Outline of Belgium

The Flag of Belgium

The Greater coat of arms of Belgium

The location of Belgium

An enlargeable relief map of the Kingdom of Belgium

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. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO.

General reference

An enlargeable basic map of Belgium

• Pronunciation: ⁱ/ˈbɛldʒəm/ BEL-jəm
• 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 ISO 3166-2:BE
• Internet country code top-level domain: .be

Geography of Belgium

An enlargeable topographic map of Belgium

Main article: Geography of Belgium

• Belgium is a:
  • Country
    • Developed country
  • Nation state
    • Sovereign state
    • Member State of the European Union
• 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 694 m (2,277 ft)
    • Low: North Sea 0 m
  • Land boundaries: 1,385 km

France 620 km

Netherlands 450 km

Germany 167 km

Luxembourg 148 km

• Coastline: 66.5 km

• Population of Belgium: 10,584,534(2007) - 76th most populous country
• Area of Belgium: 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi) - 139th largest country
• Atlas of Belgium

Environment of Belgium

An enlargeable satellite image of Belgium

Main article: 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

Main article: Ecoregions in Belgium

Administrative divisions of Belgium

Main article: Administrative divisions of Belgium

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

Regions of Belgium

Main article: Regions of Belgium

• Brussels-Capital Region
• Flemish Region
• Walloon Region

Provinces of Belgium

Main article: Provinces of Belgium

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

Municipalities of Belgium

Main article: 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

Main article: Demographics of Belgium

Government and politics of Belgium

Main article: Government of Belgium and 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

Main article: 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, Charles Michel
• Cabinet of Belgium

Legislative branch of the government of Belgium

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

Judicial branch of the government of Belgium

Main article: Politics of Belgium § Judiciary

• Court of Cassation

Foreign relations of Belgium

Main article: Foreign relations of Belgium

• Diplomatic missions in Belgium
• Diplomatic missions of Belgium

International organization membership

The Kingdom of Belgium is a member of:

• African Development Bank Group (AfDB) (nonregional member)
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) (nonregional member)
• Australia Group
• Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
• Benelux Economic Union (Benelux)
• 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)
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
• Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
• Organization 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

Main article: Law of Belgium

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

Military of Belgium

Main article: Military of Belgium

• Command
  • Commander-in-chief: Gerard Van Caelenberge
  • Defence minister: Pieter De Crem
    • 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

Main article: Local government in Belgium

History of Belgium

Main article: History of Belgium, Timeline of the history of Belgium, and Current events of Belgium

• Military history of Belgium

Culture of Belgium

Main article: Culture of Belgium

• Architecture of 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

Main article: Sports in Belgium

• Football in Belgium
• Belgium at the Olympics

Economy and infrastructure of Belgium

Main article: 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

Main article: Education in Belgium

See also

Main article: Belgium

• All pages beginning with "Belgium"
• All pages beginning with "Belgian"
• All pages with titles containing Belgium
• All pages with titles containing Belgian
• 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

Wikimedia Atlas of Belgium

• 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,
  – its links to sites of Belgian Tourist Offices in Belgium
  – its links to sites of Belgian Tourist Offices worldwide
• History of Belgium: Primary Documents EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History
• Belgium, entry on the Public Diplomacy wiki monitored by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy
• Local news and features on Belgium, Expatica