Belgium

Today, I would like to write some of the most interesting facts about Belgium. This country was established in 1830, so it is very young if compared to the rest of countries of the Europe. However, in such a short time Belgium has managed to develop its own unique history, traditions and culture.

The first thing that comes to mind if we talk about Belgium is probably the fact that Brussels is the capital of European Union. The country is also widely known for its comics, waffles, fries and chocolate, considered as one of the best in the world.

The territory of Belgium was habited as far back as 100 BC by Celtic and Germanic peoples but the way to the creation of the sovereign state was very long. Belgium did not become independent until 1830, after the secession from the United Kingdom of Netherlands. After the success of Belgian Revolution, a Kingdom of Belgium was proclaimed. Since that time, Belgium participated actively in European politics. It became a member of Benelux, NATO and EU. It possessed its own colonies.

The country is divided into three regions: Flemish Region, Walloon Region and Brussels Capital Region. It is bilingual, or rather trilingual, because apart from Dutch and French, it recognizes also German as official language. However, the German-speaking community is not numerous. What is interesting, in almost all the country every official information has to be written in Dutch and French. Only in the German-speaking part of Walloon Region inscriptions are written in French and German.