Brief Introduction Capital: Brussels Area: total: 30,510 sq km National Flower: Red Poppy The important Festival: National day: 21 July Population: 10356,000 Language: Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French) Currency: euro

Belgium

Geography

Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands.

Administrative divisions

10 provinces (French: provinces, singular - province; Dutch: provincies, singular - provincie) and 3 regions* (French: regions; Dutch: gewesten); Antwerpen, Brabant Wallon, Brussels* (Bruxelles), Flanders*, Hainaut, Liege, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaams-Brabant, Wallonia*, West-Vlaanderen.

Economy – overview

This modern private enterprise economy has capitalized on its central geographic location, highly developed transport network, and diversified industrial and commercial base. Industry is concentrated mainly in the populous Flemish area in the north. With few natural resources, Belgium must import substantial quantities of raw materials and export a large volume of manufactures, making its economy unusually dependent on the state of world markets.

Culture and media

Newspaper:

Belgisch Staatsblad / Moniteur Belge, European Voice, Lloyd, De/Le.

Broadcast:

Fmradio, RVI - Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal, Ciel FM.

TV Stations:

BRF, VRT Nieuws.net, VTM, RTBF