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It has come to my attention that people are often confused about Belgium. A popular conspiracy theory even states that Belgium doesn’t exist at all. While I’ve been programmed to believe it actually does, I’ll try to shed some light on this odd speck on the world map and hopefully not confuse you even further. I present to you: Belgium For Beginners In 10 Easy Lessons!

1. It’s not part of any other country, it is one by itself. Show ▼

   Belgium lies in Europe and shares borders with the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. It is indicated on the map of Europe to the right in green.

   Within, it is divided into three regions: Flanders in the north, Wallonia in the south and Brussels, the captial region, more or less in the middle. Flanders and Wallonia are further subdivided into 5 provinces each, but that’s probably already more geographical information than you actually care about.

   The province called Luxembourg is not to be confused with the neighboring country. We just like to mess with your head and give it the same name.

2. We officially speak Dutch, French and/or German. Show ▼

   With three official languages we’ve got a bit of a mess on our hands. There are three language communities: the Flemish (Dutch-speaking), the French and the German-speaking one. The Dutch and French spoken here are similar to those spoken in the Netherlands and France, it just sounds a bit different and the vocabulary differs slightly.

   The German-speaking community constitutes of less than 1% of the Belgian population and they’re living in two separate areas. And no, there’s no wall in between.

3. The political system is mind-bogglingly complex. Show ▼

   As you could already have guessed, all these languages and regions raise some difficulties when trying to manage the country in an orderly fashion.

   Belgium is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy with segregated political power into three levels: the federal level (based in Brussels), the three language communities and the three regions. This basically means the king (and the rest of the royal family) is there for fun and all the important stuff happens in the hands of the multitude of parliaments and governments.

   Yves Leterme currently holds the position of Prime Minister. They rotated so frequently lately that it makes my head spin. I’ll save you from a serious political headache and just skip to the next item.

4. We’re famous for our beer, chocolate and waffles. Show ▼

   With approximately 125 breweries and 500 standard kinds of Belgian beer (8700 kinds if including special one-off beers), we offer one of the most diverse national collections of quality beer in the world.

   Probably one of our most famous products is Belgian chocolate. When visiting Bruges, in between all the lace shops, you’ll find a lot of small shops making chocolate by hand with original tools. These pralines are often tiny pieces of art and you’ll have to pay for them accordingly.

   Waffels come in all tastes and shapes. Among the most famous are the Brussels waffle and the Liège waffle. If you’d like to make them yourself, we already posted a recipe for the typical Liège sugar waffels (“Luikse wafels”).

   What little people know is that French fries are actually from Belgium. The name comes from “frenched” which means “thinly sliced”. When British and American soldiers tasted them in Belgium during World War I, they called them “French” as this was the official language of the Belgian army at that time, and “fries” as they are fried when preparing them.

   It seems Belgium is also known for its cheese, chicory (endive), sprouts and some other items I didn’t even know of myself.

5. There are famous landmarks tourists care about in Brussels. Show ▼

   The Atomium is a monument built in Brussels for Expo ‘58. Its nine steel spheres are connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.

   The small bronze fountain sculpture of Manneken Pis is a famous landmark in Brussels as well. There are a lot of stories about this little fellow, but you probably don’t care about that.

   And of course, you should also visit the medieval Grand Place at the heart of the city.

6. There are some places worth a visit in Flanders. Show ▼

   When visiting Bruges in the northwest of Belgium (Flanders), you’ll feel transported back into the Middle Ages. If you’ve seen the movie In Bruges, you know what I mean. This city, with its tiny streets, cobblestones and old buildings is nothing less than amazingly beautiful. It also happens to be a paradise for beer lovers, with lots of shops offering probably more kinds of beer than anywhere else in Belgium. One of the most interesting shops offering a nice collection of Belgian specialities is 2-be.

   The Belgian coast stretches for an “astounding” 65 km (40 mi) along the North Sea and to no surprise, it’s extremely busy in summer when the whole country decides to go and sit on a beach.

   There are four important sea ports of which the one of Antwerp ranks as second-largest harbour  in Europe (behind Rotterdam), and fourth largest harbour in the world. The one of Ostend is to be recommended if you desire a more traditional and recreational harbour.

   In Flanders, you should also visit the beautiful Ghent (see picture below) and the university city of Leuven. Some useful information about them can be foud here.

7. But don’t forget to visit Wallonia neither. Show ▼

   When visiting the southeast of Belgium (Wallonia), you’ll face the extreme beauty of the Ardennes, a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and old mountains. Nestling in the many valleys are picturesque villages and if you like outdoor activities, the region offers a wide variety of possibilities: walking, cycling, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, horse riding, climbing, mountain biking, etc. There is even some underground action while some caves are worth a visit as well.

   If you’re more of a history or architecture junkie, you’ll be pleased to hear that Wallonia also contains hundreds of breathtaking medieval castles and fortresses such as the Reinhardstein castle shown to the right.

   When taking a break from the massive amounts of nature in Wallonia, you should visit the cities of Mons, Namur and Liège.

8. We invented some pretty funky stuff as well. Show ▼
   
   The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax (1841), Zénobe Gramme invented the Gramme dynamo (1871), Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir developed the first internal combustion engine (1859), Professor Edward J. de Smedt was the inventor of the modern road asphalt (1870), Charles Van Depoele invented the electric railway (1883) and Georges Lemaître provided us with the Big Bang theory (1927).

   There are many more famous Belgians than those I already mentioned here, but going on like this would make this topic too elaborate, wouldn’t it?

9. There’s something the Japanese know that we don’t. Show ▼

   There’s a novel called A Dog of Flanders about a boy Nello and his dog Patrasche which most of us never read, but which is widely read in Japan (フランダースの犬), and has been adapted into several films and anime. There’s a statue of Nello and Patrasche in Hoboken (Antwerp) and it’s obviously a must-see if you’re Japanese.

   On the other hand, everyone knows Hergé’s creation Tintin (Kuifje/Tintin) and his dog Snowy (Bobby/Milou) from the comic series The Adventures of Tintin. There’s also a Tintin walk in Brussels where scenes from the comic got painted on several walls all over the city.

10. There is no tenth lesson about Belgium after all. Show ▼

    When you made it this far and read the previous nine lessons more or less thoroughly, then I think you did an amazing job and have a great deal of patience in particular. I therefore reward you by ending this monstrous article right here! Go away now and enjoy your newly acquired wisdom, maybe treat yourself to a Belgian praline or two…

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