Belgium

The region, which the Romans knew as Gallia Belgica, was for centuries part of the wider Low Countries, passing through the rich Burgundian state and then Habsburg, Spanish, and Austrian rule, its fortunes tied to those of its neighbours. After a period under the Netherlands, Belgium won its independence in a revolution in 1830, establishing itself as a constitutional monarchy. It industrialised early and rapidly, becoming one of the first industrial powers on the European continent.

Belgium is a small, low country, with flat coastal plains and gentle farmland in the north and west giving way to the rolling, forested hills of the Ardennes in the southeast. A short coastline meets the North Sea, and the land is crossed by rivers and canals and threaded with one of the densest transport networks in the world. Its position between France, Germany, and the Netherlands has long made it a thoroughfare, and tragically a battlefield, of European history.

The flag of Belgium has three vertical bands of black, yellow, and red. The colours are taken from the coat of arms of the historic Duchy of Brabant, a gold lion with red claws and tongue on a black field, and they were adopted at the time of the 1830 revolution that created the independent country. The bold vertical tricolour has represented the Belgian nation and monarchy ever since.

Belgium has historically been a strongly Roman Catholic country, and Catholicism shaped its culture, education, and politics for centuries, leaving a landscape of grand cathedrals and church-founded institutions. In modern times, like much of western Europe, Belgium has become considerably more secular, with regular religious practice in decline and a growing share of people non-religious. Immigration has also brought a significant Muslim community, especially to the cities.

Belgium has a culinary reputation far larger than its size. It claims the invention of fried potatoes, the beloved frites served with mayonnaise, and is world-renowned for its chocolate, crafted by celebrated chocolatiers, and its waffles. Above all, Belgium is a paradise for beer, brewing an astonishing variety, from the strong ales of Trappist monasteries to countless regional specialities. Mussels with fries is often considered the national dish.

Belgian agriculture is intensive and highly productive, suited to a small, fertile, and densely populated country. Farmers raise dairy and beef cattle and pigs, and grow wheat, sugar beet, potatoes, and vegetables, while the famous Belgian endive is a national speciality. Much of the produce supplies a strong food-processing industry, and the country, sitting at the heart of European trade routes and home to the great port of Antwerp, is an important hub for the food trade.

Belgium's independence in 1830 created the modern state, and its early industrialisation made it briefly one of the richest nations on Earth, though its history also includes the brutal colonial exploitation of the Congo. Its location made it a battlefield in both world wars: the fields of Flanders saw some of the most terrible fighting of the First World War. Since 1945 Belgium has reinvented itself as a founder and host of the European project.

Belgium has a population of around 12 million people, divided into two main communities: the Dutch-speaking Flemish in the north of the country, who are the majority, and the French-speaking Walloons in the south, with a small German-speaking minority in the east. This linguistic divide runs deep and has produced a complex federal system of government. The bilingual capital, Brussels, is both the national centre and, as the seat of the European Union, a capital for the whole continent.