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Belgium

BELGIUM
Royaume de Belgique / Koninkrijk België
Belgium is a small, highly developed and densely populated country (10 million of inhabitants) at the cross-roads of Western Europe. Belgium is one of the founding members of the European Community, and its capital, Brussels, is also the capital of the European Union.
It is a federal state, with 3 relatively autonomous regions: Flanders in the north, where the language is Dutch ("Flemish"), Wallonia in the south, where the language is French, and the centrally located Brussels, which is officially bilingual. Belgium's rich history has left impressive churches, town halls, castles and works of art, dating back to the early Middle Ages, spread around the cities and country-side.
Belgium has possibly the highest "quality of life" in the world, as testified by its excellent food, housing, health care, education and infrastructure, its world records for high productivity and low poverty, and the appreciation of foreigners residing in Belgium.
BELGIUM IN BRIEF
Population: 10,396,421 inhabitants (2003)(source 1)
Surface area: 30,528 km2(source 2)
Federal capital: Brussels
Head of State: King Albert II
Prime Minister: Guy Verhofstadt
National Day: 21 July
National languages : Dutch, French and German
Currency: the euro (EUR)
National product: 283.7 billions of EUR
(2004)(source 3)
Annual growth rate: 2,7 % (2004)(source 3)
Time zone : GMT + 1 hour
Summer time, from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October: GMT + 2 hours
Weights and measures: metric system
Domestic electricity: 220 volts
Population density: 339 inhabitants per km2
Maximum distance between two points: 280 kms
Geographical centre: Nil-Saint-Vincent
Peak: Signal de Botrange (694 m)
Average temperature: 9,8º Celsius (source 4)
National food: French fries
People:
Belgian people are far from being uniform and united. There are three communities living there. The Flemish, in the north of the country, speak Dutch. They...