+[[Image:mercator.jpg|thumb|110px|Gerardus Mercator]]
+Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country's history. The sixteenth century [[Early Modern]] flourishing of Western Europe included [[cartography|cartographer]] [[Gerardus Mercator]], [[anatomy|anatomist]] [[Andreas Vesalius]], [[herbalist]] [[Rembert Dodoens]], and [[mathematics|mathematician]] [[Simon Stevin]] among the most influential scientists. In the first half of the seventeenth century, the Walloon method of making [[bar iron]] found its way to [[Sweden]] where it remained in use for more than two hundred and sixty years.
-An estimated 98 percent of the adult population is [[literate]].<ref name="ethnologue"/> Education is compulsory from the ages of six to 18, but many Belgians continue to study until the age of about 23. Among the [[OECD]] countries in 1999, Belgium had the third-highest proportion of 18–21-year-olds enrolled in [[postsecondary education]], at 42 percent.<ref>[http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d03/ch_6.asp Digest of Education Statistics 2003, US National Education Statistics]</ref> Nevertheless, in recent years, concern is rising over [[functional illiteracy]]. In the period 1994–1998, 18.4 percent of the population lacked functional literacy skills.<ref>[http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/indicator/cty_f_BEL.html United Nation Development Programme]</ref> Mirroring the historical political conflicts between the freethought and Catholic segments of the population, the Belgian educational system in each communities is split into a ''laïque'' branch controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, and a [[subsidy|subsidised]] religious – mostly Catholic – branch controlled by both the communities and the religious authorities – usually the [[diocese]]s though the religious authorities within [[Catholic school]]s have limited power.
+The quickly developed and dense Belgian railroad system caused major companies like Brugeoise et Nivelles (now the BN division of [[Bombardier]]) to develop specific technologies, and the economically important [[History of coal mining#Belgium|very deep coal mining]] in the course of the [[First Industrial Revolution]] has required highly reputed specialized studies for [[Mining engineering|mine engineers]].
+The end of the nineteenth century and the twentieth saw important Belgian advances in [[applied science|applied]] and [[pure science]]. The chemist [[Ernest Solvay]] and the engineer [[Zenobe Gramme]] gave their names to the [[Solvay process]] and the [[Gramme dynamo]], respectively, in the 1860s. [[Georges Lemaître]] is credited with proposing the [[Big Bang]] theory of the origin of the universe in 1927. Three [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine]] were awarded to Belgians: [[Jules Bordet]] in 1919, [[Corneille Heymans]] in 1938, and [[Albert Claude]] and [[Christian De Duve]] in 1974. [[Ilya Prigogine]] was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 1977.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Rembert Dodoens: iets over zijn leven en werk — Dodoens' werken
+|date=Revised [[20 Dec]], [[2005]]
+|work=Plantaardigheden — Project Rembert Dodoens (Rembertus Dodonaeus)
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|quote=... het Cruijdeboeck, dat in 1554 verscheen. Dit meesterwerk was na de bijbel in die tijd het meest vertaalde boek. Het werd gedurende meer dan een eeuw steeds weer heruitgegeven en gedurende meer dan twee eeuwen was het het meest gebruikte handboek over kruiden in West-Europa. Het is een werk van wereldfaam en grote wetenschappelijke waarde. De nieuwe gedachten die Dodoens erin neerlegde, werden de bouwstenen voor de botanici en medici van latere generaties. ''(... the Cruijdeboeck, published in 1554. This masterpiece was, after the bible, the most translated book in that time. It continued to be republished for more than a century and for more than two centuries it was the mostly used referential about herbs. It is a work with world fame and great scientific value. The new thoughts written down by Dodoens, became the building bricks for botanists and [[physician]]s of later generations.)''
+|publisher=Stichting Kruidenhoeve/Plantaardigheden, Balkbrug, the Netherlands
+|url=http://plantaardigheden.nl/dodoens/over_dodoens/leven_en_werk.htm#dodoens
+|accessdate=2007-05-17}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Simon Stevin
+|author=O'Connor, J. J.; Robertson, E. F.
+|publisher=School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland
+|year=2004
+|url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Stevin.html
+|quote=Although he did not invent decimals (they had been used by the Arabs and the Chinese long before Stevin's time) he did introduce their use in mathematics in Europe.
+|accessdate=2007-05-11}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Abstract (*)
+|quote=The importance of A. Vesalius' publication'' 'de humani corporis fabrica libri septem' ''cannot be overestimated.
+|publisher=S. Karger AG, Basel
+|url=http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowPDF&ProduktNr=223979&Ausgabe=225203&ArtikelNr=13462
+|accessdate=2007-05-11}} (*) Free abstract for pay-per-view article by
+{{cite journal
+|title=The Low Countries - 16th/17th Century
+|author=De Broe, Marc E.; De Weerdt, Dirk L.; Ysebaert, Dirk K.; Vercauteren, Sven R.; De Greef, Kathleen E.; De Broe Luc C.
+|work=Origins of Renal Physiology
+|journal=American Journal of Nephrology
+|year=1999
+|volume=19
+|issue=2
+|pages=pp. 282–9
+|pmid=10213829
+|doi=10.1159/000013462
+|url=http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowPDF&ArtikelNr=13462&Ausgabe=225203&ProduktNr=223979&filename=13462.pdf
+|format=pdf}}<br />*
+{{cite journal
+|title=Study Tour Takes A Close-up Look at Sweden’s Industrial Heritage
+|author=Poh Miller, Carol
+|journal=Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter
+|year=2003 |month=Winter
+|volume=32
+|issue=1
+|pages=p. 7. <!--publisher=—>Department of Social Sciences, [[Michigan Technological University]], U.S.A.
+|url=http://www.social.mtu.edu/ia/sian/images/sianv32/sianv321.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-07-13}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title='A Day Without Yesterday': Georges Lemaitre & the Big Bang
+|date=[[2000-03-24]]
+|pages=pp. 18–19
+|author=Midbon, Mark, [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]
+|publisher=[[Commonweal]], republished: Catholic Education Resource Center (<span style="font-size:87%;">CERC</span>)
+|url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0022.html
+|accessdate=2007-06-07}}</ref>
 ==Culture==
 {{main|Culture of Belgium}}
-Belgian cultural life has tended to concentrate within each community. The shared element is less important, because there are no bilingual universities, except the royal military academy, no common media, and no single, common large cultural or scientific organisation where both main communities are represented.
+Belgian cultural life is concentrated within each language community,<ref name="Fitzmaurice"/><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgium — Arts and cultural education
+|work=Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 8th edition
+|publisher=Council of Europe / ERICarts
+|year=2007
+|url=http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/belgium.php?aid=831
+|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgique (though it should have been 'Belgium')
+|work=European Culture Portal
+|publisher=[[European Commission]]
+|year=2007
+|url=http://ec.europa.eu/culture/portal/sites/members/belgium_en.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-10}}</ref> and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced. There are no bilingual universities except the [[Royal Military Academy (Belgium)|Royal Military Academy]], no common media, and no single large cultural or scientific organization in which both main communities are represented. Despite its divisions the region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence on European art and culture.
-[[Image:Brueghel-tower-of-babel.jpg|thumb|250px|''[[The Tower of Babel (Brueghel)|The Tower of Babel]]'', by [[Pieter Brueghel the Elder]], ([[1563]]) oil on board, now found in [[Vienna]]'s [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]]]]
+===Fine arts===
-Belgium is well-known for its fine art and architecture. The region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence over European art. The [[Mosan art]], the [[Early Netherlandish painting|Early Netherlandish]], the Flemish [[Renaissance]] and [[Baroque]] painting, and major examples of [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]], [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]], [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] and [[Baroque architecture]], and the Renaissance [[vocal music]] of the [[Franco-Flemish School]] developed in the southern part of the Low Countries, are milestones in the history of art. Famous names in this classic tradition are [[Jan van Eyck]], [[Pieter Brueghel the Elder]], [[Peter Paul Rubens]] and [[Anthony van Dyck]]. This rich artistic production, often referred to as a whole as [[Flemish art]], gradually declined during the second half of the 17th century. However, in the 19th and 20th centuries, many original artists appeared. Belgium has produced famous [[romanticism|romantic]], [[expressionism|expressionist]] and [[surrealism|surrealist]] painters; these include [[Egide Charles Gustave Wappers|Egide Wappers]], [[James Ensor]], [[Constant Permeke]] and [[René Magritte]]. Belgium has a thriving contemporary art scene, with internationally renowned artists such as [[Jan Fabre]] and the painter [[Luc Tuymans]].
+{{seealso|list of Flemish painters|list of Belgian painters}}
+[[Image:Brueghel-tower-of-babel.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''[[The Tower of Babel (Brueghel)|The Tower of Babel]]'' (oil on board, c.&nbsp;1563)<br />by [[Pieter Brueghel the Elder]], <br />in [[Vienna]]'s [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]].]]
+Contributions to painting and architecture have been especially rich. The [[Mosan art]], the [[Early Netherlandish painting|Early Netherlandish]],<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Low Countries, 1000–1400 C.E.
+|work=Timeline of Art History
+|publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
+|year=2007
+|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/07/euwl/ht07euwl.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-10}}</ref> the [[Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting|Flemish Renaissance]] and [[Baroque art|Baroque]] painting,<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Low Countries, 1400–1600 C.E.
+|work=Timeline of Art History
+|publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
+|year=2007
+|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/08/euwl/ht08euwl.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-10}}</ref> and major examples of [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]], [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]], [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] and [[Baroque architecture]]<ref>Several examples of major architectural realisations in Belgium belong to [[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage List]]:
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgium
+|work=Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List
+|publisher=[[UNESCO]]
+|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/be
+|accessdate=2007-05-15}}</ref> are milestones in the history of art. Famous names in this classic tradition include the Flemish artists [[Jan van Eyck]], [[Rogier van der Weyden]] and, [[Pieter Brueghel the Elder]] as well as [[Lambert Lombard]] and [[Theodore de Bry]] from Liège. The [[Flemish painting|historical artistic production of the Flemish]] before the early seventeenth century [[Flemish Baroque painting |Baroque style]] of [[Peter Paul Rubens]] and [[Anthony van Dyck]] is often not distinguished from that of the Dutch. In the southern Netherlands it gradually declined thereafter, although high quality [[tapestry]] continued to be created until well into the eighteenth century.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Low Countries, 1600–1800 C.E.
+|work=Timeline of Art History
+|publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
+|year=2007
+|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/09/euwl/ht09euwl.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-10}}</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Art History: Flemish School: (1600–1800) — Artists: (biography & artworks)
+|date=[[2006-02-05]]
+|publisher=World Wide Arts Resources
+|url=http://wwar.com/masters/movements/flemish_school.html
+|accessdate=2007-05-10}} – A general presentation of the Flemish artistic movement with a list of its artists, linking to their biographies and artworks</ref>
-In music, [[Adolphe Sax]] invented the [[saxophone]] in 1846. [[Henri Vieuxtemps]], [[Eugène Ysaÿe]] and [[Arthur Grumiaux]] were major 19th- and 20th-century violinists. Perhaps the most famous Belgian composer of this time was [[César Franck]]. The first Belgian singer to successfully pursue an international career is the pioneer of varieté and pop music [[Bobbejaan Schoepen]]. Jazz musician [[Toots Thielemans]] is world famous, so is singer [[Jacques Brel]]. In rock/pop music, [[K's Choice]], [[Hooverphonic]], [[Front 242]] and [[dEUS]] are well known (See also [[Music of Belgium]]).
+During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries many original [[romanticism|romantic]], [[expressionism|expressionist]] and [[surrealism|surrealist]] Belgian painters emerged, including [[Egide Charles Gustave Wappers|Egide Wappers]], [[James Ensor]], [[Constant Permeke]] and [[René Magritte]]. The avant-garde [[COBRA (avant-garde movement)|CoBrA movement]] appeared in the 1950s, while the sculptor [[Panamarenko]] remains a remarkable figure in contemporary art.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgian Artists: (biographies & artworks)
+|date=[[2006-02-05]]
+|publisher=World Wide Arts Resources
+|url=http://wwar.com/masters/nationalities/belgian.html
+|accessdate=2007-05-10}} – List of Belgian painters, linking to their biographies and artworks</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|author=Baudson, Michel
+|title=Panamarenko
+|publisher=Flammarion (Paris), quoted at presentation of the ''XXIII Bienal Internacional de São Paulo''
+|year=1996
+|url=http://www1.uol.com.br/bienal/23bienal/universa/iueopa.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-10}}</ref> The multidisciplinary artist [[Jan Fabre]] and the painter [[Luc Tuymans]] are other internationally renowned figures on the contemporary art scene. Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the work of [[Victor Horta]] and [[Henry van de Velde]], who were major initiators of the [[Art Nouveau]] style.<ref>
+[http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/brussels.php Brussels, capital of Art Nouveau (page 1)],
+{{cite web
+|title=ib. (page2)
+|year=2007
+|publisher=[http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/about_us.php Senses Art Nouveau Shop], Brussels
+|url=http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/brussels.php?page=2
+|accessdate=2007-05-11}} (for example)</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)
+|work=[[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage List]]
+|publisher=UNESCO
+|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1005
+|quote=The appearance of Art Nouveau in the closing years of the 19th century marked a decisive stage in the evolution of architecture, making possible subsequent developments, and the Town Houses of Victor Horta in Brussels bear exceptional witness to its radical new approach.
+|accessdate=2007-05-16}}</ref>
-In architecture, [[Victor Horta]] was a major initiator of the [[Art Nouveau]] style.
+The [[vocal music]] of the [[Franco-Flemish School]] developed in the southern part of the Low Countries and was an important contribution to Renaissance culture.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Western music, the Franco-Flemish school
+|quote=Most significant musically was the pervasive influence of musicians from the Low Countries, whose domination of the musical scene during the last half of the 15th century is reflected in the period designations the Netherlands school and the Franco-Flemish school.
+|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]
+|year=2007
+|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-15698/Western-music
+|accessdate=2007-05-15}}</ref> The nineteenth and twentieth-centuries witnessed the appearance of major violinists, such as [[Henri Vieuxtemps]], [[Eugène Ysaÿe]] and [[Arthur Grumiaux]], while [[Adolphe Sax]] invented the [[saxophone]] in 1846. Belgium has also produced [[Belgian music|music]] of contemporary note. The first Belgian singer to successfully pursue an international career is [[Bobbejaan Schoepen]], pioneer of varieté and pop music.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|author=Notte, Peter
+|title=De Vlaamse kleinkunstbeweging na de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Een historisch overzicht. — 4. De schlager na de tweede wereldoorlog
+|work=Verhandeling voorgelegd aan de Faculteit der Letteren en Wijsbegeerte, groep Germaanse Filologie, van de Universiteit Gent, voor het verkrijgen van de graad van licentiaat (Thesis presented at the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy, Germanic Philology, Ghent University, for obtaining a licentiate [equivalent to master's] degree) Promotor: Prof. Dr Anne-Marie Musschoot
+|year=1992
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|publisher=Sint-Lodewijkscholen (educational project ethesis)
+|url=http://www.ethesis.net/kleinkunst/kleinkunst_4.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-12}} (For these credentials see [http://www.ethesis.net/kleinkunst/kleinkunst_inhoud.htm this thesis' presentation], retrieved on [[2007-05-12]])</ref> Jazz musician [[Toots Thielemans]] has achieved global fame, as have the singers [[Jacques Brel]] and Italy-born [[Salvatore Adamo|Adamo]].<ref>The Italian singer Adamo mainly made his career in Belgium, as confirmed by the [http://www.adamosalvatore.com/bio.html biography on his site], retrieved on [[2007-06-07]].</ref> In rock/pop music, [[Telex (band)|Telex]], [[Front 242]], [[K's Choice]], [[Hooverphonic]], [[Soulwax]] and [[dEUS]] are well known.<ref>Two comprehensive discussions of rock and pop music in Belgium since the fifties:<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=The Timeline — A brief history of Belgian Pop Music
+|year=2007 |month=March
+|work=The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives
+|publisher=[http://www.muziekcentrum.be/english/about/static.asp?Id=298 Flanders Music Centre], Brussels
+|url=http://houbi.com/belpop/timeline.htm
+|accessdate=2007-06-07}}<br />*
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgian Culture — Rock
+|year=© 2006
+|publisher=[http://www.belgianexperts.com/aboutus.php Vanberg & DeWulf Importing]
+|url=http://www.belgianexperts.com/rock.php
+|accessdate=2007-05-11}}</ref>
-In literature, Belgium has produced several well-known authors, such as the poets [[Emile Verhaeren]] and novelists [[Hendrik Conscience]], [[Georges Simenon]] and [[Suzanne Lilar]]. The poet and playwright [[Maurice Maeterlinck]] won the [[Nobel Prize in literature]] in 1911. The best known [[Franco-Belgian comics]] are ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' by [[Hergé]] but many other major authors of comics have been Belgian, including [[Peyo]] ([[the smurfs]]), [[André Franquin]], [[Edgar P. Jacobs]] and [[Willy Vandersteen]].
+Belgium has produced several well-known [[Belgian literature |authors]], including the poet [[Emile Verhaeren]] and novelists [[Hendrik Conscience]], [[Georges Simenon]],  [[Suzanne Lilar]] and [[Amélie Nothomb]]. The poet and playwright [[Maurice Maeterlinck]] won the [[Nobel Prize in literature]] in 1911. ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' by [[Hergé]] is the best known of [[Franco-Belgian comics]], but many other major authors, including [[Peyo]] ([[the smurfs]]), [[André Franquin]], [[Edgar P. Jacobs]], [[Marc Sleen]], and [[Willy Vandersteen]] brought the [[Belgian comics |Belgian cartoon strip industry]] on a par with the U.S.A. and Japan.
-More recently, notable [[Cinema of Belgium|Belgian cinema]] directors have emerged, most of them strongly influenced by [[French cinema]]. The absence of a major Belgian cinema company has forced them to emigrate or participate in low-budget productions. Belgian directors include [[André Delvaux]], [[Stijn Coninx]], [[Luc Dardenne|Luc]] and [[Jean-Pierre Dardenne]]; actors include [[Jan Decleir]], [[Marie Gillain]]; and films include ''[[Man Bites Dog (film)]]'' and ''[[The Alzheimer Affair]]''. In the 1980s, Antwerp's [[Royal Academy of Fine Arts]] produced the important fashion trendsetters, the [[Antwerp Six]].
+[[Cinema of Belgium|Belgian cinema]], often influenced by the [[Cinema of the Netherlands|Dutch]] or [[French cinema|French]], has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life on-screen.<ref>Notable Belgian films based on works by Flemish authors include: ''De Witte'' (author [[Ernest Claes]]) movie by Jan Vanderheyden & Edith Kiel in 1934, remake as ''De Witte van Sichem'' directed by [[Robbe De Hert]] in 1980; ''De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen'' ([[Johan Daisne]]) [[André Delvaux]] 1965; ''Mira'' ('De teleurgang van de Waterhoek' by [[Stijn Streuvels]]) [[Fons Rademakers]] 1971; ''[[Malpertuis]] (aka The Legend of Doom House)'' ([[Jean Ray]] [pen name of Flemish author who mainly wrote in [[French language|French]], or as John Flanders in [[Dutch language|Dutch]]]) [[Harry Kümel]] 1971<!--not 1973 as hereafter 'see also' link, it won the Cannes Festival in 1972—>; ''De loteling'' ([[Hendrik Conscience]]) Roland Verhavert 1974; ''Dood van een non'' ([[Maria Rosseels]]) Paul Collet & Pierre Drouot 1975; ''Pallieter'' ([[Felix Timmermans]]) Roland Verhavert 1976; ''De komst van Joachim Stiller'' ([[Hubert Lampo]]) [[Harry Kümel]] 1976; ''[[De Leeuw van Vlaanderen]]'' ([[Hendrik Conscience]]) [[Hugo Claus]] (a famous author himself) 1985; ''[[Daens (film)|Daens]]'' ('Pieter Daens' by [[Louis Paul Boon]]) [[Stijn Coninx]] 1992; see also [http://www.ledoux.be/nl/dvdmain.htm Filmarchief ''les DVD!s de la cinémathèque''] (in [[Dutch language|Dutch]]). Retrieved on [[2007-06-07]].</ref> The absence of a major Belgian cinema company, however, has forced several talented directors to emigrate, such as Carl Colpaert or participate in low-budget productions such as [[Marc Didden]]'s ''Brussels by Night'' (1983).<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Kroniek van de Vlaamse film 1955–1990 — Perstekst naar aanleiding van de uitgave van ‘Brussels By Night’
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|publisher=[[Flemish Community]], Media Desk, Ghent
+|url=http://www.mediadesk-vlaanderen.be/ic_downloads/project%20kroniek%20van%20de%20vlaamse%20film.doc
+|format=doc
+|accessdate=2007-05-12}}</ref> Other Belgian directors include [[André Delvaux]], [[Stijn Coninx]], [[Luc Dardenne|Luc]] and [[Jean-Pierre Dardenne]]; well-known actors include [[Jan Decleir]] and [[Marie Gillain]]; and successful films include ''[[Man Bites Dog (film)|Man Bites Dog]]'' and ''[[The Alzheimer Affair]]''.<ref>A review of the Belgian cinema can be found at
+{{cite web
+|title=Cinema
+|work=.be Federal Portal
+|publisher=Federal government of Belgium
+|year=2007
+|url=http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?languageParameter=en&pageid=contentPage&docId=6879
+|accessdate=2007-05-13}}</ref> In the 1980s, Antwerp's [[Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen|Royal Academy of Fine Arts]] produced important fashion trendsetters, known as the [[Antwerp Six]].<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Fashion and the ‘Antwerp Six’
+|year=© 2004
+|publisher=[http://fashionworlds.blogspot.com/2000_01_01_fashionworlds_archive.html Fashion Worlds], Dorset, UK
+|url=http://fashionworlds.blogspot.com/2000_01_16_fashionworlds_archive.html
+|accessdate=2007-05-13}}</ref>
-Belgium has also contributed to the development of science and technology. [[mathematics|Mathematician]] [[Simon Stevin]], [[anatomy|anatomist]] [[Andreas Vesalius]] and [[cartography|cartographer]] [[Gerardus Mercator]] are among the most influential scientists from the beginning of the [[Early Modern]] Age in the Low Countries. More recently, at the end of the 19th century, in [[applied science]], the [[chemist]] [[Ernest Solvay]] and the [[engineering|engineer]] [[Zenobe Gramme]] have given their names to the [[Solvay process]] and the [[Gramme dynamo]]. [[Georges Lemaître]] is a famous Belgian [[physical cosmology|cosmologist]] credited with proposing the [[Big Bang]] theory of the origin of the universe in 1927. Three [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine]] have been awarded to Belgians: [[Jules Bordet]] in 1919, [[Corneille Heymans]] in 1938, and [[Albert Claude]] and [[Christian De Duve]] in 1974. [[Ilya Prigogine]] was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 1977.
+===Folklore===
+[[Image:Binche MCL01.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The [[Gilles]] of [[Binche]], in costume, wearing wax masks]]
+Folklore plays a major role in Belgium's cultural life: the country has a comparatively high number of [[procession]]s, [[Cavalcade (parade)|cavalcade]]s, 'ommegangs' and 'ducasses',<ref>Footnote: The Dutch word 'ommegang' is here used in the sense of an entirely or mainly non-religious procession, or the non-religious part thereof – see also [[:nl:Ommegang|its article on the Dutch-language Wikipedia]]; the Processional Giants [http://www.visitbelgium.com/mediaroom/Ommegang.htm of Brussels], Dendermonde and Mechelen mentioned in this paragraph are part of each city's 'ommegang'. The French word 'ducasse' refers also to a procession – see also [[:fr:Ducasse|its article on the French-language Wikipedia]]; the mentioned Processional Giants of Ath and Mons are part of each city's 'ducasse'.</ref> '[[Kermesse (festival)|kermesse]]', and other local festivals, nearly always with an originally religious background. The [[Carnival of Binche]] with its famous [[Gilles]], and the 'Processional Giants and Dragons' of [[Ath]], [[Brussels]], [[Dendermonde]], [[Mechelen]] and [[Mons]] are recognized by [[UNESCO]] as [[Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity]].<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Processional Giants and Dragons in Belgium and France
+|publisher=[[UNESCO]]
+|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/05eur_uk.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-15}}</ref> Other examples are the Carnival of [[Aalst]]; the still very religious processions of [[procession of the Holy Blood|the Holy Blood]] in [[Bruges]], Virga Jesse in [[Hasselt]], and [[List of basilicas#Belgium|Hanswijk]] in Mechelen; the [[August 15]] festival in [[Liège (city)|Liège]]; and the Walloon festival in [[Namur (city)|Namur]]. Originated in 1832 and revived in the 1960s, the [[Gentse Feesten]] have become a modern tradition. A major non-official holiday is the [[Saint Nicholas#Saint Nicholas the festive gift-giver|Saint Nicholas Day]], a festivity for children and, in Liège, for students.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Folklore estudiantin liégeois
+|publisher=[[University of Liège]]
+|url=http://www.ulg.ac.be/etudiants/folklore/
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|accessdate=2007-05-12}}</ref>
-On [[December 1]], [[2005]], [[Father Damien]] was chosen as the Greatest Belgian of all time by the Flemish [[VRT]], whereas the [[Walloons]] chose [[Jacques Brel]].
+===Sports===
+[[Football in Belgium|Football]] and [[cycling]] are especially popular amongst Belgians. [[Eddy Merckx]] is considered one of the greatest cyclists ever,<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Great, but there are greater
+|author=Majendie, Matt
+|publisher=[[BBC Sport]]
+|date=[[2005-04-18]]
+|quote=[the Author's] top five [cyclists] of all time: 1 Eddy Merckx, 2 [[Bernard Hinault]], 3 [[Lance Armstrong]], 4 [[Miguel Indurain]], 5 [[Jacques Anquetil]]
+|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/3925265.stm
+|format=stm
+|accessdate=2007-09-20}}</ref> given five victories of the [[Tour de France]] and numerous other bicycle races records; his hour speed record set in 1972 stood for twelve years. Belgium has produced two female tennis champions who repeatedly [[List of WTA number 1 ranked players|ranked number one of the world]], [[Kim Clijsters]] and [[Justine Henin]].
-One cannot understand Belgian cultural life without considering the folk festivals, which play a major role in the country's cultural life. Examples are the Carnival of [[Binche]] and [[Aalst]], the Ducasse of [[Ath]], the procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges, the 15th-of-August festival in Liège, and the Walloon festival in Namur. A major non-official holiday is the [[Saint Nicholas Day]], which commemorates the festival of the children and, in Liège, of the students.
+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]], and twice finished as runner-up in the Formula One World Championship. [[Thierry Boutsen]] also won three races in 1989 and 1990. Belgium also has a strong reputation in [[motocross]]; world champions include [[Roger De Coster]], [[Joël Robert]], [[Georges Jobé]], [[Eric Geboers]], [[Joël Smets]] and [[Stefan Everts]].
-[[Football in Belgium|Football]] and [[cycling]] are especially popular. Among the well known cyclists, [[Eddy Merckx]] won five [[Tour de France|Tours de France]] and is considered one of the best cyclists ever because of his numerous victories in the ''Tour'' as well as other bicycle races. Belgium has two current female tennis champions: [[Kim Clijsters]] and [[Justine Henin-Hardenne]]. The [[Spa-Francorchamps]] motor-racing circuit is considered one of the most challenging in the world and is home to the [[Belgian Grand Prix]] (a [[Formula One]] World Championship race) and a 24 hour [[saloon car]] race.  Belgium's most notable racing driver is Jacky Ickx, winner of 8 Grands Prix and a (then) record 6 Le Mans 24hr races. (The record for most wins on Le Mans is now held by Tom Kristensen [Denmark] with 7 victories. The record was set in 2005)
+Belgium has played a major part in the promotion and development of [[Duathlon]]. More specifically [[Benny Vansteelant]] has made a lasting legacy concquering a stunning 8 World Champion titles and 5 European Champion titles.
-Belgium is well known for its [[Belgian cuisine|cuisine]]. Many highly ranked restaurants can be found in the high-impact gastronomic guides, such as the [[Michelin Guide]]. Brands of Belgian chocolate, like [[Chocolatier Neuhaus|Neuhaus]], and Godiva, are world renowned and widely sold (the less famous but high quality exclusive chocolates include names such as Wittamer and Marcolini). Even the cheapest and most popular brand, [[Leonidas (chocolate maker)|Leonidas]], has earned a reputation for its quality. Belgium produces over 500 varieties of beer (see [[Belgian beer]]). The biggest brewery in the world by volume is [[Inbev]] based in Belgium (company previously known as Interbrew and makers of such beers as [[Stella Artois]] and [[Leffe]], merged with the [[Brazil|Brazilian]] brewery [[Ambev]] to become the world's biggest). Belgians have a reputation for loving [[Belgian waffle|waffles]] and [[french fries]] (both originate from Belgium). The national food is [[steak]] (or [[mussel]]s) with french fries and [[lettuce]].
+===Cuisine===
+Belgium is well known for its [[Belgian cuisine|cuisine]].<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Eating Out in Belgium
+|work=subsite www.hostelbelgium.com
+|publisher=[http://www.hostelworld.com/aboutus.php Hostelworld.com], Dublin, Ireland
+|year=2007
+|url=http://www.hostelbelgium.com/countryinfo/eating.php/ChosenCountry.Belgium
+|accessdate=2007-05-15}}</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgium cuisine
+|work=About.com: French Cuisine
+|year=2007
+|publisher=About, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company
+|url=http://frenchfood.about.com/od/belgiancuisine/Belgian_Cuisine.htm
+|accessdate=2007-05-15}}</ref> Many highly ranked restaurants can be found in the high-impact gastronomic guides, such as the [[Michelin Guide]].<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=The Michelin stars 2007 in Belgium
+|publisher=[http://www.resto.be/ware/legal.jsp Resto.be <small>TM Dreaminvest</small>]
+|year=2007
+|url=http://www2.resto.be/bib_new.cfm?langue=uk
+|accessdate=2007-05-15}}</ref> Brands of Belgian [[chocolate]], like [[Chocolatier Neuhaus|Neuhaus]], [[Guylian]] and [[Godiva Chocolatier|Godiva]], are world renowned and widely sold. This reputation of very high quality extends to sweets like the 'Caramella Mokatine', created by [[Confiserie Roodthooft]] in Antwerp in 1934.<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Confectionery, Biscuits in  Belgium – Belgium Chocolate Directory
+|author=Confiserie Roodthooft
+|publisher=WTO Emarketplace
+|url=http://www.wtonetwork.com/belgium/confectionery/confiserie-roodthooft.html
+|accessdate=2007-07-08}}</ref>
-==See also==
+Belgium produces over [[Belgian beer|500 varieties of beer]]. The biggest brewery in the world by volume is [[Inbev]] based in Belgium.<ref>
-{{portal|Belgium|Flag of Belgium.svg}}
+{{cite press release
-* [[Belgian colonial empire]]
+|title=InBev dividend 2006: 0.72 euro per share — <small>infobox:</small> About InBev
-* [[Constitution of Belgium]]
+|quote=InBev is a publicly traded company ([[Euronext]]: INB) based in [[Leuven]], Belgium. The company's origins date back to 1366, and today it is the leading global [[brewer]] by volume.
-* [[Communications in Belgium]]
+|date=[[2007-04-24]]
-* [[Crime in Belgium]]
+|publisher=InBev
-* [[Education in Belgium]]
+|url=http://www.inbev.com/press_releases/20070424.1.e.cfm
-* [[Foreign relations of Belgium]]
+|accessdate=2007-05-31}}</ref> Belgians have a reputation for loving [[Belgian waffle|waffles]] and [[French fried potatoes]], both originated in their country. The national dishes are [[steak]]-fries and [[lettuce]], and [[mussel]]s-fries.<ref>
-* [[List of Belgian municipalities by population]]
+{{cite web
-* [[List of Belgians]]
+|title=Steak-frites
-* [[List of Belgium-related topics]]
+|publisher=Epicurious
-* [[Military of Belgium]]
+|url=http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/40035
-* [[Public holidays in Belgium]]
+|accessdate=2007-08-12}} Republished from
-* [[Sport in Belgium]]
+ {{cite book
-* [[Tourism in Belgium]]
+ |title=Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook
-* [[Transportation in Belgium]]
+ |year=1996 |month=October
-* [[Belgian cuisine]]
+ |author=Van Waerebeek, Ruth; Robbins, Maria
-* [[Belgian beer]]
+ |publisher=Workman Publishing
-* [[Belgian Grand Prix]]
+ |id=ISBN 1-56305-411-6 (Paperback), ISBN 0-7611-0106-3 (Cloth)}}</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Belgium
+|publisher=Global Gourmet
+|url=http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/belgium/backgrounder.html
+|accessdate=2007-08-12}} Republished from
+ {{cite book
+ |title=Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook
+ |year=1996 |month=October
+ |author=Van Waerebeek, Ruth; Robbins, Maria
+ |publisher=Workman Publishing
+ |id=ISBN 1-56305-411-6 (Paperback), ISBN 0-7611-0106-3 (Cloth)}}</ref><ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Mussels
+|year=2005
+|work=Visit Belgium
+|publisher=Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas
+|url=http://www.visitbelgium.com/mussels.htm
+|accessdate=2007-08-12}} — Note: Contrarily to what the text suggests, the season starts as early as July and lasts through April.</ref> A challenge for a television program caused no less than 307 different Flemish local or regional dishes to be presented on a 118-metre long table in Tivoli Park in [[Mechelen]] on [[1 September]] [[2007]].<ref>
+{{cite web
+|title=Mechelen viert feest! - het verslag (Fata Morgana)
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|quote=[translated] From starter to dessert (...) from all over Flanders. Also the entire public could enjoy the food, and did! Only the verdict by the sworn [[Bailiff#Belgium|bailiff]] might spoil the fun. She counted 307 local or regional dishes
+|date=[[2007-09-02]]
+|publisher=[[één]], primary TV channel of the official Flemish radio & television broadcast institution [[Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep|VRT]]
+|url=http://www.fatamorgana.be/tv1_master/subsite/fatamorgana/afleveringen/e_fata_413_verslag_ezjkd/index.html
+|accessdate=2007-09-02}}. — [300 different ones were required to meet the challenge] see also [http://www.fatamorgana.be/tv1_master/subsite/fatamorgana/afleveringen/e_fata_413_uitdaging_cnklwpq/index.html?video_1 challenge details], retrieved on [[2007-09-02]] </ref>
-== Notes ==
+==References==
-=== References ===
+===Footnotes===
+<!-- Do not add a scrollbox to these references. It breaks formatting, inhibits printing, and prevents users of screen readers from "viewing" an article's references.—>
+{{Reflist|2}}
-{{reflist|2}}
+===General online sources===
+{{sourcesstart}}
+*{{cite web
+|title=Belgium
+|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]
+|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago, IL, USA
+|url=http://www.britannica.com/nations/Belgium
+|accessdate=2007-06-07}}
+*{{cite web
+|title=Boordtabel
+|year=2007
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
+|publisher=[http://www.briobrussel.be/eng/default.asp?WebpageId=1 Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels (<span style="font-size:87%;">BRIO</span>)]
+|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/ned/webpage4.asp?WebpageId=39
+|accessdate=2007-06-02}} (mentioning other original sources)
+*{{CIA_World_Factbook_link|be|Belgium}} Retrieved on [[2007-06-07]].
+*{{cite web
+|title=The Constitution
+|date=[[1997-01-21]]
+|publisher=Federal Parliament Belgium
+|url=http://www.fed-parl.be/constitution_uk.html
+|accessdate=2007-06-07}}
+*{{cite web
+|title=Country Portal - Europe — Belgium
+|publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium
+|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/port/cou_eu_en.asp#BE
+|accessdate=2007-06-07}}
+*{{cite web
+|title=Die Stellung und Rolle der deutschsprachigen Minderheit in Ostbelgien innerhalb des belgischen Nationalstaats
+|author=Fischer, Kathrin
+|work=Kleiner Geländekurs in die <span style="font-size:87%;">EUREGIO</span> Maas-Rhein
+|language=[[German language|German]]
+|date=[[1999-07-21]]
+|publisher=Geographical Institute of the [[Georg-August University of Göttingen|Georg-August University]] (Department Culture and Social Geography), Göttingen, Germany
+|url=http://www.geogr.uni-goettingen.de/kus/personen/euregio/emr99-21.htm
+|accessdate=2007-06-13}}
+*{{cite web
+|title=History of Belgium
+|date=Last revised [[2007-05-30]]
+|work=[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/index.html World History at KMLA]
+|publisher=[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/about.html Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (<span style="font-size:87%;">KMLA</span>)]
+|url=http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/lowcountries/xbelgium.html
+|accessdate=2007-06-02}}
+*{{cite web
+|title=Brusselse Thema's 8 — Taalgebruik in Brussel — Taalverhoudingen, taalverschuivingen en taalindentiteit in een meertalige stad
+|language=[[Dutch language|Dutch]], summary ''The Use of Languages in Brussels'' pp. 227–250 in English
+|date=[[2001-06-01]]
+|author=[http://www.briobrussel.be/ned/webpage3.asp?WebpageId=30 Janssens, Rudi], [[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]]
+|publisher=VUBPress, Brussels ISBN 90 5487 293 4 – republished on web site of Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels (<span style="font-size:87%;">[http://www.briobrussel.be/eng/default.asp?WebpageId=1 BRIO]</span>)
+|pages=312 pp
+|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/bt8download.pdf
+|format=pdf
+|accessdate=2007-06-02}}
+*{{cite web
+|title=Belgique • België • Belgien
+|work=[http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/index.shtml L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde]
+|language=[[French language|French]]
+|year=© 2006
+|author=Leclerc, Jacques<!--NO LINK: this is not the wellknown general—>, membre associé du TLFQ
+|publisher=Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), [[Université Laval]], [[Quebec]]
+|url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/belgiqueacc.htm
+|accessdate=2007-06-02}}
+*{{cite web
+|title=Bye bye Belgium?
+|date=[[2006-12-20]]
+|author=Mnookin, Robert, Professor at [[Harvard Law School|HLS]]
+|coauthors=Verbeke, Alain
+|publisher=[[International Herald Tribune]], republished by [[Harvard Law School]]
+|url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2006/12/20_mnookin.php
+|accessdate=2007-06-01}} – Reflections on nations and nation-state developments regarding Belgium
+{{sourcesend}}
-=== Sources ===
+===Bibliography===
+{{sourcesstart}}
+*{{cite book
+|title=A History of the Low Countries
+|author=[http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/literary_studies/fiches/paularblaster.htm Arblaster, Paul]
+|edition=Hardcover 312pp
+|date=[[2005-12-23]]
+|series=Palgrave Essential Histories
+|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, New York
+|isbn=1-4039-4827-5 [Also edition ([[2005-12-23]]), Paperback 312pp, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, ISBN 1-4039-4828-3]}}
+*{{cite book
+|title=History of the Low Countries
+|author=Blom, J. C. H., Dutch State Institute for War Documentation, ed.; Lamberts, Emiel, Professor in Modern History [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven|KULeuven]], ed.; Kennedy, James C., translator
+|edition=Hardcover 503pp
+|year=1999 |month=May
+|publisher=Berghahn Books, Oxford/New York
+|isbn=1-5718-1084-6 [Also newer edition ([[2006-06-29]]), Paperback 516pp, Berghahn Books, New York, ISBN 1-8454-5272-0]}}
+*{{cite book
+|title=A History of Belgium from the Roman Invasion to the Present Day
+|author=[http://www.famousbelgians.net/cammaerts.htm Cammaerts, Émile L.]<!--NO WIKILINK to poor stub—>
+|origyear=1913
+|edition=357pp
+|year=1921
+|publisher=D. Appleton and Co, New York
+|id={{OCLC|1525559}} {{ASIN|B00085PM0A}} [Also editions [1913], London, {{OCLC|29072911}}; (1921) D. Unwin and Co., New York {{OCLC|9625246}};  also published (1921) as ''Belgium from the Roman invasion to the present day'', The Story of the nations, 67, T. Fisher Unwin, London, {{OCLC|2986704}} {{ASIN|B00086AX3A}}]}}
+*{{cite book
+|title=Belgium: A History
+|url=http://www.netlibrary.com/Details.aspx
+|author=Cook, Bernard A., Professor of History at [[Loyola University New Orleans]], LA, USA
+|edition=Paperback 205pp
+|year=[http://isbndb.com/d/book/belgium_a02.html c2002] or [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0820458244 May 2004]
+|series=Studies in Modern European History, Vol. 50
+|publisher=Peter Lang Pub, New York
+|isbn=0-8204-5824-4 Ib. e-book (2004) NetLibrary, Boulder, CO, USA, ISBN 0-8204-7283-2 [Also print edition ([http://isbndb.com/d/book/belgium_a_history.html 2004-06-30] or [http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?vID=67647&vLang=E&vHR=1&vUR=3&vUUR=4&vNoHB=True 2005]), ISBN 0-8204-7647-1]}}
+*{{cite book
+|title=The History of Belgium: Part 1. Cæsar to Waterloo
+|url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1402167148/
+|author=de Kavanagh Boulger, Demetrius C.
+|edition=Paperback 493pp
+|origdate=1902
+|date=[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1402167148 2001-06-28] or [http://isbndb.com/d/book/the_history_of_belgium.html 2006-03-30]
+|series=Elibron Classics
+|publisher=Adamant Media ([[Delaware corporation]]), Boston, MA, USA.
+|isbn=1-4021-6714-8 [Facsimile reprint of a 1902 edition by the author, London]}} – {{cite book
+|title=Ib. Part 2. 1815-1865. Waterloo to the Death of Leopold I
+|author=Ib.
+|edition=Paperback 462pp
+|origyear=1909
+|date=[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/140216713X 2001-06-28] or [http://isbndb.com/d/book/the_history_of_belgium_a01.html 2006-03-30]
+|series=Ib.
+|publisher=Ib
+|isbn=1-4021-6713-X [Facsimile reprint of a 1909 edition by the author, London]}}
+*{{cite book
+|title=The Politics of Belgium: A Unique Federalism
+|author=Fitzmaurice, John
+|edition=Paperback 284pp
+|year=1996 |month=March
+|series=Nations of the modern world
+|publisher=Westview Press, Boulder, CO, USA
+|isbn=0-8133-2386-X
+|id={{OCLC|30112536}}}}
+*{{cite book
+|title=The Low Countries: History of the Northern and Southern Netherlands
+|author=Kossmann-Putto, Johanna A.; Kossmann Ernst H.; Deleu Jozef H. M., ed.; Fenoulhet Jane, translator [of: (1987). ''De Lage Landen : geschiedenis van de Noordelijke en Zuidelijke Nederlanden''. Vlaams-Nederlandse Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem]
+|edition=3rd Rev. edition Paperback 64pp
+|origyear=1987<!--verified, though @libris (alibris.com) mentions 1987—>
+|year=1993 |month=January
+|publisher=Flemish-Netherlands [http://www.onserfdeel.be/en/info.asp Foundation "Stichting Ons Erfdeel"], Rekkem, Belgium
+|isbn=9-0708-3120-1 [several editions in English, incl. (1997) 7th ed.]}}
+{{sourcesend}}
-*[http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2006/12/20_mnookin.php Harvard Law School News: Bye bye Belgium? Entry on the future of Belgium published in the International Herald Tribune]
+==See also==
-*[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/lowcountries/xbelgium.html World history at KMLA]
+{{portal|Belgium|Flag of Belgium.svg}}
-*[http://www.britannica.com/nations/Belgium Encyclopaedia Britannica, Belgium Country Page]
+<div style="font-size:90%;">
-*[http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/belgiqueacc.htm L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde] in French by Jacques Leclerc, [[University of Laval]], [[Canada]]
+{{columns |width=33ex
-*[http://statbel.fgov.be/port/cou_eu_en.asp#BE Portal of the INS to statistical publications about Belgium]
+|col1width=34.5ex
-*{{CIA_World_Factbook_link|be|Belgium}}
+|col1 =
-*[http://www.fed-parl.be/constitution_uk.html Constitution of Belgium]
+*[[List of Belgians]]
-*[http://anthony.liekens.net/index.php/Misc/EnglishInBelgium English in Belgium]
+*[[List of Belgian municipalities by population|List of Belgian municipalities]]
+*[[List of Belgium-related topics]]<br/><!--adjust till bottom of table—><br/><!--no bot fix—>
-==Bibliography==
+*[[:Category:Belgium-related lists]]
+|col2 =
-* Paul Arblaster. ''A History of the Low Countries''. Palgrave Essential Histories Series New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 298 pp. ISBN 1-4039-4828-3.
+*[[Military of Belgium]]
-* J. C. H. Blom and E. Lamberts, eds. ''History of the Low Countries'' (1999)
+*[[Crime in Belgium]]
-* Émile Cammaerts. ''A History of Belgium from the Roman Invasion to the Present Day'' (1921). 357 pages
+*[[Transportation in Belgium]]
-* Demetrius Charles de Kavanagh Boulger. ''The History of Belgium: Part 1. Cæsar to Waterloo'' (2006 edition); Part 2. 1815-1865. Waterloo to the Death of Leopold (2001)
+*[[Communications in Belgium]]
-* B. A. Cook. ''Belgium: A History'' (2002)
+*[[Sport in Belgium]]
-* J. A. Kossmann-Putto and E. H. Kossmann. ''The Low Countries: History of the Northern and Southern Netherlands'' (1987)
+|col3 =
+*[[Tourism in Belgium]]
+*[[Public holidays in Belgium]]
+}}
+</div>
 ==External links==
 {{sisterlinks|Belgium}}
+:''See also: section References, subsection [[#General online sources|General online sources]]''
 {{wikiatlas|Belgium}}
-*[http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2006/12/20_mnookin.php Harvard Law School News: Bye bye Belgium? Entry on the future of Belgium published in the International Herald Tribune]
+*{{wikitravel}}
+*[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_%281913%29/Belgium Belgium], entry on the [[Catholic Encyclopedia|Catholic Encyclopedia 1913]], republished on [[Wikisource]]
+*[http://www.monarchie.be Official site of Belgian monarchy]
 *[http://www.Belgium.be/ Official site of the Belgian federal government]
-*[http://www.visitbelgium.com/ Belgian Tourist Office in the U.S.]
+*[http://www.visitbelgium.com/ Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope],<br />- its [http://www.visitbelgium.com/links.htm#toursitofficeinbelgium links to sites of Belgian Tourist Offices in Belgium]<br />- its [http://www.visitbelgium.com/links.htm#globaloffices links to sites of Belgian Tourist Offices worldwide]
-*[http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Belgium:_Primary_Documents History of Belgium: Primary Documents]
+*[http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Belgium:_Primary_Documents History of Belgium: Primary Documents] ''EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History''
-*[http://www.belgiumtheplaceto.be/ Official site of Belgian tourist office]
+*[http://publicdiplomacy.wikia.com/wiki/Belgium Belgium], entry on the Public Diplomacy wiki monitored by the [[USC Center on Public Diplomacy]]
-* {{wikitravel}}
+*[http://www.expatica.be Expatica] portal with background information and news on Belgium
-*[http://wiki.uscpublicdiplomacy.com:16080/mediawiki/index.php/Belgium USC Center on Public Diplomacy Nation Profile]
-*[http://www.monarchie.be Official website of Belgian monarchy]