Belgium

Belgium is a federal state divided into three regions: Dutch speaking Flanders in the north, francophone Wallonia in the south and Brussels, the bilingual capital, where French and Dutch share official status. There is also a small German speaking minority of some seventy thousand in the eastern part of the country.

Belgium’s landscape varies widely sixty seven kilometres of seacoast and flat coastal plains along the North Sea, a central plateau and the rolling hills and forests of the Ardennes region in the southeast.Brussels hosts several international organizations most of the European institutions are located here as well as the NATO headquarters.Independent since , Belgium is a constitutional monarchy.


The two houses of Parliament are the Chamber of Representatives, whose members are elected for a maximum period of four years, and the Senate or upper house, whose members are elected or co-opted. Given its political make up, Belgium is generally run by coalition governments. Among the best known Belgians are Georges Rémi Hergé, creator of the Tintin comic-strip, writers Georges Simenon and Hugo Claus, composer and singer Jacques Brel and cyclist Eddy Merckx.


Painters like James Ensor, Paul Delvaux and René Magritte are the modern day successors of Rubens and the other Flemish masters of yesteryear.Belgium is famous for its chocolates, which are appreciated the world over. A favourite dish is mussels and chips French fries which, according to legend, are a Belgian invention. The country also produces over one thousand brands of beer.