Belgium
Population: 10.2 million
Size: 30,518 sq. km.
Languages: Flemish, French & German
Capital: Brussels
Currency: Euro
Squeezed between the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France, Belgium is one of Europe's tiddlers. The north is flat, the south dominated by the picturesque Ardennes and the 65 km North Sea coastline monopolised by resorts, except for a few patches of windswept dunes. Lower Belgium is criss-crossed by a network of canals. Seasons are mild, but the warmest months (July and August) are also the wettest.
Stir the pot a little in Belgium and you'll find an artificial state roughly made up of two parts Germanic Flemings to one part Celtic-Latin Walloons. Divided by pride first and language second, the country's binding agents are a pervasive sense of family and an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit. And if Belgium's spotlight on the European stage is a little dim, it's only because its people are rarely boastful. This country has more history, art, food and architecture per square centimetre than many of its bigger, louder neighbours.
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