Belgium | Geography | People | Economy | Tourism, and Problems

Officially, the Kingdom of Belgium is a beautiful country that is also famous for being a large producer of chocolates and the center of the European Union. Let’s read more about this wonderful country.

Original Post: Belgium | Geography | People | Economy | Tourism, and Problems

Geography

First of all, Belgium is located in western Europe by covering a small area of 30,689 km² lying just under the Netherlands and northeast of France. Belgium is generally divided into three regions:

• The Dutch or the Flemish-speaking north region is called “Flanders”.
• The French Walloon region in the south is called “Wallonia”.
• And the capital Brussels is itself the third region.

Belgium is divided into ten provinces. And there is a French administrative area around the city of Brussels called the “BHV”, or the “Brussel Halle Vilvoorde” County in which large numbers of French minorities live.

Each of these governments of Belgium has just as much power as the central government.

Fun Fact: There is a strange border between Belgium, the border is crossing between houses and parks. A person can wake up in one country and shower in the other. Sounds weird right? But they have no problems regarding this.

The landscape of Belgium is mostly flat with a small land area and high population density.

Demographics

First of all, Belgium has a little population of 11.64 million people in 2021.

About 31% of the population of Belgium are ethnically Walloons, 58% are Flemish, And 1% German from the small German community. There are some people from different ethnic groups from Asia, Africa, and America as well.

Belgium has three distinct regions: Flanders, Walloon, and Brussels and each is equally diverse and different in some terms.

Dutch, French, and german are the major languages spoken in Belgium and these 3 are the national languages of the country. You will find Dutch and French are mostly spoken here.

About 1% of the country actually speaks German but it is one of the national languages.

In terms of culture, Belgium has a lot of things eg: some of the world’s most renowned surrealist artists like Rene Magritte came from Belgium.

The national dish of Belgium is mussels with French Fries and mayonnaise. Actually, they love fries. In fact, they make some of the best chocolates in the world.

Economy

Belgium has a free market economy which is one of the advanced and prosperous nations in the world with total annual Nominal GDP of around 579 Billion USD.

Belgium isn’t agriculturally driven, economically most of their income comes from production sectors mostly from Machinery, Metals, Beverages, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, etc.

The service sector is a major contribution to the economy of Belgium and they have been doing great to increase tourism as well. Belgium has been ranked as an important economic and political center of the European Union.

Germany, The UK, France, China, and the USA are the major trading partners of Belgium.

Tourism

Belgium is a beautiful country and it has attractive tourism destinations. Firstly, Belgium is well known for its marvelous castles, historical museums, breathtaking architecture, mouth-watering foods, and unique cultures.

These are some Worth Visiting Tourist destinations in Belgium:-

• Grand Place, Brussels
• The Battlefields of Flanders
• Brabo Fountain of Antwerp
• Belfry of Bruges
• Gravensteen, Gent
• Horta Museum and Town Houses
• Basilica of the Holy Blood, Bruges
• Meuse Valley
• St Peter’s Church
• Semois Valley

And much more.

Belgium is the safest country to travel and the good point is that you will find it affordable to explore this small country as compared to other neighboring nations.

If you are a citizen of an EU country, then you won’t have any problems entering Belgium.

And you can visit Belgium with a Schengen Visa. Yes! Belgium is a member country of the Schengen Visa-Free Zone.

Learning basic French or Dutch will be a plus point if you wish to interact with Belgians and learn much about there.

Nature and Wildlife

Belgium is small and highly populated so this country is not naturally diverse like others. You can find lushes, forests, and small bushes in some parts of the country whereas some animals like Deer, Wild Boar, Pheasant, and Badger are commonly found in Belgium.

The World Wide Fund for Nature ranks Belgium at the bottom of the list of environmental performance and They have the lowest water quality in the EU.

The weather is pretty good here. Not much hot nor freezing cold. You will fall in love with the pleasant weather of Belgium.

Innovations

Belgium is an innovative country and listed as the most innovative country in the world. They spend a large portion of their national Income on Research and Development. They have great contributions to science, literature, and innovations.

Some of the Important Innovations of Belgium:

• Contraceptive Pills
• Plastic
• Body Mass Index (BMI)
• Inline Skates
• Train
• Electric Tram
• Stock Exchange
• Sodium Carbonate

International Relations

Belgium is good at making good relations with other countries. They host the headquarters of the European Union administer their diplomatic affairs

After gaining independence from the Netherlands Belgium has quickly raised its economy into one of the leading powers of industrialized Europe and the world.

In fact, Belgium is the founding member of both, the EU and NATO.

The UK has always been a good buddy of Belgium since they played an important role in getting independence of Belgium from the Netherlands

The US played a huge role during the liberation of Belgium in WWII and they still have much love towards each other.

The only country that may have a little bit of a distaste towards Belgium is the Democratic Republic of Congo because they were colonized for a little less than a century.

However, relations are getting better today and numerous Congolese people are immigrating to Belgium yearly.

It is obvious to say, France is a close friend too because culturally the Walloon region of southern Belgium has a large influence on French things.

The Netherlands is also a close friend as they share the same culture and language within the Flanders region.

Luxembourg is always seen as the little brother of Belgium because they have been always standing with Belgium since very earlier.

Problems

Every good thing in the world comes with some problems and this small country has few too. But the major issue of Belgium is the growing population. Despite having a small area, Belgium has many people and it is increasing each year. Due to high population density and industrialized society, pollution and housing shortage are getting bigger issues.