The Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe bordered by
the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France, with a short
coastline on the North Sea. It is one of the founding members of the
European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other
major international organizations, including NATO. Belgium covers an
area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 square miles) and has a
population of about 10.5 million.
Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe,
Belgium's two largest regions are Dutch-speaking Flanders in the
north, with 58% of the population, and the French-speaking southern
region of Wallonia, inhabited by 32%. The Brussels-Capital Region is
an officially bilingual enclave within the Flemish and near the
Walloon Region, and has 10% of the population. A small
German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's
linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts
are reflected in the political history and a complex system of
government.
The name "Belgium" is derived from Gallia Belgica, a Roman province
in the northernmost part of Gaul that was inhabited by the Belgae, a
mix of Celtic and Germanic peoples. Historically, Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, which
used to cover a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group
of states
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