Explore Belgium in Europe - Belgium Tourism Info

Description and Basic Information

Belgium with its capital Brussels is located in Europe (Western Europe, bordering the North Sea). It covers some 30,511 square kilometres (about the size of Maryland) with 10,403,000 citizens. Dutch, French and German are the languages commonly used by the people in Belgium (consider regional differences). Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and France are bordering countries.

Belgium is a low-lying country on the North Sea coast. It has a very high rate of urbanization and has an astonishing number of cities for such a small territory. Being such a small country (300 km as its maximum distance), you can get anywhere in a couple of hours. Public transport is fast and comfortable. Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. However, English is widely spoken by the younger generations. Belgium is famous for its good cuisine and people like to go to restaurants frequently. The style is influenced not only by the surrounding countries but also by many other countries. Belgium's capital and the unofficial capital of the EU is Brussels with a nice historic centre. One of the most multicultural cities in Europe.

Pictures from Brussels (Capital)

Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners.

About Belgium

The landscape features flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast. The average density of population is about 340 per km². The climate in can be described as temperate with mild winters, cool summers, rainy, humid, cloudy. Potential threats by nature are flooding being a threat along rivers and in areas of reclaimed coastal land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes.

To reach someone in Belgium dial +32 prior to a number. There are 4,255,000 installed telephones. And there are 12,419,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks operate on frequencies of 900, 1800 MHz and 3G. Websites typically end with the top level domain ".be". If you want to bring electric appliances (e.g. battery charger), keep in mind the local 230V - 50Hz.

The country consists of 3 regions/states which are listed below.

Regions/States of Belgium

European Tourism Information

Official Tourism Office

Website: Belgium Tourism

Grote Markt 13 - 15
B - 2000 Antwerp
Belgium

Phone: +32 3 232 01 03
Fax: +32 3 231 19 37

Unesco World Heritage Properties

Belgium has 4 more world heritage locations. To see all of them, visit the Belgium Unesco Heritage location overview.

Flemish Béguinages

The Béguines were women who dedicated their lives to God without retiring from the world. In the 13th century they founded the béguinages , enclosed communities designed to meet their...

Historic Centre of Brugge

Brugge is an outstanding example of a medieval historic settlement, which has maintained its historic fabric as this has evolved over the centuries, and where original Gothic constructions form...

La Grand-Place, Brussels

La Grand-Place in Brussels is a remarkably homogeneous body of public and private buildings, dating mainly from the late 17th century. The architecture provides a vivid illustration of the level of...

Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)

The four major town houses - Hôtel Tassel, Hôtel Solvay, Hôtel van Eetvelde, and Maison & Atelier Horta - located in Brussels and designed by the architect Victor Horta, one...

Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes (Mons)

The Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes, covering more than 100 ha, are the largest and earliest concentration of ancient mines in Europe. They are also remarkable for the diversity of technological...

Demographic Information

Age Distribution in Belgium

Each pair of bars represents a single age group (male/female). Each group is spanning 5 years. E.g. 0 to 5 years, 5 to 10 etc. and group "0 to 5" being at the left end and "100 +" at the right end of the chart.

Natural Population Growth

Population, Migration and Growth: The population in Belgium is growing at an rate of 0.08% (or by 8,547 citizens). Each year 12,717 people enter this country (or 1.20 per thousand citizens) - making it an immigration country. This leads to an absolute natural increase rate of the population of -0.04%. Or an total decrease of 4,169 citizens.

Based on content from wikitravel.org. The original article can be found here based on the work of these users.
Geographic information is based on the data provided by geonames.org, CIA factsbook and Unesco.