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General Information

Belgium or the Kingdom of Belgium (Federal monarchy) is located in Western Europe. Founding member of the European Union, Belgium hosts EU headquarters as well as those of many other major international organizations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometers (11,787 square miles) and has a population of about 11 million.

Belgium has undergone through the ages to the control of the Roman, the Frank, the Norman; the Austrian; the French and the Dutch. The country was under the French administration during the period from 1795 to 1814 until the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in 1815 where the great powers decided to attach Belgium to the Netherlands. This situation lasted until 1830 where Belgian fought the war of liberation against the Dutch until obtaining independence in 1831, then Belgium became an independent State.

City of Brussels

The city was founded more than 1000 years ago. It first Fort was built in 979  and the first walls to protect the city was built in the middle of the eleventh century. Brussels became the capital of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1831.

Brussels became the capital of the European Union and its various institutions, NATO Headquarters and other international organizations. The city has become the second largest center for diplomatic relations in the world after New York.

The capital of Belgium is famous for its chocolate, lace, comic books and paintings woven out of Alpoplan.

Geographic information

https://goo.gl/maps/1pGVq

Belgium shares borders with France ((620 km), Germany (167 km), Luxembourg (148 km) and the Netherlands (450 km.

The total area, including surface water, is 33990 km2, land area alone cover 30528 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, and 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.