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The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: Koninkrijk België; French: Royaume de
Belgique; German: Königreich Belgien) is a country in northwest Europe
bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France and is
one of the founding and core members of the European Union. Belgium
has a population of over ten million people, in an area of around 30,000
square kilometres (11,700 square miles).
Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Romance Europe, it is
linguistically divided. Mainly two languages are spoken in Belgium: Dutch is
spoken by the 6 million people in Flanders to the north, French by the 3.5 million
Walloons in the south. The capital, Brussels, is officially bilingual, while the majority
of its residents speak French. Around 70.000 people live in the German-speaking
Community in the east of the country. This linguistic diversity often leads to political
and cultural conflict and is reflected in Belgium's complex system of government and
political history.
Belgium derives its name from the Latin name of the most northern part of Gaul, Gallia
Belgica, named after a group of mostly Celtic tribes, Belgae. Historically, Belgium has
been a part of the Low Countries, which also include the Netherlands and Luxembourg
and were covering a somewhat larger region than the current Benelux group of states.
From the end of the Middle Ages until the seventeenth century, it was a prosperou
centre of commerce and culture. More recently, Belgium was a founding member of
the European Union, hosting its headquarters, as well as those of many other major
international organisations, such as NATO.
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