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Belgium. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05 (1928 words) |
 | Belgium is bordered on the N by the Netherlands and the North Sea, on the E by Germany and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and on the W and SW by France. |
| Belgium was occupied by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars and transferred from Austria to France by the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797). |
| Under the rule (1865–1909) of Leopold II rapid industrialization and colonial expansion, notably in the Congo, were accompanied by labor unrest and by the rise of the Socialist party in opposition to the reactionary and clerical groups. |
| Belgium - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about Belgium (4427 words) |
| The kingdom of Belgium was founded after the 1830 revolution, but the history of the area – the southern part of the Low Countries (also sometimes referred to in their entirety as the Netherlands) – dates back to pre-Roman times. |
| Belgium also gained the district of Eupen-and-Malmédy and the commune of Moresnet from Germany, thus adding 984 sq km/380 sq mi of territory, which in 1925 were made part of the province of Liège. |
| Since 1945 Belgium has been a major force for international cooperation in Europe, being a founding member of the Benelux Economic Union in 1948, the Council of Europe, and the European Economic Community (now the European Union), whose administrative headquarters are in Brussels. |
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