One of the most densely populated and smallest European nations, Belgium is a country located in north-western Europe that is said to have invented the lip-smacking French fries.The capital of Belgium is Brussels, whose airport is famous as the largest chocolate selling point in the world. The Belgium language consists of three official languages that are spoken in different parts of Belgium – Dutch, German, and French.Belgium shares its borders with four countries. These are Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Belgium occupies a place in the European Union as a part of the six founding countries. The nation is divided into three federal regions, Wallonia, Flanders, and Brussels. People living in the five southern provinces are called Walloons who form the main French-speaking population of Belgium. The five provinces in the northeastern and northern parts of the country speak Dutch. The eastern part of the nation houses the German-speaking population. It is very common to find bilingual people in Belgium where people speak more than two languages. Belgium has one of the highest concentrations of urban areas in Europe. The title ‘Battlefield of Europe’ is given to the nation as it has seen many battles fought among several European powers and even the two World Wars. The famous Battle of Waterloo was also fought in Belgium.If you finish this article and find it interesting, do not miss out on similar articles on Austria facts and Finland facts.Belgium History It is believed that the Big Bang Theory term originated in Belgium. Two years before Edwin Hubble spoke about it, Belgian cosmologist Georges Lemaitre came up with the theory.Napoleon Bonaparte suffered his final defeat in this nation. The historical Battle of Waterloo took place on 18 June 1815 in the city of Waterloo, just south of Brussels.The Romans occupied Belgium and it was a part of Gaul. Flanders became a prominent rich center of Europe in the 14th century.Belgium has had a representative democracy since it gained independence from the Netherlands in 1830. The nation is ruled by a hereditary constitutional monarch who appoints a prime minister. Originally a unitary form of government was there but during the 1980s and 1990s, Belgium became a federal state. The powers are shared amongst the areas of Wallonia, the Brussels-Capital region, and Flanders.Belgium was the first country in the world to appoint a female member of parliament in 1921.It has been proven more than once that Belgium does not need any federal government to function. The latest formation of government took place in 2019-2020 and Belgium was without any official government for 652 days which is a world record. The reason for the delay is that people have different political views in Wallonia and Flanders. Thus, one party might receive a major portion of votes in a single region but that does not guarantee that it will receive the larger portion of votes in another region as well.At the request of the king, the people dethroned him for 36 hours in the year 1990. The king was against a pro-abortion law that was about to be passed and he refused to sign the bill. What is Belgium famous for?Belgium has Europe’s most punctual airport, the South Charleroi Airport. It occupies the second position in the world after Osaka International in Japan.Belgium became the second country in the world to legalize same-sex marriages after the Netherlands in 2003.The world’s largest court of justice is located in Belgium – the Law Courts of Brussels. The area is larger than the huge St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.The country is crazy about football whose national team is known as the Red Devils. When any major football competition takes place, the whole country gets decorated with the color red. Football can unite all the people even if they are in disagreement with one another. The nation feels like a carnival when the FIFA World Cup and the European Championships occur. Flags adorn the cars and streets and people dress up with various football accessories. The Belgian flag can be seen everywhere.The national symbol of Belgium is the Manneken Pis, a statue of a peeing boy in the capital city Brussels. Foreigners find it amusing that the boy is not dressed at most times but you will find him wearing various costumes all around the year to line up with some occasion. The GardeRobe MannekenPis Museum present in Brussels can enlighten you about the significance of the boy and you can also view some of his costumes kept on display here.You have probably heard about Tintin and the Smurfs. Did you know that along with them, Belgium has hundreds of comic book series to its credit?An interesting fact about Belgium is that the Belgian highways are lit up at night. The highly dense network of highways can be seen even from the moon. It is, therefore, brighter than any other country in the European Union.The Belgium population consists of many famous Belgians. The list includes actors Audrey Hepburn and Jean-Claude van Damme, writer Georges Simenon, artists Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Van Eyck and fashion designers Dries van Noten and Liz Claiborne.The second-largest city in Belgium, Antwerp is famous as the diamond capital of the world. The Flemish Renaissance architecture and diamond district of Antwerp is worth seeing. Lodewyk van Bercken is a Flemish jeweler who invented the polishing wheel and the first pear-cut diamond.Belgium is generally a low-lying country with an average elevation of 594 ft (181 m) above sea level. It is so low that the highest point in the nation, the Signal de Botrange, is lower than Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.The smallest city in the world is located in Belgium named Durbuy. Although it is very small to be called a town, the Count of Luxembourg gave the rank of the city to it in the early 14th century. The longest tram line in the globe is present in Belgium. It is called the Belgian Coast Tram, traveling 42 mi (68 km) along the Belgian coast from Knokke-Heist to De Panne.The second tallest people in the world are Belgian men with an average height of 5.96 ft (181.7 cm). They are second only to the Dutchmen who are 5.98 ft (182.5 cm) tall. The Belgian women, on the other hand, rank twenty-first in the world at 5.4 ft (165.5 cm) tall.The location of Belgium in Western Europe bordering the North Sea in the Atlantic Ocean makes it one of the most visited places in Europe.What is Belgium called now?Romans gave the name ‘Belgium’ to the country. The official name of Belgium is the Kingdom of Belgium that has different names in the three official languages. Belgium is called Koninkrijk België in the Dutch language, Königreich Belgien in German and Royaume deBelgique in French. The current monarch of the Kingdom of Belgium is King Philippe.The federal demarcation of Belgium has previously been mentioned in the introductory section of this article. Geographically, the country can be divided into the central plateau, the coastal plain in Flanders, and the Ardennes highlands that are located in Wallonia.Along with the Belgium capital city Brussels, there are other major cities in the nation that are quite popular in the international circuit such as Antwerp, Liege, Charleroi, and Ghent. Belgium is not only one of the most urbanized European countries, it also occupies a prominent place among the most heavily industrialized nations in the world.What is Belgium famous for producing?Belgium is famous for producing a number of Belgian food including chocolates, beer, and waffles. The Belgians believe that they also invented French fries which many people believe taste better than those available in France. Belgian fries are best had with mayonnaise.It is not unknown that Belgium produced the best chocolate in the world. How many times have you asked for Belgian chocolate-flavored ice cream in your favorite ice-cream parlor? The local people are really proud of their chocolate and you might insult them if you gift them chocolate from another country. The history of chocolate in Belgium goes back to 1635 and it is estimated that there are more than 2,000 chocolate shops in the country today. The quantity of chocolate production in Belgium ranks only after Germany.Nobody knows the number of different beers that are brewed in Belgium. But we can confidently say that there are more than 1,000 types of Belgian beers. Many beers also have the same name so it might be confusing for some people. Another interesting nugget is that there is a special glass for each type of beer. It is sacrilegious to imagine that you would serve beer to the guest in the wrong glass.The highest percentage of billiard balls are produced in Belgium, about 80%.Who doesn’t love Belgian waffles? But you might be surprised to learn that the waffles in Belgium do not taste like the ones that are available in the United States. There are more than 30 types of waffles that you will find in a normal Belgian supermarket. Among these, the two which are most popular among tourists are Liege waffles and Brussels waffles. The Liege waffles are rich, thick, and very sweet while the Brussels waffles are not much sweet but airier.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Belgium facts then why not take a look at Hungary facts, or Jamaica facts.
One of the most densely populated and smallest European nations, Belgium is a country located in north-western Europe that is said to have invented the lip-smacking French fries.
