View source for Belgium


'''Belgium''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Belgium.ogg|ˈ|b|ɛ|l|dʒ|əm}} {{respell|BEL|jəm}}), officially the '''Kingdom of Belgium''', is a [[Federation|federal]] [[sovereign state|state]] in [[Western Europe]]. It is a founding member of the [[European Union]] and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as [[NATO]].<ref group="nb" name="Note-1"
>Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many international organisations, including [[Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique|ACCT]], [[AfDB]], [[AsDB]], [[Australia Group]], [[Benelux]], [[Bank for International Settlements|BIS]], [[Convention on Cybercrime|CCC]], [[Council of Europe|CE]], [[CERN]], [[Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council|EAPC]], [[EBRD]], [[European Investment Bank|EIB]], [[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union|EMU]], [[ESA]], EU, [[FAO]], [[Group of Ten (economic)|G-10]], [[IAEA]], [[IBRD]], [[ICAO]], [[International Criminal Court|ICC]], [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|ICRM]], [[International Development Association|IDA]], [[Inter-American Development Bank|IDB]], [[International Energy Agency|IEA]], [[IFAD]], [[International Finance Corporation|IFC]], [[IFRCS]], [[IHO]], [[International Labour Organization|ILO]], [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]], [[International Maritime Organization|IMO]], [[IMSO]], [[Intelsat]], [[Interpol]], [[IOC]], [[International Organization for Migration|IOM]], [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]], [[ITU]], [[MONUC]] (observers), [[NATO]], [[Nuclear Energy Agency|NEA]], [[Nuclear Suppliers Group|NSG]], [[Organization of American States|OAS]] (observer), [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]], [[OPCW]], [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]], [[Permanent Court of Arbitration|PCA]], UN, [[UNCTAD]], [[UNECE]], [[UNESCO]], [[UNHCR]], [[United Nations Industrial Development Organization|UNIDO]], [[UNMIK]], [[UNMOGIP]], [[UNRWA]], [[UNTSO]], [[UPU]], [[West African Development Bank|WADB]] (non-regional), [[WEU]], [[WHO]], [[WIPO]], [[WMO]], [[WTrO]], [[Zangger Committee|ZC]].</ref>
Belgium covers an area of {{convert|30528|km2|sqmi}}, and it has a population of about 11&nbsp;million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] and [[Latin Europe]], Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the [[Dutch language|Dutch-speakers]], mostly [[Flemish people|Flemish]] (about 60%), and the [[Francophone|French-speakers]], mostly [[Walloons]] (about 40%), plus a small group of [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speakers]]. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of [[Flemish Region|Flanders]] in the north and the French-speaking southern region of [[Wallonia]]. The [[Brussels-Capital Region]], officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking [[List of enclaves and exclaves#Subnational enclaves which are not exclaves|enclave]] within the Flemish Region.<ref>
 {{cite web
 |title=Belgique • België • Belgien—Région de Bruxelles-Capitale • Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
 |quote=C'est une région officiellement bilingue formant au centre du pays une enclave dans la province du Brabant flamand (Vlaams Brabant)
 |work=L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde
 |language=French
 |date=18 January 2007
 |author=Leclerc, Jacques, <!--NO LINK: this is not the well-known general-->, membre associé du TLFQ
 |publisher=Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), [[Université Laval]], Quebec
 |url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/EtatsNsouverains/bruxelles-capitale.htm
 |accessdate=18 June 2007
 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070609031824/http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/AXL/EtatsNsouverains/bruxelles-capitale.htm| archivedate= 9 June 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}
<br/>*
 {{cite web
 |title=About Belgium
 |quote=the Brussels-Capital Region is an enclave of 162&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> within the Flemish region.
 |publisher=Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) / Embassy of Belgium in the Republic of Korea
 |url=http://www.belgium.or.kr/page60.html
 |accessdate=21 June 2007
 }}
<br/>*
 {{cite web
 |title=Flanders (administrative region)
 |quote=The capital of Belgium, Brussels, is an enclave within Flanders.
 |work=Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia
 |year=2007
 |publisher=Microsoft
 |url=http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArtTextonly.aspx?refid=781531490
 |accessdate=21 June 2007
 |deadurl=yes
 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5kwPxLurr
 |archivedate=31 October 2009
 }}
<br/>*
 {{cite web
 |title=The FIT Invasions of Mons
 |quote=The country is divided into three autonomous regions: Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north; mostly French-speaking [[Brussels]] in the center as an enclave within Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia in the south, including the German-speaking ''Cantons de l'Est'').
 |year=1999
 |month=October
 |author=McMillan, Eric
 |work=Capital translator, Newsletter of the <span style="font-size:92%;">NCATA</span>, Vol. 21, No. 7, p. 1
 |publisher=National Capital Area Chapter of the American Translators Association (<span style="font-size:87%;">NCATA</span>)
 |url=http://www.ncata.org/doc/Oct99.pdf
 |accessdate=21 June 2007
 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070626185804/http://www.ncata.org/doc/Oct99.pdf| archivedate= 26 June 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}{{dead link|date=September 2011}}
<br/>*
 {{cite web
 |title=Language Facilities in the Brussels Periphery
 |quote=Brussels is a kind of enclave within Flanders—it has no direct link with Wallonia.
 |author=[http://perswww.kuleuven.be/~u0025631/ Van de Walle, Steven], lecturer at University of Birmingham Institute of Local Government Studies, School of Public Policy
 |publisher=[[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven|KULeuven]]—Leuvens Universitair Dienstencentrum voor Informatica en Telematica
 |url=http://perswww.kuleuven.be/~u0025631/pdf/RANDBRUS.pdf
 |format=PDF
 |accessdate=21 June 2007
 |deadurl=yes
 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5kwPxLurr
 |archivedate=31 October 2009
 }}</ref>
A [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking Community]] exists in eastern Wallonia.<ref
 name=German-speaking_Community>
 {{cite web
 |title=The German-speaking Community
 |publisher=The German-speaking Community
 |url=http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1263/2264_read-27181/
 |accessdate=5 May 2007
 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070530023348/http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1263/2264_read-27181/| archivedate= 30 May 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}} The (original) [http://www.dglive.be/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-84/186_read-448/ version in German language] (already) mentions 73,000 instead of 71,500 inhabitants.</ref>
Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the [[history of Belgium|political history]] and a complex [[Communities and regions of Belgium|system of government]].<ref
 name=bbcnews1>
 {{Cite news
 |title=Language dispute divides Belgium
 |author=Morris, Chris<!--NO LINK unless it goes to a British TV journalist-->
 |publisher=BBC News
 |date=13 May 2005
 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4545433.stm
 |accessdate=8 May 2007
 }}</ref><ref
 name=paulderidder>
 {{cite web
 |title=Langues majoritaires, langues minoritaires, dialectes et NTIC
 |date=25 September 2001
 |language=French
 |author=Petermann, Simon, Professor at the University of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium—at colloquium ''IX<sup>e</sup> Sommet de la francophonie—Initiatives 2001—Ethique et nouvelles technologies, session 6 Cultures et langues, la place des minorités'', [[Bayreuth]]
 |url=http://www.initiatives.refer.org/Initiatives-2001/_notes/sess604.htm
 |accessdate=4 May 2007
 }}</ref>


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