Hot Discussion
E-commerce expert, Farrah Grant joins Alibaba.com's forums


Select a country/region

Belgium - GENERAL INFORMATION
 
Population - Local time - Languages - Religion - Political system - Climate - Tourism - Food



Population



Main Cities Population
Brussels   1,100,000  
Antwerp   468  
Gent   230  
Charleroi   207  
Liege   195  
Brugge   117  



Total population (millions): 10.4
Source: World Bank 2004

Urban population: 97%
Source: World Bank 2004

Average annual population growth: 0.3%
Source: World Bank 2004

Surface area (km²) : 33,1


Population origin

Origin of the population% Of the population
Flemish58 %
Walloons31 %
Brussels and others11 %


The linguistic diversity of Belgium is characterised as follows: the Dutch speaking people represent 58% of the population, the French speaking 41 % and the German speaking 1 %. The official languages are Dutch, French and German.




Local time


It is %T:%M %A in Brussels


GMT+1 in winter, GMT+2 in summer


Languages


Official languages: Dutch, French, German
Business language: Dutch, French, English.

Free translation tools in Belgium :
Eurodicautom
The European Union Dictionary (12 languages avalaible)

Babel Fish
Free English-German-English translator of texts and web pages

Leo
German-English-German dictionary with over 300,000 entries

Babel Fish
Free French-English-French translations of texts and web pages

Grand dictionnaire terminologique
Free French-Engish-French dictionary with 3 billion terms

Systran
Free English-Dutch-English translator of texts and web pages

Freedict.com
Dutch-English-Dutch dictionary



Religion


Religious practises : Catholics 95.9%
Others 4.1%


Political system


The political system is a constitutional monarchy, the State is federal, and ruled by the King and his Prime Minister. A lot of power has been decentralised to the regions (Wallonia, Flanders, Brussels).
The federal parliament is made of 150 members directly elected using the system of proportional representation, and made of a senate of 71 members.

Capital : Brussels
King: Albert II since 09/08/1993
Prime Minister: Guy Verhofstadt, since 12/07/1999


Climate

 


Tourism

Number of visitors in Belgium 2002 2003 2004 World rank
Number of visitors (1000) 6720   6690   6710   n.a.
Source : World Tourisme Organization, data available in November 2005

 

Tourist sites


The most successful tourist places are:
-Brussels: the Grand-Place, the Atomium (vestige of the 1958 World Fair)
-In Brugge: the Grand-Place and its Belfry, the canals
-In Gent: the City hall, the Saint Michel Bridge, Saint Nicolas Church and the Belfry
-In Antwerp: the cathedral, the port.

For more information about tourism in Belgium , check out the following web site(s) :
Belgian Tourism Board
Tourism Promotion Board Wallonie-Bruxelles
Flanders Tourism Board


Food


Traditional dishes


The Belgian food is varied. But Belgium is recognised especially for its incredible range of beers, there are more than a hundred different beers. As for culinary specialties, there are numerous regional specialties. You will be able to enjoy some Waterzooi, tomatoes with grey shrimps, mussels in white wine, the famous Flemish carbonnades and you can finish your meal with one of those famous waffels.

Food-related taboos


There is no particular food tabu in Belgium.

Export Entreprises SA ©, All rights reserved
Last modified in October 2005
Email this page Bookmark this page