Belgium: Overview

Belgium is a small, highly developed and densely populated country (10 million of inhabitants) at the cross-roads of Western Europe. Belgium is one of the founding members of the European Community, and its capital, Brussels, is also the capital of the European Union. It is a federal state, with 3 relatively autonomous regions: Flanders in the north, where the language is Dutch ("Flemish"), Wallonia in the south, where the language is French, and the centrally located Brussels, which is officially bilingual. Belgium's rich history has left impressive churches, town halls, castles and works of art, dating back to the early Middle Ages, spread around the cities and country-side.

Belgium has possibly the highest "quality of life" in the world, as testified by its excellent food, housing, health care, education and infrastructure, its world records for high productivity and low poverty, and the appreciation of foreigners residing in Belgium. For a personal view on what distinguishes Belgium and the Belgian character (good living, pragmatism, food and drink, open-mindedness, compromise, privacy ...), check my "Essay on Belgian Culture".

General Country Information

• Belgian Federal Government OnLine including All about Belgium: history, people, arts, science, education, sports, tourism, economy, etc.
• Belgian Embassy in the US: an excellent site with plenty of information on Belgian culture, statistics, political system, studies, travel, etc.
• Belgium in the Encyclopedia Britannica
• Belgium in Leisure Planet: history, culture, practical info, slide show, ...
• Languages in Belgium (from the ethnologue database)
• Map of Belgium and neighbouring countries
• detailed map with highways and railways (276 K)
• Find Books about Belgium in the Amazon web bookshop

Economy and Statistics

• Belgium as a trading partner: lots of info on economy, markets, products, etc.
• Belgian Corporate information: companies, law, stock exchange, etc.
• Invest in Belgium: advantages, formalities, useful addresses
• Country Commercial Guide: Belgium, prepared by the U.S. Embassy Brussels: very detailed information about business, economy, laws, attitudes, etc.
• Belgium in the CIA World Fact Book: geography, economy, politics, statistics, etc.
• Belgium at a Glance: statistics from the World Bank (PDF file)

Belgium in Europe

• Map of Europe with Country Information and WWW-resources
• European Union Basics
• official information service from the Commission of the European Union
• Europe Information Market (networking in the European Union)
• Europe Online: the European Internet gateway

Visiting Belgium

• Official Travel Guide (from the Belgian Tourist offices in the Americas)
• General travel information for Belgium (connections, tourist agencies, hotels, money, etc.)
• Belgium Travel Network: transport, tourism, hotels, cities, etc.
• Rough Guide- Belgium: travel, tourism, sleeping, food for the most important cities
• Lonely Planet's Destination Belgium: tourist information in a nutshell
• Belgium in Microsoft Expedia: background, history, travel, food, sleeping, etc.
• MyTravelGuide.com on Belgium: practical and background info for tourists
• Going to Belgium (from the Belgian Embassy in the USA)
• Travel Advisory (for Americans)
• another Travel Guide
• Tips for business trips: addresses, holidays, opening hours, etc.
• Belgian tourist offices abroad
• Belgian Franc latest exchange rates
• Weather Forecast for Brussels (from Intellicast)
• Belgian Railways (and an unofficial site) with schedules for major national and international train connections
• Brussels Airline: the national airline, offering flights to Belgium from all major destinations

Coming to live in Belgium

• Living in Belgium: with practical info on moving to Belgium
• Expatriates Online: lots of background information on Belgium for expatriates, including events and local communities
• ExpatAccess: Expatriates in Belgium
• Net Expat: another information service for expatriates in Belgium
• Belgian-American Educational Foundation (for US citizens wishing to study in Belgium)
• Ackroyd publications: publishes magazines and guides ("Newcomer") on living in Belgium for English-speaking expatriates

Photo: part of the Brussels Grand' Place

Cities and Regions

• Antwerp: Digital Metropolis Antwerp
• Bruges
• Brussels:
  • Let's meet in Brussels
  • Things to see in Brussels
  • Welcome to Brussels
  • Brussels Tourist Information: lists of addresses and phone numbers
  • Region of Brussels-Capital
  • Brussels: the Rough Guide
  • Brussels in MS Expedia (with map)
• Charleroi
• the Coastal region
• Ghent
• Hasselt
• Liège
• Leuven
• Louvain-la-Neuve
• Mechelen
• Namur
• Ostbelgien: the small German-speaking part in the East of Belgium
• Wallonia

News and Information Services

• Infobel: find anyone anywhere in Belgium with name, address and phone number!
• The Golden Pages: find all businesses (shops, restaurants, liberal professions, multinationals, etc.) in Belgium that supply a particular product or service
• MSR news : summaries of news from Belgium, in Dutch
• Radio Belche: another service for Belgian news summaries, in French
• Belgian Newspapers on the web
• soc.culture.belgium: Newsgroup (check its charter) where you can post specific questions or have discussions on all matters Belgian (ask them, don't ask me!)

Network Services

• Map of WWW/gopher servers in Belgium
• short descriptions of registered Belgian WWW servers
• Belgian National Research Network (BELNET)
• Phonebooks at Belgian institutions
• a list of all Belgian Web documents with title search

Other Belgium Overview Pages

• Europe Online's gateway to Belgium (with a country description copied almost literally from this page;-)
• Belgium in the Yahoo subject guide, with many subcategories
• Belgium Plug-in: contact magazine for expatriates in Belgium with plenty of useful info: museums, tips on laws, calendar of events, etc.
• Studyweb on Belgium: selected material for study
• Belgium ad valvas, including the Belgian Yellow Pages: index of all Belgian and Belgium related material on the Web
• Belgium Online: info about companies, media, universities, tourism, etc.
• Welcome to Belgium, Webwatch, Webbel and Webrider: more (searchable) lists of Belgian sites
• Belgium in the Mother-of-all-BBS
• Patrick's Belgium page with many links on Belgian beers

Belgian Roots

• Belgians Abroad Home pages
• another Belgians Abroad page:
• BABEL: Belgians Abroad Electronic Link
• Genealogy (tracing family trees) in Belgium
• Geonome: generates a map of the geographical distribution of family names in Belgium!
• Belgian immigrants to America including: find your roots in Belgium

Typically Belgian Things

• the Belgian Character: an essay
• WEBORGERS: Belgian Culture... from Art to Pop and from Magritte to the Smurfs
• Did you know that all these things are Belgian?
• an A to Z of Belgium: a foreigner's irreverent, humorous impressions of some typically Belgian things
• a list of Famous Belgians
• Food and Drink
  
  • Belgium produces not probably, but most certainly, the best beer in the world. Check the Benelux Beer Guide: extensive lists of all beers and breweries in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg, and Belgium: Beer paradise
  • different Belgian recipes and food
  • the real Belgian Fries and how to make them
  • Ethnic Cuisine: Belgium, with an introduction and some recipes
  • Diana's links to Belgian recipes
  • many of the most common European vegetables, such as peas, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. were developed or first cultivated in Belgium, but the ones that have kept their association with Belgium are Belgian Endives ("witloof" or "chicory") and Brussels Sprouts
  • the world famous Belgian chocolate
• Belgian Lace
• Art
  • Belgian comic strips, including the world famous characters Tintin and the Smurfs
  • Jacques Brel, who was chosen by the French public as best singer-songwriter of the 20th century
  • The "Art Nouveau" architect Victor Horta
  • Painters, including the surrealist René Magritte with an extensive gallery of his works, and the Old Flemish Masters Rubens, Van Dyck, Van Eyck and Bruegel
  • Flemish tapestries
• the world's best-selling author: Georges Simenon, creator of Inspector Maigret, and other Belgian writers
• the best cyclist, and according to some, best sportman, ever, Eddy Merckx