Location | |
Flag | |
Quick Facts | |
Capital | Brussels |
Government | Federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch |
Currency | Euro (EUR) |
Area | 30,510 km2 |
Population | 10,414,336 (July 2009 est.) |
Language | Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 32%, German (official) less than 1%, 8% bilingual Dutch-French |
Religion | Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant or other 25% - most people aren't practising religious. |
Electricity | 230/50Hz (European plug) |
Calling Code | +32 |
Internet TLD | .be |
Time Zone | UTC +1 |
Belgium (Dutch: België, French: Belgique, German: Belgien) is a low-lying country on the North Sea coast in the Benelux. With the majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of the Belgian capital of Brussels, and as a member of the long-standing international Benelux community, Belgium sits at the crossroads of Western Europe. Its immediate neighbors are France to the southwest, Luxembourg to the southeast, Germany to the east and the Netherlands to the north.