Belgium

Belgium

Belgium is a European country located along the northern European coast. This country borders France, Luxembourg, Germany, and The Netherlands.

The Belgian flag has three vertical stripes. The left stripe is black, the middle stripe is gold, and the right stripe is red. The flag, altogether, represents the country’s independence. Each color, however, symbolizes a part of the country’s coat of arms. The black symbolizes the shield, the gold symbolizes the lion, and the red symbolizes the lion’s claws and tongue. This flag was adopted January 23, 1831.

Belgium consists of ten provinces and a capital region. The five northern provinces and the capital region are all in a region known as Flanders. In Flanders, the most commonly spoken language here is known as Flemish. Flemish is closely related to the Dutch language. The largest city in Flanders is Brussels. The second region in Belgium that consists of the five southern provinces is known as Wallonia. The most commonly spoken language in this region is French. The largest city in Wallonia is Charleroi.

Belgium declared independence from the Netherlands in 1830. This was accepted at the London Conference of 1830-1831. In 1914, Germany invaded Belgium. This started WWI. In 1940 Belgium is invaded by Germany again in WWII. In 1951, Leopold III’s son became king. Because of this, Belgium's African colonies were upset and wanted independence so they were given what they asked for. These countries are known today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. In 2000, Brussels officially became the capital of the European Union when the EU decided to hold all their usual meetings there.

Belgium’s government is a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy. The current Chief of State of Belgium is King Philippe and the current Prime Minister is Charles Michel. Belgium’s constitution was first drafted on November 25, 1830, was approved by Congress on February 7, 1831, and was last revised on July 14, 1993.

Many Belgians have ethnical backgrounds from either The Netherlands or France. This is because Wallonia came from France and Flanders came from The Netherlands. Belgium also receives many immigrants from its former colonies. Other large groups of immigrants are Turks, Moroccans, and Italians.