Outline of Belgium explained

See also: Index of Belgium-related articles.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Belgium:

Belgium  - sovereign country located in northwest Europe.^[1] It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO, of which it is also a founding member. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany and Luxembourg to the east, France to the south and southwest and the North Sea to the northwest. Brussels is its capital and largest city.

General reference

• Pronunciation:
• Common English country name: Belgium
• Official English country name: The Kingdom of Belgium
• Common endonym(s):
• Official endonym(s):
• Adjectival(s): Belgian
• Demonym(s): Belgians
• Etymology: Name of Belgium
• International rankings of Belgium
• ISO country codes: BE, BEL, 056
• ISO region codes: See
• Internet country code top-level domain: .be

Geography of Belgium

Geography of Belgium

• Belgium is a:
  • Country
    • Developed country
  • Nation state
    • Sovereign state
    • Member State of the European Union
    • Member state of NATO
• Location:
  • Northern Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere
  • Eurasia
    • Europe
      • Western Europe
  • Time zone: Central European Time (UTC+01), Central European Summer Time (UTC+02)
  • Extreme points of Belgium
    • High: Signal de Botrange 6940NaN0
    • Low: North Sea 0 m
  • Land boundaries: 1,385 km

620 km

450 km

167 km

148 km

• Coastline: 66.5 km
• Population of Belgium: 10,584,534(2007) - 82nd most populous country
• Area of Belgium: 30528km2 - 139th largest country
• Atlas of Belgium

Environment of Belgium

Environment of Belgium

• Climate of Belgium
• Renewable energy in Belgium
• Geology of Belgium
• Protected areas of Belgium
  • Biosphere reserves in Belgium
  • National parks of Belgium
• Wildlife of Belgium
  • Fauna of Belgium
    • Birds of Belgium
    • Mammals of Belgium

Natural geographic features of Belgium

• Lakes of Belgium
• Rivers of Belgium
• World Heritage Sites in Belgium

Regions of Belgium

Ecoregions of Belgium

List of ecoregions in Belgium

Administrative divisions of Belgium

Administrative divisions of Belgium

• Regions of Belgium
  • Provinces of Belgium
    • Municipalities of Belgium

Regions of Belgium

Regions of Belgium

• Brussels-Capital Region
• Flemish Region
• Walloon Region

Provinces of Belgium

Provinces of Belgium

• Antwerp
• Limburg
• Flemish Brabant
• East Flanders
• West Flanders
• Hainaut
  • • Walloon Brabant Namur Liège
• Luxembourg

Municipalities of Belgium

Municipalities of Belgium

• Capital of Belgium: Brussels
• Cities of Belgium

Belgium comprises 589 municipalities grouped into five provinces in each of two regions and into a third region, the Brussels-Capital Region, comprising 19 municipalities that do not belong to a province.

Demography of Belgium

Demographics of Belgium

Government and politics of Belgium

Politics of Belgium

• Form of government: federal parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy
• Capital of Belgium: Brussels
• Elections in Belgium
• Political parties in Belgium
• Political scandals of Belgium

Branches of government

Government of Belgium

Executive branch of the government of Belgium

• Head of state (ceremonial): King of the Belgians, Filip I
• Head of government: Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo
• Cabinet of Belgium

Legislative branch of the government of Belgium

• Belgian Federal Parliament (bicameral)
  • Upper house: Belgian Senate (nl|de Senaat, fr|le Sénat, de|der Senat)
  • Lower house: Belgian Chamber of Representatives (nl|Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers, fr|la Chambre des Représentants, de|die Abgeordnetenkammer)

Judicial branch of the government of Belgium

• Court of Cassation

Foreign relations of Belgium

Foreign relations of Belgium

• Diplomatic missions in Belgium
• Diplomatic missions of Belgium

International organization membership

The Kingdom of Belgium is a member of:^[1]

• African Development Bank Group (AfDB) (nonregional member)
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) (nonregional member)
• Australia Group
• Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
• Benelux Economic Union (Benelux)
• Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI)
• Council of Europe (CE)
• Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
• Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC)
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
• European Investment Bank (EIB)
• European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
• European Space Agency (ESA)
• European Union (EU)
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• Group of 9 (G9)
• Group of Ten (G10)
• Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
• International Criminal Court (ICCt)
• International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)
• International Development Association (IDA)
• International Energy Agency (IEA)
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• International Maritime Organization (IMO)
• International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO)
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• International Olympic Committee (IOC)
• International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM)
• International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

• International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO)
• International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
• Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)
• Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
• Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
• Organization of American States (OAS) (observer)
• Paris Club
• Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
• Schengen Convention
• Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) (observer)
• United Nations (UN)
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
• United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
• United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS)
• United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
• United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
• United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)
• United Nations University (UNU)
• West African Development Bank (WADB) (nonregional)
• Western European Union (WEU)
• World Confederation of Labour (WCL)
• World Customs Organization (WCO)
• World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
• Zangger Committee (ZC)

Law and order in Belgium

Law of Belgium

• Capital punishment in Belgium
• Constitution of Belgium
• Crime in Belgium
• Human rights in Belgium
  • LGBT rights in Belgium
  • Freedom of religion in Belgium
• Law enforcement in Belgium

Military of Belgium

Military of Belgium

• Command
  • Commander-in-chief: Gerard Van Caelenberge
  • Defence minister: Steven Vandeput
    • Ministry of Defence of Belgium
• Forces
  • Army of Belgium
  • Navy of Belgium
  • Air Force of Belgium
  • Special forces of Belgium
• Military history of Belgium
• Military ranks of Belgium

Local government in Belgium

Local government in Belgium

History of Belgium

History of Belgium

• Timeline of the history of Belgium
• Current events of Belgium
• Military history of Belgium

Culture of Belgium

Culture of Belgium

• Architecture of Belgium
  • Neoclassical architecture in Belgium
• Cuisine of Belgium
• Festivals in Belgium
• Languages of Belgium
• Media in Belgium
• National symbols of Belgium
  • Coat of arms of Belgium
  • Flag of Belgium
  • National anthem of Belgium
• People of Belgium
• Prostitution in Belgium
• Public holidays in Belgium
• Records of Belgium
• Religion in Belgium
  • Buddhism in Belgium
  • Christianity in Belgium
  • Hinduism in Belgium
  • Islam in Belgium
  • Judaism in Belgium
  • Sikhism in Belgium
• World Heritage Sites in Belgium

Art in Belgium

• Art in Belgium
• Cinema of Belgium
• Literature of Belgium
• Music of Belgium
• Television in Belgium
• Theatre in Belgium

Sports in Belgium

Sports in Belgium

• Football in Belgium
• Belgium at the Olympics

Economy and infrastructure of Belgium

Economy of Belgium

• Economic rank, by nominal GDP (2007): 19th (nineteenth)
• Agriculture in Belgium
• Banking in Belgium
  • National Bank of Belgium
• Communications in Belgium
  • Internet in Belgium
• Companies of Belgium
• Currency of Belgium

Euro (see also Euro topics)

• • ISO 4217

EUR

• Energy in Belgium
  • Energy policy of Belgium
  • Oil industry in Belgium
• Health care in Belgium
• Mining in Belgium
• Belgium Stock Exchange
• Tourism in Belgium
• Transport in Belgium
  • Airports in Belgium
  • Rail transport in Belgium
  • Roads in Belgium
• Water supply and sanitation in Belgium

Education in Belgium

Education in Belgium

See also

• • • • • Index of Belgium-related articles
• List of Belgium-related topics
• List of international rankings
• Member state of the European Union
• Member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Member state of the United Nations
• Outline of Europe
• Outline of geography

External links

• Belgium, entry on the Catholic Encyclopedia 1913, republished on Wikisource
• Official site of Belgian monarchy
• Official site of the Belgian federal government
• Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope
• History of Belgium: Primary Documents EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History
• Local news and features on Belgium, Expatica

Notes and References

1. Web site: July 15, 2009. Belgium. The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. July 23, 2009.