Belgium (BELLE-jium), Flemish België (BELLE-jiuh), French La Belgique (lah belle-geek), constitutional kingdom (11,781 sq mi/ 30,513 sq km; 1991 population 9,978,681; 2004 estimated population 10,348,276), NW Europe; (cap.) Brussels; 50°50'N 04°20'E. Antwerp is the chief commercial center and one of the world’s major ports. Other important cities are Ghent and Liège.
Geography
Belgium is bordered on the N by the Netherlands and the North Sea, on the E by Germany and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and on the W and SW by France. Belgium has a maritime climate with mild winters, cool summers, and frequent fogs. Annual precipitation is around 30 in./80 mm; slightly less in the N and slightly more in the Ardennes, where winters are colder and snowier. The land slopes from the SE toward the North Sea, and can be divided into three main regions: the Ardennes; the continental plains and basins of Hainaut, Brabant, and the Kempenland; and the maritime lowlands of Flanders. Another minor region is Belgian Lorraine (French Lorraine Belge), where a small part of SE Belgium extends into the Paris Basin. The Ardennes consist of Paleozoic sediments, anciently folded and faulted, and most recently uplifted in the Hercynian orogeny. The SW-NE trending summits are gently rounded and reach 2,277 ft/694 m at Botrange, the highest point in Belgium. These wooded uplands are separated from their N outlier, the Condroz, by the Famenne and Fagne depressions. On the N flank of the Ardennes, the Sambre and the Meuse rivers have cut into the Hercynian uplift to expose carboniferous strata extending from N France to Liège. The continental plains include some rounded hills, but consist mainly of valleys with loess soils overlying sand and clay deposits of the Quaternary, except in the Kempenland, where the loess is absent and the sandy soils were not intensively cultivated until the 19th century. The maritime plains of Flanders have little relief and form the lowest part of the country, but there is some diversity. Beaches, dunes, and drained polders succeed one another in an inland direction.
Population
Belgium comprises two ethnic groups whose historic antipathy has led to the division of the country into three federal regions and three linguistic communities (established August 8–9, 1980). The three “Regions” are Flanders (Flemish Vlaanderen , French Flandres), consisting of the provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, and Limburg, and the Leuven and Halle-Vilvoorde districts of Brabant province; Brussels (Flemish Brusselse Gebied, French Région Bruxelloise), consisting of the nineteen communes of the Brussels district; and Wallonia (Flemish Wallonië, French Wallonie), consisting of the provinces of Hainaut, Namur, Liège, and Luxembourg, and the district of Nivelles. These three regions correspond as exactly as possible to the ethnic-linguistic divisions of the country.
Language
Flemish is the official language in Flanders, French is the official language of Wallonia, and Brussels is officially bilingual. Brussels was once a Flemish-speaking city in which only the upper classes spoke French. For the last 150 years, both French-speaking Walloons and Flemish speakers from Flanders have moved into the Brussels agglomeration, which eventually became bilingual. Many ethnic Flemings also abandoned their mother tongue for French. This situation has been one of the obstacles to solving Belgium’s linguistic crises, which have caused the fall of several postwar governments The laws passed in August 1980 also created three linguistic “Communities,” which are Flemish, French, and German (to address the rights of the 100,000 German speakers in Eupen, Malmédy, and parts of E Luxembourg province).
Ethnic Divisions
The regions are responsible for all that concerns the habitat and the economy, whereas the communities are the competent authorities in personal matters and cultural activities. The ethnic conflict is exacerbated by the fact that although almost all Belgians are nominally Roman Catholics, most Walloons share the secular views of their French neighbors, whereas most Flemings are devout churchgoers. The laws of 1980 have abated the discontent, but every cultural organization or association continues to reflect the deep-rooted ethnic divisions in Belgium by forming separate French and Flemish institutions. Political parties do so most explicitly; the Liberal, Social Christian, Socialist, and Green parties each are split into separate Flemish and French institutions, and the very names of the remaining parties (Vlaams Blok, Volksunie, Front Démocratique des Francophones) reveal their ethnic orientation. Ethnic tensions over the formerly bilingual Catholic University of Leuven/Louvain (founded in 1425) could only be resolved by creating two independent institutions in 1970. The Free University of Brussels (founded in 1834) was split in the same way. French is the language of the Universtiy of Liège (1817) and the State University of Mons (1965); Dutch is the language of the State University of Ghent (1817).
Economy
Belgium is one of the most densely populated and highly industrialized areas in Europe; emphasis is on heavy industry. Coal was once a significant mineral resource, but production has declined since the 1960s in favor of other fuels and nuclear power. By 1991, Belgium was importing 85% of its coal needs. A decline of the coal fields along the Sambre and Meuse valleys (Borinage, Bassin du Centre, Charleroi, Liège) caused enormous economic disruption and necessitated the difficult reconversion of tens of thousands of mine workers. Kempenland was less hard hit, but also suffered social unrest and economic hardship. As a result, coal mining and the production of iron and steel which were once the mainstay of Belgium’s exports are now much less important. Machinery and transportation equipment constitute Belgium’s largest export item, followed by chemicals and chemical products. Belgium also has an old, established metal-products industry. Manufacturing includes heavy machinery, industrial and surgical equipment, motor vehicles, rolling stock, machine tools, and munitions. Chemical products include fertilizers, dyes, pharmaceuticals, and plastics; the petrochemical industry, concentrated near the oil refineries of Antwerp, has mushroomed since World War II.
Textile production, which began in the Middle Ages, includes cotton, linen, wool, and synthetic fibers; carpets and blankets are important manufactures. Ghent, Kortrijk, Tournai, and Verviers are all textile centers; Mechelen, Bruges, and Brussels are celebrated for their lace. Other old and important industries include diamond cutting (Antwerp is the world’s largest diamond center), glass production, and the processing of food, leather, and wood.
Belgian industry is heavily dependent upon imports for its raw materials. Some iron is mined in the SE, but most is imported, especially from the Lorraine basin in France and its extension in Luxembourg. Zinc deposits once supported an active nonferrous metal industry, but the deposits have been exhausted, and the industry now utilizes imported materials. Other nonferrous metal products, made from imported raw materials, include copper, lead, and tin. Native limestone supports the cement industry. Industrial centers are linked with each other and with the main ports of Antwerp and Ghent by the Meuse and Scheldt rivers and their tributaries, by a network of canals (notably the Albert Canal), and by a dense railroad system. In shipping and transit trade, Belgium is among the world’s leading countries; the economy depends upon its exports.
Agriculture, while engaging only a small percent of the working force, is also important. The chief crops are sugar beets, potatoes, wheat, and barley, and flax is also grown. Pigs are the principal livestock, followed by cattle. Processed foods include beet sugar, cheese and other dairy items, and canned vegetables. Beer is a well-known national specialty. Belgium attracts many tourists to its North Sea beaches and resorts; to the scenic valleys of the Ardennes, and to the architectural beauties of its medieval cities; but Belgian tourists spend more abroad than do foreigners in Belgium.
History to 1815
Belgium takes its name from the Italian Belgae, the Celtic inhabitants of N Gaul. The Roman province of Belgica was invaded by the Franks in the 3rd century A.D. After the divisions (9th century) of Charlemagne’s empire, Belgium became part of Lotharingia. In the 12th century, Lower Lorraine disintegrated; the duchies of Flanders, Brabant, Hainaut, and Luxembourg and the bishopric of Liège occupied most of what is now Belgium. The histories of these feudal states and of Flanders and Hainaut constitute the medieval history of Belgium. The salient development was the rise of the cities (e.g., Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres) to virtual independence and economic prosperity through their wool industry and trade. In the 15th century, the wool industry declined, mainly because of English competition, and foreign domination under Burgundians, Spaniards, and Austrians led to cultural and economic decline. Belgium was annexed by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars, but it became part of the newly enlarged kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. The French-speaking Walloons, however, objected to being ruled by a Dutch king, and the devoutly Catholic Flemings resented rule by a Protestant monarch.
History from 1815 to World War I
A rebellion broke out in Brussels in 1830, and Belgian independence was declared. Belgian independence was approved by the European powers at the London Conference of 1830–1831 and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was chosen king of the Belgians as Leopold I. A final Dutch-Belgian peace treaty was signed in 1839, and the “perpetual neutrality” of Belgium was guaranteed by the major powers, including Prussia, at the London Conference of 1838–1839. The old duchy of Luxemburg was divided between the two countries: the W part becoming the Belgian prov. of Luxembourg, and the E section eventually becoming the independent Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The new country was among the first in Europe to industrialize and soon led the continent in the development of railroads, coal mining, and engineering. Under the rule (1865–1909) of Leopold II, rapid industrialization was accompanied by labor unrest and by the rise of Socialist parties (one Flemish and one French). Personal rule of Leopold II in the Congo led to criticism at home and abroad, and the eventual control of Belgium’s colony by the Belgian government. Under Albert I (reigned 1909–1934), universal and equal male suffrage became law (the vote was extended to women in 1948) and the cultural, linguistic, and political disenfranchisement of Flemings was slowly removed through increasing Flemish self-awareness and by the gradual democratization of the electoral process.
History from World War I to 1950
The flagrant violation of Belgian neutrality by Germany at the start of World War I brought Great Britain, as one of Belgium’s guarantors, into the war. The unexpected resistance of the Belgians infuriated the German leaders. All of Belgium except a small strip in West Flanders was conquered by October 10, 1914, and the people suffered under a harsh occupation regime. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) returned independence to Belgium, as well as the districts of Eupen and Malmédy (which had been given to Prussia in 1815). Belgium was also awarded a League of Nations mandate over Rwanda and Burundi in E Africa. In World War II, Germany, which in 1937 had guaranteed Belgian neutrality, again attacked and occupied Belgium in May 1940. King Leopold III (reigned 1934–1951) surrendered unconditionally on May 28, but the Belgian cabinet, in exile at London, continued to oppose Germany. German occupation, as elsewhere in Europe, inaugurated a reign of terror aimed at cowing the population and exterminating the Jews. Liberation by British and American troops, aided by a Belgian underground, came in September 1944. The unsuccessful German counter offensive of December 1944–January 1945, caused much destruction, adding to damage previously wrought by invasion and by Allied air raids. However, the industrial plant remained relatively intact, enabling the Belgian economy to recover rapidly after the war. The immediate political issue was the return of Leopold III, who had remained in Belgium, but was removed to Austria at the end of the war by the Germans. He was barred from Belgium until July 1950.
History 1950 to Present
Popular discontent led to his abdication (July 1951) in favor of his eldest son, Baudouin. In 1960 the Belgian Congo was given its independence (and Rwanda and Burundi in 1962), causing subsequent economic and political turmoil in Belgium. An economic union between Belgium and Luxembourg, formed in 1921 (the first of its kind in 20th-century Europe), was largely superseded by the Benelux Economic Union, which also includes the Netherlands. An early proponent of a united Europe and a firm advocate of collective security, Belgium was headquarters for the European Common Market, for Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), and for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Meetings of the European Economic Community (EC) are held in Brussels. In December 1981, the Christian Democrat–Liberal coalition, under the leadership of Wilfried Martens, came into power in Belgium. His prime ministership saw unpopular economic reforms as well as the country’s deployment of NATO cruise missiles (March 1985). Interparty strife toppled this government in 1987. A year later, however, a new coalition took control of the government, again led by Martens, which was composed of the Flemish and Walloon Socialist parties, the Christian Social (formerly Christian Democrat) party, and the Flemish Volksunie party. Defeat of the coalition in the elections of 1991 caused the fall of the Martens government, but no other group could form a majority. In March 1992, another Flemish Christian Democrat, Jean-Luc Dehaene, became prime minister.
Government
King Albert II became king on August 9, 1993. Currently, the Prime Minister is Guy Verhofstadt. Belgium, together with eleven of its EU partners, began using the euro currency in January 2002.
