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Belgium (Listeni/ˈbɛldʒəm/ BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.[nb 1] Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the Dutch-speakers, mostly Flemish (about 60%), and the French-speakers, mostly Walloons (about 40%), plus a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region.[1] A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia.[2] Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.[3][4]


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  1. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 17: bad argument #1 to 'old_pairs' (table expected, got nil).
    * "About Belgium". Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) / Embassy of Belgium in the Republic of Korea. Retrieved 21 June 2007. the Brussels-Capital Region is an enclave of 162 km2 within the Flemish region.
    * Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 17: bad argument #1 to 'old_pairs' (table expected, got nil).
    * Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 17: bad argument #1 to 'old_pairs' (table expected, got nil).[dead link]
    * Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 17: bad argument #1 to 'old_pairs' (table expected, got nil).
  2. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 17: bad argument #1 to 'old_pairs' (table expected, got nil). The (original) version in German language (already) mentions 73,000 instead of 71,500 inhabitants.
  3. ↑ Morris, Chris (13 May 2005). "Language dispute divides Belgium". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
  4. ↑ Petermann, Simon, Professor at the University of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium—at colloquium IXe Sommet de la francophonie—Initiatives 2001—Ethique et nouvelles technologies, session 6 Cultures et langues, la place des minorités, Bayreuth (25 September 2001). "Langues majoritaires, langues minoritaires, dialectes et NTIC" (in French). Retrieved 4 May 2007.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
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